Pylos Combat Agate

The Pylos Combat Agate is an engraved seal made from a semi-precious stone, displayed in a case at the Archaeological Museum of Pylos. The surface shows three human figures in different positions representing bodily movements and weapons, each line cut into the stone with tools.

The seal was found in 2015 inside a tomb from the 15th century BCE called the Griffin Warrior tomb, located near the Minoan Palace of Nestor. The burial site contained numerous objects and points to connections between Crete and mainland Greece.

The name comes from the agate stone from which the seal was cut, a material often used for such objects across the Aegean. The combat scene follows conventions known from Minoan art and shows fighters in dynamic poses with anatomical details.

The object sits behind glass and requires good lighting to see the engraved lines, with some details hard to make out even at close range. The museum often places enlarged photographs nearby that help understand the full scene.

The lines are sometimes only half a millimeter wide, meaning the craftsman worked without magnifying lenses and must have had exceptional eyesight. Researchers still puzzle over which tools were precise enough to make such fine cuts into hard stone.