Nālandā. Clay sealing of Kumāragupta II (Zenodo).
| Metadata | |
|---|---|
| Object ID | OB00049 |
| Title | Nalanda Clay Seal 2 of Kumaragupta III |
| Subtitle | |
| Inscription(s) | IN00054 |
| Child Object | |
| Parent Object | |
| Related Objects | OB00048 OB00050 |
| Responsibility | |
| Author | |
| Metadata recorded by | Dániel Balogh |
| Authority for metadata | |
| Metadata improved by | Dániel Balogh |
| Authoriy for improved | |
| Description | |
| Material | Clay / terracotta |
| Object Type | Seal |
| Dimensions: | |
| Width | 9.8 |
| Height | 11.1 |
| Depth | |
| Weight | |
| Details | An oval seal, clearly marked by a border. The upper field (slightly less than half of the whole and separated from the inscription by a double line) bears an effigy of Garuḍa facing front, with outspread wings. He has a human face with thick lips and a Vaiṣṇava mark on his forehead. A hooded snake is coiled aroung his neck. A circle and a crescent - perhaps cakra and śaṅkha; or Sun and Moon according to Sastri 1942: 66 and Bhandarkar - appear in the field to his proper right and left respectively. See Bhandarkar 1981: 356 for some more details. This second specimen is broken in a vertical line near the middle. It is, however, larger and more clearly and expertly produced than the first specimen (OB00048). This second specimen is also noteworthy in that its section shows a hole running through from top to bottom and containing remnants of string or cloth that was evidently used to bind the document that had been sealed. Both parts are extant and kept together, but the plate in Bhandarkar 1981 shows only the proper left half. |
| History | |
| Created: | |
| Date | |
| Place | Nālandā |
| Other ancient history | |
| Found: | |
| Date | |
| Place | |
| Other modern history | |
| Latest: | |
| Date | |
| Place | Archaeological Museum, Nālandā |
| Authority | |
| Details | Probably in the Archaeological Museum, Nalanda. Discovered in 1927-28 during the excavation of Monastery site 1 at Nālandā along with OB00034, OB00044, OB00046, OB00047, OB00048 and OB00052. All these seals are clay impressions that seem to have been baked accidentally in a monastery fire. |
| Notes | Found together with OB00048, which bears an identical legend. The legend on OB00050 is also identical; OB00208 is another but less complete impression, not included in this website but documented: Nālandā (Bihār). Clay sealing of Kumāragupta II. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5718280 |