Objects themselves suggest that they were the work of skilled professionals. In the late Uruk period(3500-3100 B.C.E.), there first appeared a type of object that remained characteristic for Mesopotamia throughout its entire history: the cylinder seal. ♦This was a small cylinder, usually no more than 3 centimeters high and 2 centimeters in diameter, of shell, bone, faience (a glassy type of stoneware), or various types of stones, on which a scene was carved into the surface. ♦
When rolled over a soft material----primarily the clay of bullae (round seals), tablets, or clay lumps attached to boxes, jars, or door bolts----the scene would appear in relief, easily legible. ♦The technological knowledge needed to carved it was far superior to that for stamp seals, which had happened in the early Neolithic period (approximately 10,000-5000 B.C.E.). ♦From the first appearance of cylinder seals, the carved scenes could be highly elaborate and refined, indicating the work of specialist stone-cutters.
[해설]
- 어떤 명사가 처음 언급될 때 : 부정관사(a, an) 또는 무관사
- 바로 앞에서 언급된 명사가 두 번째 언급될 때 : the + 명사 또는 인칭/지시 대명사
a small cylinder --> the cylinder
그리고, scene과 image라는 단어는 문맥에서 거의 동의어입니다.
a scene was carved --> the caved image (= the carved scene) --> (한 번 설명한 carved 생략) the scene