Sealing Tablets

Nowadays we sign our documents and letters, and stamp certain documents with official seals, in order to assure their authenticity and to convey personal or official authorization. For the same purposes, people in ancient Mesopotamia sealed their clay documents, using small stone stamps or cylinder seals.

A seal was typically carved with a pictorial scene and an inscription naming the owner of the seal. When pressed or rolled onto a clay tablet, the seal left its distinctive impression in reverse on the clay. Like a signature, the seal impression uniquely identified the seal owner, and conveyed his or her authorization of what was recorded on the tablet.

See some examples of sealed clay tablets in the image gallery below.