A wooden cylinder seal at Norwich Castle Museum

Abstract

One of the objects in the Egyptian collection at Norwich Castle Museum is a wooden cylinder seal, originally part of a nineteenth-century private collection, but later donated to the museum. While still in the hands of the donors, it was viewed and catalogued by James Edward Quibell at a time when not a great deal was known about seals of this kind. Inscriptions on such seals continue to pose difficulties but a tentative reading of the Norwich cylinder can be offered. It is likely to be a private-name cylinder originating from a private tomb and belonging to a distinctive group of Early Dynastic seals which combine two motifs— the Neith symbol and the seated figure at the offering table.¹ The Neith emblem forms one part of a two-part name, an occurrence attested in names of the Early Period. The significance of this figure is not yet fully understood; however, the evidence points in a certain direction. Its absence on clay sealings suggests that the cylinders on which it appears were not strictly administrative tools but amulets, though their exact significance is uncertain. The motif had funerary associations, although cylinders decorated with this seated figure were not exclusively funerary. There is evidence suggesting that some were also worn by the living. This article explores the Norwich cylinder and Quibell's catalogue entry in the light of what is now known about this type of artefact.