Old Syrian Popular Style Cylinder Seals by Barbara Porter
It was really fortunate to have stumbled upon and purchase Dr. Barbara Porter's amazing 1348-page dissertation, "Old Syrian Popular Style Cylinder Seals" three volume set. As it is completely unavailable anyplace online.
Volume 1 contains the core historical analysis, archaeological arguments, and art-historical conclusions of Dr. Porter's entire project. The volume focuses on the Middle Bronze Age (c. 2000-1600 BCE) and breaks down how non-elite, mass-produced cylinder seals functioned in ancient Syrian society. She defines the Old Syrian Popular Style, workshop identification, iconographic themes, and socio-economic context.
Volume 2 shows every physical plate containing the photographs or line drawings of the seals with accompanying texts caption or "list of plates".
Volume 3 is a comprehensive catalogue organized strictly by seal number (1-396) as a formal, standalone text record of the entire corpus.
It is noteworthy that although described as being a three-volume set, all three are within these two hardcover volumes. There is no need to invest in the UMI volume 3 reprint, as volumes 1 and 2 contain everything a researcher needs.
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