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Photos From The Aidonia Treasure: Seals and Jewellery of the Aegean Late Bronze Age

Neither the previous seal nor this seal, from a 16th-century B.C. shaft grave at Mycenae, were actually used to seal documents or shipments of goods. Their purpose was ornamental and symbolic, to make a statement about the owner’s social status. The cult scene of the one and the battle scene of the other reflect the proper military and cult functions of the king—to whom the elite owners of gold rings and ivory lyres advertised their connection.