24th-22nd century BC. A lapis lazuli cylinder seal with hero, god and animals; accompanied by a museum-quality impression and typed and signed scholarly note issued by W.G. Lambert, Professor of Assyriology at the University of Birmingham, 1970-1993, which states: 'Cylinder Seal of Lapis 21 x 11 mm. The design consists of two contest scenes with a total of six figures on their hind legs. A group of four shows the hero with belt and much facial hair succouring a horned animal on each side as a lion attacks from the left, and a god with horned tiara and very long plait grapples with another lion. This comes from Mesopotamia or south-west Iran and dates to c. 2400-2200 B.C., the Akkadian period. It is in quite good condition.' 4.64 grams, 20mm (3/4"). The Signo collection, the property of a West London businessman, formed in the late 1980s-early 1990s; item number W-612; academically researched and catalogued by the late Professor Lambert in the early 1990s; accompanied by an original typed and signed scholarly note by Professor Wilfrid George Lambert.