Research Guides: History of Text Technologies: Stone

Cylinder Seals

Babylonian Cylinder Seal, 1700 BCE
Call Number: Z4.H58

Cylinder seals are small round cylinders engraved with written characters and/or figurative scenes. They were used to roll an impression onto a two-dimensional surface, usually wet clay. This Babylonian Cylinder Seal was excavated at Amlash, Mesopotamia. A relief of the inscription is shown on the accompanying piece of clay, which is discussed on the clay substrate page.

Written in Stone: Historic Inscriptions from the Ancient Near East
An introduction, with examples from the Near East, to the use of stone as a substrate.
Cylinder Seals
An overview of the functions of cylinder seals and their historical context. This short article also includes several different examples of cylinder seals.
Everything you ever wanted to know about the Rosetta Stone
An article by the British Museum discussing arguably the most famous inscribed stone object, the Rosetta Stone. The article discusses the history and importance of this inscription, and it contains a link to the Rosetta Stone's digital collections page at the top and a program to digitally explore the stone in 3D at the bottom.
Inscribed Stele at The Met
A selection of inscribed stele, or stone grave markers, within The Met's collection. Each stele has an individual page with a brief description of what culture it is from and other notable details.
Attic Inscriptions Online
A collection of transcriptions of Attic inscriptions, with priority to laws and decrees, dedications, and inscriptions or groups of inscriptions which are particularly useful for research and teaching. The database is searchable by monument type to hone what kind of object or substrate the inscription was found on.
Inscription / The Collection of Ancient Greek Inscriptions in the British Museum
A database of the British Museum's collection of Greek inscriptions. Most are stone, though a couple of the inscribed objects are metal.