Lot 1733 A BANDED AGATE ROMAN INTAGLIO OF SERAPIS, 1ST-2ND CENTURY AD

A banded agate or sardonyx intaglio showing Serapis standing right. In the fields are four letters of Himyaritic script added contemporaneously. This is a good example of a Roman intaglio being used in the Himyarite as a personal seal , as one of the letters has obscured the hand of Serapis we can assume that these intaglios were imported to the Himyarite Kingdom and then found an avid market amongst the populace who then customised them with their own names. The stone has been cut down at the lower edges in order to fit into a mount further fitting the thesis.
13 by 9 mm.

PROVENANCE
From a European collection formed in the 1980's.