Near East University lecturer Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yücel Yazgın’s work titled “Reflections of Levant and Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses on Cyprus Cylinder Seals” revealed the similarities between cylinder seals used in Cyprus with Mesopotamian civilizations.

Near East University Fine Arts and Design Faculty Plastic Arts Department Head Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yücel Yazgın’s article titled “Reflections of Levant and Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses on Cyprus Cylinder Seals” published in Amazonia Investiga Journal revealed that up to 79 percent of the figures on the cylinder seals used in Cyprus throughout history consisted of Levant and Mesopotamian god-goddess images.

Cylinder seals, which were used only in a limited region and for a limited time in world history, provide important clues about the social and commercial life as well as the artistic understanding of their period.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yücel Yazgın’s study also compares the seals used in Cyprus and Mesopotamia and includes important results about the life of the period and the interaction between cultures. It was determined that 67 of the 214 cylinder seals examined within the scope of the study were human figures. It was determined that 34 of them had Levant and Mesopotamian god-goddess figures. As a result of the comparison of these seals with the cylinder seals used in Cyprus, it was determined that the same figures were used in Cyprus at a rate of up to 79 percent. According to the study, the seals of which engravings of gods and goddesses are similar to those of the Cyprus cylinder seals were determined to have belonged to the Sumerian, Assyrian, Akkadian, Hittite, Babylonian, and Kassite civilizations.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yücel Yazgın: “When we examine the cylinder seals used in Cyprus, we see that the god and goddess figures of the Sumerian, Assyrian, Akkadian, Hittite, Babylonian and Kassite civilizations are frequently used.”
Near East University Fine Arts and Design Faculty Plastic Arts Department Head Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yücel Yazgın said that cylinder seals were used throughout history to guarantee that the stored goods were not touched or stolen and that the figures used in the seals contain important information about the culture of the period and the society in which they were used.

“When we examine the cylinder seals used in Cyprus, we observe that the god and goddess figures of the Sumerian, Assyrian, Akkadian, Hittite, Babylonian and Kassite civilizations are frequently used. This situation reveals that the ancient cultures of that period also affected their environment through communication that has no borders.”