Seal of King Šauštatar of Mitanni

TNMM 2590

This dynastic seal is traditionally attributed to Šauštatar, one of the most powerful kings of Mitanni during the fifteenth century BCE. The seal became a dynastic emblem and continued to be used by later Mitannian rulers after his reign. Surviving impressions show a densely populated composition characteristic of Mitannian glyptic art, including heroic figures, winged supernatural beings, wild animals and a winged solar emblem.

The best-known impressions derive from documents discovered at Nuzi and other centres within the Mitannian sphere. The seal is generally regarded as one of the most important examples of Mitannian royal glyptic and has frequently been cited in discussions of Hurrian kingship, royal ideology and the symbolic vocabulary of the Mitanni state.

Particular attention may also be given to the figure in the upper left of the composition, where a human or heroic figure appears to confront or control a bull. Peter Mark Adams has described this image as reminiscent of the later Roman Mithraic tauroctony. Nevertheless, the scene belongs to the broader Near Eastern repertoire of heroic combats with animals and cannot be identified as a representation of Mitra/Mithras or as a direct precursor of the Roman bull-slaying scene. The seal also includes a winged standard surmounted by an eight-pointed solar emblem, interpreted by Asko Parpola and Matteo Compareti in relation to Indo-Iranian chariot and solar symbolism.

The seal nevertheless acquires significance for the study of Indo-Iranian religious traditions because it originates from the Mitannian royal sphere. The later treaty between Šuppiluliuma I and Šattiwaza of Mitanni invokes Mitra, Varuṇa, Indra and the Nāsatyas, providing the clearest evidence for Indo-Aryan religious elements within the Mitannian ruling elite. Although the seal contains no explicit reference to these deities, it belongs to the broader cultural context in which such traditions were preserved.