Seals were used in very early times already: they appeared for the first time during the 7th millennium BC in the Near East and were used to certify scriptures and to mark property. However, seals not only indicated tenures, but had a protective function too. After all, property not only ought to be marked, but also protected. Hence the decorations were mainly of religious nature. Gods and their embodiments, animals and people in religious ceremonies are the most common motifs. This seal – supposedly deriving from Syria and dating back to the 2nd millennium BC – illustrates a enthroned god and his worshipper beneath a sun.