Correlations between Stones and Iconography: Fish-Cloaked Figures in Ancient Mesopotamia

During the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian periods, protective and apotropaic creatures were commonly depicted in ritual and adoration scenes in Mesopotamia. These creatures played an essential role in ritual practices, such as purification scenes in front of stylised trees, adoration scenes in front of deities, and the symbols of deities. Genii, hybrid creatures, and figures cloaked in animal skins can be identified as protective and apotropaic. Numerous representations of these creatures were depicted on cylinder and stamp seals from the Iron Age. This chapter focuses on fish-cloaked figures in Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian glyptic. This includes an examination of the types of stone on which fish-cloaked figures appear, and the aim is to clarify correlations between selected stones for seal production and the depiction of fish-cloaked figures for health and protective purposes.