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© THE TRUSTEES OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM/ART RESOURCE, NY

ROLL OUT THE BARRELS. When rolled across clay, this lapis lazuli cylinder seal reveals two feasting scenes. The top register shows four figures: an attendant standing before a seated man drinking from a goblet and a couple using straws to drink from a large vessel of beer. The bottom register shows three attendants and two seated figures, one of whom is a woman. Archaeologists found the seal, which dates to c. 2600 B.C.E. and measures about 2 inches tall, in Queen Pu-abi’s tomb—next to her right arm—within the Royal Cemetery of Ur. Therefore, the woman depicted on both registers of the seal might be Queen Pu-abi herself. The seal is currently in the collections of the British Museum.