Where did I find this, anyone?

[Duncan Head]

I've come across the attached image in the files on my laptop; but unfortunately, I don't seem to have kept any note as to where it comes from. Google Image search doesn't help, probably because it's not clear enough.

You cannot view this attachment.

It seems to be a seal impression, showing a figure in what may be "Median" costume, carrying a Greek-style aspis shield. 

Has anyone else come across it? Normally I keep some sort of note on where things com from, but not this time.

[Jim Webster]

My guess would be that it's Anatolian, (or thereabouts)

[Duncan Head]

Very likely, Jim. I've looked at some Anatolia-related websites to see if that's where I found it, but no luck so far.

[Duncan Head]

In fact - inevitably - as soon as I posted asking for help, I remembered who had sent me the picture. Trying to track down more information that way.

[stevenneate]

I had not seen this picture before, so it's new to me.

I'm starting to think there is a short article on the provenance of this?!

[Duncan Head]

I'm starting to think there is a short article on the provenance of this?!

Not unless I can find something a bit more definite. I know, now, that the picture was downloaded from www.achemenet.com, in 2021 by the look of it; but now I can't access any pictures in the "musée achéménide" section of that site, so I can't find what museum or collection the original is in, or anything else about it.

[vexillia]

Isn't AI wonderful ..

https://www.perplexity.ai/search/can-you-identify-the-source-of-6Gm9UWRhRJG8ImPWMv4.bg#1

[Duncan Head]

AI appears to write wonderful fiction, yes.

• The seal-impression in question is neither illustrated nor even mentioned in Briant's chapter on Droaphernes and the Sardis statue.
• Figure 2 in that chapter is simply a photo of the Droaphernes inscription, not of this (or any other) seal.
• As far as I can see achemenet doesn't even have a listing for Sardis in the "sites" section. There are some discussions of inscriptions in sources textuelles>Anatolie>Lydie, but this seal impression doesn't appear.
• There seems to be no way to search an achemenet database "for Sardis reliefs/Persian figure with shield".

So thanks for trying, but...

[vexillia]

  Will delete.

[Erpingham]

Fascinating how detailed the reply was yet turned out to be fictional.

[Jim Webster]

Fascinating how detailed the reply was yet turned out to be fictional.

I suspect AI is only worth using if you know the answer anyway 

[Adrian Nayler]

I've also tried to access the databases on achemenet.com using both PC and Android tablet but alas the images are seemingly not there.

[Cantabrigian]

AI seems to be very poor at admitting that it doesn't know the answer, and so will scramble to give you something based on the most tenuous of connections.

I think we all know someone like that...

It will get better.  One day it will be so sophisticated that it despite it's huge and detailed knowledge, it will recognise its own limitations and simply say "Sorry, I haven't a clue. Have you tried asking Duncan?".

[Sharur]

I don't know if this will help, but you might try accessing the site's presence via the Wayback Machine archive. This is a more or less random link to the Musée Achéménide part of the site there from 2019. You can navigate from there to what's been preserved from other dates, so hopefully this will give a fighting chance of finding something helpful there.

[Duncan Head]

Alastair, thank you, that's brilliant! I had been putting off using the Wayback option because I didn't know how much of the database it would preserve - I feared I might get listing pages but not data on individual items. But no, it's there, categories d'objets>bullae>Musee archéologique de Bandirma>page 8; item DS88, found at Daskyleion (so Jim's guess of an Anatolian provenance is correct).

Many thanks.