Iran
12th century AD
copper alloy, cast and gilded; inscription on back inlaid in niello
inscribed in Kufic and naskh scripts
4.6cm (diameter); 2cm (height)
At the centre of the seal is a lion attacking a quadruped, framed with a band enclosing an Arabic sayings. The back bears a niello-inlaid inscription naming ‘Umar ibn Abi Bakr ibn Muhammad al-Jawzjani, followed by a short prayer.