Events and
Activities

The Stamp Seal: Hallmark of Dilmun and its Hidden Art

Category
Exhibition
Date
12 October 2017 - 31 December 2018
Venue
Bahrain National Museum
Tickets
Museum Admission Fees
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Seals were a main administrative tool used to regulate trade and organise society. Hardly bigger than few centimetres, they were used on official documents, tags attached to goods and on buildings gates to certify authenticity and ownership. In addition to their main administrative function, the seals might have had some metaphysical connotations. With a shape and iconography unusual to the Near East, the Dilmun seals illustrate more than any other category of artefacts, the most original material representation of the Dilmun culture and its only surviving art.

 
'The Stamp Seals: Hallmark of Dilmun and its Hidden Art’ draws on the permanent collection of the Bahrain National Museum and some highlights from the National Museum of Kuwait. The display illustrates an exceptional selection of seals spanning the 3rd and 2nd millennia BCE and examines the use, techniques, diversity and splendour of the Dilmun seals.