Sealing Depicting the Tyche of Doliche

CultureRoman

PeriodRoman

Date1st Century CE

MediumTerracotta

Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. William Knight Zewadski

Dimensions3/4 x 5/8 x 1/2 in. (1.9 x 1.6 x 1.3 cm)

Object number1996.005.008

Label TextSeveral hoards of clay sealings, baked hard by fire, survive from various Hellenistic and Roman sites across the ancient Mediterranean. These are the remnants of public and private archives of legal documents, sealed for security and identification. Although the archive building has not yet been located, over four thousand sealings are known to have come from the city of Doliche in the kingdom of Kommagene, now in modern Turkey. The archive appears to have been established in the Hellenistic period and remained active, once Kommagene was absorbed into the Roman empire, until about 170 CE. The archive building at Doliche has not yet been discovered but the area has suffered illegal excavation and looting. Several thousand sealings are known, many of which appeared on the international art market in the 1990s and are now dispersed in collections across Europe and the United States.

The extant sealings indicate the use of official, public seals and individual, private seals. The official sealings are larger and flatter, suggesting they were made with a metal ring rather than an engraved gem. They also display a repertoire of fifteen distinctive motifs closely associated with the city. The most widely attested device depicts a seated Tyche wearing a tall crown in the shape of a basket (kalathos). Although the iconography repeats that of Eutychides’ statue of the Tyche of Antioch, this Tyche represents the good fortune of the city of Doliche and may represent the official seal of the city.

This sealing also preserves the fingerprint of the individual who made it, indicating the sealing method that was employed. First, the document would be rolled up and an elongated lump of clay laid over the end. Then, the document and half of the clay strip would be wrapped with string. The unwrapped half would then be folded over the string and shaped into a lump with the fingers. This would then be stamped with a seal.
Exhibition HistoryMaking an Impression: The Art and Craft of Ancient Engraved Gemstones, Michael C. Carlos Museum, August 27 - November 27, 2022

ProvenanceEx coll. William Knight Zewadski, United States, gift from Fortuna Galleries, New York, New York, 1991.

Status

Not on view

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