Jul 18, 2016
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Priest before Marduk and Nabu

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A priest in prayer before the symbols for Marduk, chief god of Babylon, and Nabu, god of wisdom and writing. Neo-Babylonian 7th-6th BCE Round seal, blue glazed clay, 4,5 cm across. AO 5684. Louvre, Departement des Antiquites Orientales, Paris, France. © Erich Lessing.

Nicole Brisch in Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses, Oracc and the UK Higher Education Academy, 2016, says:

The early iconography of Marduk is unclear due to lack of sources. Already in the Old Babylonian period, the spade became Marduk’s symbol (Rittig 1987-90: 372). The animal that often represents Marduk is the mušḫuššu, the “snake-dragon,” which is frequently represented on the glazed brick reliefs from Babylon. There are very few anthropomorphic depictions of Marduk, most of them can be found on cylinder seals.

Also, the Tree of Life is behind the priest, and the symbol of Marduk has an upward facing crescent. Let’s see more “spades”, Marduk and else:

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British Museum kudurru, Land grant to Adad-zer-iqiša kudurru. From Marduk-nādin-aḫḫē reign, ca. 1099–1082 BC. CC-BY-SA by Nic McPhee via Wikimedia Commons.
Kudurru of Babylonian King Melishishu - 06abfc9e010753798249956e9bd70e80
Babylon Relief 2nd-1st millenium BCE. Kudurru of Babylonian King Meli-Šipak II, or alternatively Melišiḫu II,1202-1188 BCE who presents his daughter (holding a harp) to Nanai, goddess of health and medicine (detail). Black limestone Kudurru found at Susa, Iran. (Louvre, Department of Oriental Antiquities, Richelieu, ground floor, room 3, Paris, France). Excavated by Jacques de Morgan. PD by Jastrow via Wikimedia Commons.
Sumerian stele of Ur Nammu. Crescent Babylonia
Reconstruction of the Summerian Stele of Ur-Nammu. From Legrain, L. Restauration de la stèle d'Ur-Nammu, Revue d'Assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale, 1933, 30, 111-115 (article here). The stele is from ca. 2097-2080 BCE, recovered by the British Museum/University Museum Expedition to Ur, Iraq, 1926. Fragments are in University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.
Tanit Stele Carthage
This stele comes from the Tophet in Carthage (today Tunisia) Such grave markers were set up over burial urns for small children and animals which had been sacrificed to the goddess Tanit and her consort Baal Hammon.Canaanite symbolism: sun,crescent moon and triangle; the goddess below. ANE 125117. © lessing-photo.com
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Two tympanons of Romanesque churches at Vurpod and Vizakna, Transylvania. Public Domain by Bercziszani via Wikimedia Commons.
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Bearded man. Southern Egypt, Gebelein. Ca. 3800-3500 BCE. Medium: Black shale. Current location: Musée des Confluences.
Ancient Haniwa ceramic from Japan 7181909778223e2890af261436880318
Ancient Haniwa ceramic from Japan, Kofun period (3rd to 6th centuries AD). Source unknown, via The Kimono Gallery.
Hair pins from Zaramo, Tanzania. b8bb33a2414d23282a46965223be654f
Hair pins from the Zaramo people, Tanzania. Wood, dark brown patina, 3 pieces, two of them carved with a sitting female figure, the third one showing an ornamental crowning and a small doll "mwana hiti", minmal signs of abrasion, on wooden base. H: 22 - 23 cm H: 22 - 9.1 inch Literature Jahn, Jens (Hg.), Tanzania, Meisterwerke afrikanischer Kunst, München 1994, p. 138, ill. 46. tribal-art-auktion.de
17520 Bronze figure with Horns, weapons and crossed sticks. Kungsängen, Uppland, Sweden. Iron Age
Bronze figure with Horns, weapons and crossed sticks. Kungsängen, Uppland, Sweden. Iron Age.
Birth of the Philosopher's Stone.ca0ffa4291cb49cf6d610b5e58669c38
Birth of the Philosopher's Stone. An illustration from the book "The Follies of Science at the Court of Rudolph II, 1576-1612" published in 1904, written by Henry Carrington Bolton. Not in copyright. Via flickr.com
Kapaleeswar Temple, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India a45763b0e1c02b9bca3ffe98ae00fa2b
Kapaleeswar Temple, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. © Throo Da Looking Glass.
Celtic Bronze Belt Hook with figurative designed hook plate from Prince grave 2, Glauberg. Via Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt (not currently available).
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Alchemical Emblems, Occult Diagrams, and Memory Arts: Alchemy of the Sun df8c4608f0e8114cd220af2aa885b01e
Alchemical Emblems, Occult Diagrams, and Memory Arts: Alchemy of the Sun
  • L. Legrain, “Restauration de la stèle d’Ur-Nammu,” , vol. 30, iss. 3, pp. 111-115.
    [Bibtex] 
    @Article{LEGRAIN1933,
  author       = {Legrain, L.},
  title        = {Restauration de la stèle d'Ur-Nammu},
  journaltitle = {Revue d'Assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale},
  date         = {1933},
  volume       = {30},
  number       = {3},
  pages        = {111--115},
  issn         = {0373-6032},
  url          = {http://www.jstor.org/stable/23284043},
  urldate      = {2016-07-18},
  shortjournal = {Revue d'Assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale},
  timestamp    = {2016-07-18},
}

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