[2] It is the so-called "Zvenigorodsky seal", it was acquired in Kerch,[3] and first appears in the 1881 Compte rendu de la Commission Impériale Archéologique pour l'Année 1881.

[3] The scene therefore refers to Ancient Egypt and to an act of conquest or the suppression of a rebellion by an Achaemenid king.

[3] It is generally thought that the seal depicts a Persian king or hero thrusting his lance at an Egyptian pharaoh, while holding four other captives on a rope.

[10] An almost identical scene appears on another chalcedony cylinder, held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Acc.

[11] A rather similar seal is known bearing the inscription "I am Artaxerxes the Great King" in cuneiform (the "Moscow Artaxerxes Cylinder Seal"):[12][13] the Achaemenid king is shown leading the Egyptian captives on a rope, but the kneeling figure of the pharaoh is absent and replaced by the Old Persian cuneiform inscription.