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Babylon and The Ishtar Gate

The Neo-Assyrian

Artefacts from the Neo-Assyrian

Map of the area of the Neo-Assyrian Empire.

Photo: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin - Vorderasiatisches Museum, Ausführung: Christoph Forster, datalina
Source: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Pergamonmuseum

Kings of Neo-Assyria
Name	Image	Years	Dates	Comments
Ashur-dan II		23	934 BC - 912 BC	Ashur-Dan II, son of Tiglath Pileser II, was the earliest king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. He was best known for recapturing previously held Assyrian territory and restoring Assyria to its natural borders, from Tur Abdin (southeast Turkey) to the foothills beyond Arbel (Iraq). The reclaimed territory through his conquest was fortified with horses, ploughs, and grain stores. His military and economic expansions benefited four subsequent generations of kings that replicated his model. Ashur-Dan was the first king to conduct regular military campaigns in over a century. His military campaigns primarily focused on northern territories along mountainous terrain that made controlling it problematic. These areas were vital because they lay close to the Assyrian heartland and thus were vulnerable to enemy attacks.
Adad-nirari II		21	911 BC - 891 BC	Adad-nirari firmly subjugated the areas previously under only nominal Assyrian vassalage, conquering and deporting troublesome Arameans. After subduing Neo-Hittite and Hurrian populations in the north, Adad-nirari II then twice attacked and defeated Shamash-mudammiq of Babylonia. He also campaigned to the west, subjugating the Aramean cities of Kadmuh and Nisibin. Along with vast amounts of treasure collected, he also secured the Kabur river region. His reign was a period of returning prosperity to the Middle East region following expansion of Phoenician and Aramaean trade routes, linking Anatolia, Egypt under the Libyan 22nd Dynasty, Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean.
Tukulti-Ninurta II		7	890 BC - 884 BC	Tukulti-Ninurta consolidated the gains made by his father over the Neo-Hittites, Babylonians and Arameans, and successfully campaigned in the Zagros Mountains of Iran, subjugating the newly arrived Iranian peoples of the area, the Persians and Medes, during his brief reign. Tukulti-Ninurta II was victorious over Ammi-Ba'al, the king of Bit-Zamani, and then entered into a treaty with him, as a result of which Bit-Zamani became an ally, and in fact a vassal of Assyria. Tukulti-Ninurta II developed both Nineveh and Assur, in which he improved the city walls, built palaces and temples and decorated the gardens with scenes of his military achievements.
Ashurnasirpal II		25	883 BC - 859 BC	During his reign he embarked on a vast program of expansion, first conquering the peoples to the north in Asia Minor as far as Nairi and exacting tribute from Phrygia, then invading Aram (modern Syria), conquering the Aramaeans and Neo-Hittites between the Khabur and the Euphrates Rivers. His harshness prompted a revolt that he crushed decisively in a pitched, two-day battle. The palaces, temples and other buildings raised by him bear witness to a considerable development of wealth and art. He was renowned for his brutality, using enslaved captives to build a new Assyrian capital at Kalhu (Nimrud) in Mesopotamia where he built many impressive monuments. He was also a shrewd administrator, who realised that he could gain greater control over his empire by installing Assyrian governors, rather than depending on local client rulers paying tribute.
Shalmaneser III		35	858 BC - 824 BC	Shalmaneser III expanded the Assyrian Empire to include parts of modern-day Turkey, Iran, and Syria. He was known for his military campaigns, which he recorded on the Black Obelisk, a monument that lists the kings he defeated and tribute he received. One of Shalmaneser's most significant military campaigns was against the state of Urartu, located in modern-day Armenia. He attacked Urartu several times, almost every year of his reign, and eventually defeated the Urartian king Sarduri II in 843 BC. Shalmaneser also campaigned against the Aramaean states, including Damascus and Israel. He besieged Damascus twice but was unable to capture it. However, his campaigns weakened the Aramaean states and allowed Assyria to gain control over them. Shalmaneser was also known for his building projects, including the construction of the Central Palace at Nimrud. The palace was decorated with reliefs depicting scenes from Shalmaneser's military campaigns and showed his power and authority as the king of Assyria. He also built several temples in his honour, including the temple of Ninurta at Kalhu.
Shamshi-Adad V		13	823 BC - 811 BC	The first years of Shamshi-Adad's reign saw a serious struggle for the succession of the aged Shalmaneser. The revolt was led by Shamshi-Adad's brother Assur-danin-pal, and had broken out already by 826 BC. The rebellious brother, according to Shamshi-Adad's own inscriptions, succeeded in bringing to his side 27 important cities, including Nineveh. The rebellion lasted until 820 BC, weakening the Assyrian empire and its ruler. Later in his reign, Shamshi-Adad campaigned against Southern Mesopotamia, and signed a treaty with the Babylonian king Marduk-zakir-shumi I. In 814 BC, he won the Battle of Dur-Papsukkal against the Babylonian king Marduk-balassu-iqbi, and a few Aramean tribes settled in Babylonia. The extent of Shamshi-Adad's victory was such that he obtained the submission of the Babylonian king and, after obtaining booty from several Babylonian cities, he returned to Assyria with palace treasures and sacred statues of gods.
Adad-nirari III		28	810 BC - 783 BC	Adad-nirari's youth at the time of his ascension to the throne, and the struggles his father had faced early in his reign, caused a serious weakening of Assyrian rulership over their indigenous Mesopotamia, and made way for the ambitions of officers, governors, and local rulers. He led several military campaigns with the purpose of regaining the strength Assyria enjoyed in the times of his grandfather Shalmaneser III. He was the builder of the temple of Nabu at Nineveh. Among his actions was a siege of Damascus in the time of Ben-Hadad III in 796 BC, which led to the eclipse of the Aramaean Kingdom of Damascus and allowed the recovery of Israel under Jehoash (who paid the Assyrian king tribute at this time) and Jeroboam II. Despite Adad-nirari's vigour, Assyria entered a several decades long period of weakness following his death.
Shalmaneser IV		10	782 BC - 773 BC	The accession of Shalmaneser IV marks the beginning of an obscure period in Assyrian history, from which little information survives. This period also extends throughout the reigns of his two immediate successors, his brothers Ashur-dan III and Ashur-nirari V. By the end of Adad-nirari III's reign, the Neo-Assyrian Empire was declining. In particular, the power of the king himself was being threatened due to the emergence of extraordinarily powerful officials, whom while they accepted the authority of the Assyrian monarch in practice acted with supreme authority themselves and began to issue their own inscriptions, similar to those of the kings. This arrangement continued during the reign of Shalmaneser and his immediate successors, a time from which inscriptions from such officials are more common than inscriptions by the kings themselves. At the same time, the enemies of Assyria grew stronger and more threatening. This period of Assyrian decline coincided with the peak of the northern Kingdom of Urartu.
Ashur-dan III		18	772 BC - 755 BC	Ashur-dan ruled during a period of Assyrian decline from which few sources survive. As such, his reign, other than the broad political developments, is poorly known. At this time, the Assyrian officials were becoming increasingly powerful relative to the king and at the same time, Assyria's enemies were growing more dangerous. Ashur-dan's reign was a particularly difficult one as he was faced with two outbreaks of plague and five of his eighteen years as king were devoted to putting down revolts.
Ashur-nirari V		10	754 BC - 745 BC	Like his predecessor, Ashur-nirari ruled during a period of Assyrian decline from which few sources survive. An unusually small share of Ashur-nirari's reign was devoted to campaigns against foreign enemies, perhaps suggesting domestic political instability within Assyria. In 746 or 745 BC, there are records of a revolt in Nimrud, the Assyrian capital.
Tiglath-pileser III		18	744 BC - 727 BC	Tiglath-pileser was one of the most prominent and historically significant Assyrian kings. He ended a period of Assyrian stagnation, introduced numerous political and military reforms and more than doubled the lands under Assyrian control. Because of the massive expansion and centralisation of Assyrian territory and establishment of a standing army, some researchers consider Tiglath-Pileser's reign to mark the true transition of Assyria into an empire. The reforms and methods of control introduced under Tiglath-Pileser laid the groundwork for policies enacted not only by later Assyrian kings but also by later empires for millennia after his death. Tiglath-Pileser early on increased royal power and authority through curbing the influence of prominent officials and generals. After securing some minor victories in 744 and 743, he defeated the Urartian king Sarduri II in battle near Arpad in 743. After defeating Sarduri, Tiglath-Pileser turned his attention to the Levant. Over the course of several years, Tiglath-Pileser conquered most of the Levant, defeating and then either annexing or subjugating previously influential kingdoms, notably ending the kingdom of Aram-Damascus. Tiglath-Pileser's activities in the Levant were recorded in the Hebrew Bible. After a few years of conflict, Tiglath-Pileser conquered Babylonia in 729, becoming the first king to rule as both king of Assyria and king of Babylon.
Shalmaneser V		5	726 BC - 722 BC	Shalmaneser campaigned extensively in the lands west of the Assyrian heartland, warring not only against the Israelites, but also against the Phoenician city-states and against kingdoms in Anatolia. Though he successfully annexed some lands to the Assyrian Empire, his campaigns resulted in long and drawn-out sieges lasting several years, some being unresolved at the end of his reign. The circumstances of his deposition and death are not clear, though they were likely violent, and it is unlikely that Sargon II was his legitimate heir. It is possible that Sargon II was entirely unrelated, which would make Shalmaneser V the final king of the Adaside dynasty, which had ruled Assyria for almost a thousand years.
Sargon II		17	721 BC - 705 BC	Modelling his reign on the legends of the ancient rulers Sargon of Akkad, from whom Sargon II likely took his regnal name, and Gilgamesh, Sargon aspired to conquer the known world, initiate a golden age and a new world order, and be remembered and revered by future generations. Over the course of his seventeen-year reign, Sargon substantially expanded Assyrian territory and enacted important political and military reforms. An accomplished warrior-king and military strategist, Sargon personally led his troops into battle. By the end of his reign, all of his major enemies and rivals had been either defeated or pacified. Among Sargon's greatest accomplishments were the stabilisation of Assyrian control over the Levant, the weakening of the northern kingdom of Urartu, and the reconquest of Babylonia. From 717 to 707, Sargon constructed a new Assyrian capital named after himself, Dur-Sharrukin ('Fort Sargon'), which he made his official residence in 706.
Sennacherib		24	704 BC - 681 BC	The second king of the Sargonid dynasty, Sennacherib is one of the most famous Assyrian kings for the role he plays in the Hebrew Bible, which describes his campaign in the Levant. (II Kings, II Chronicles, and Isaiah). Although Sennacherib was one of the most powerful and wide-ranging Assyrian kings, he faced considerable difficulty in controlling Babylonia, which formed the southern portion of his empire. Because Babylon, had been the target of most of his military campaigns and had caused the death of his son, Sennacherib destroyed the city in 689 BC. Sennacherib transferred the capital of Assyria to Nineveh, where he had spent most of his time as crown prince. To transform Nineveh into a capital worthy of his empire, he launched one of the most ambitious building projects in ancient history. He expanded the size of the city and constructed great city walls, numerous temples and a royal garden. His most famous work in the city is the Southwest Palace, which Sennacherib named his 'Palace without Rival'. In 681 BC, he was murdered by two of his sons who hoped to seize the throne, but another son, Esarhaddon raised an army and seized Nineveh, installing himself as king as intended by Sennacherib.
Esarhaddon		12	680 BC - 669 BC	Esarhaddon is most famous for his conquest of Egypt in 671 BC, which made his empire the largest the world had ever seen, and for his reconstruction of Babylon, which had been destroyed by his father. After a very difficult ascension to the throne, Esarhaddon was plagued by paranoia and mistrust for his officials, governors and male family members until the end of his reign. As a result of this paranoia, most of the palaces used by Esarhaddon were high-security fortifications located outside of the major population centres of the cities. Also perhaps resulting from his mistrust for his male relatives, Esarhaddon's female relatives, such as his mother Naqiʾa and his daughter Serua-eterat, were allowed to wield considerably more influence and political power during his reign than women had been allowed in any previous period of Assyrian history. Despite a relatively short and difficult reign, and being plagued by paranoia, depression and constant illness, Esarhaddon remains recognised as one of the greatest and most successful Assyrian kings. He quickly defeated his brothers in 681, completed ambitious and large-scale building projects in both Assyria and Babylonia, successfully campaigned in Media, the Arabian Peninsula, Anatolia, the Caucasus, and the Levant, defeated and conquered Lower Egypt, and ensured a peaceful transition of power to his Ashurbanipal after his death.
Ashurbanipal		38	668 BC - 631 BC	Ashurbanipal is generally remembered as the last great king of Assyria. Inheriting the throne as the favoured heir of his father Esarhaddon, Ashurbanipal's 38-year reign was among the longest of any Assyrian king. Though sometimes regarded as the apogee of ancient Assyria, his reign also marked the last time Assyrian armies waged war throughout the ancient Near East and the beginning of the end of Assyrian dominion over the region. Much of the early years of Ashurbanipal's reign was spent fighting rebellions in Egypt, which had been conquered by his father. Much of Ashurbanipal's late reign is poorly known. Ashurbanipal is chiefly remembered today for his cultural efforts. A patron of artwork and literature, Ashurbanipal was deeply interested in the ancient literary culture of Mesopotamia. Over the course of his long reign, Ashurbanipal utilised the massive resources at his disposal to construct the Library of Ashurbanipal, a collection of texts and documents of various different genres. Perhaps comprising over 100 000 texts at its height, the Library of Ashurbanipal was not surpassed until the construction of the Library of Alexandria.
Ashur-etil-ilani		8	630 BC - 623 BC	The spread of inscriptions by Ashur-etil-ilani in Babylonia suggest that he exercised the same amount of control in the southern provinces as his father Ashurbanipal had, having a vassal king (Kandalanu) but exercising actual political and military power there himself. His inscriptions are known from all the major cities, including Babylon, Dilbat, Sippar and Nippur. Too few inscriptions of Ashur-etil-ilani survive to make any certain assumptions about his character. Excavations of his palace at Kalhu, one of the more important cities in the empire and a former capital, may indicate that he was less boastful than his father as it had no reliefs or statues similar to those that his predecessors had used to illustrate their strength and success. There are no records of Aššur-etil-ilāni ever conducting a military campaign or going on a hunt. His Kalhu palace was quite small with unusually small rooms by Assyrian royal standards.
Sin-shar-ishkun		11	622 BC - 612 BC	On taking the throne, Sin-shar-ishkun was immediately faced by the revolt of one of his brother's chief generals, who attempted unsuccessfully to usurp the throne for himself. This failed attempt on the throne contributed to instability, and Sin-shar-ishkun lost control of Babylonia to Nabopolassar, who consolidated his power and formed the Neo-Babylonian Empire, restoring Babylonian independence after more than a century of Assyrian rule. This Neo-Babylonian Empire, and the newly formed Median Empire under Cyaxares, then invaded the Assyrian heartland. In 614 BC, the Medes captured and sacked Assur, the ceremonial and religious heart of the Assyrian Empire, and in 612 BC their combined armies attacked, brutally sacked, and razed Nineveh, the Assyrian capital. What doomed Assyria might have been the lack of an effective defensive plan for the Assyrian heartland, which had not been invaded in five hundred years, combined with having to face an enemy which aimed to outright destroy Assyria rather than simply conquer it.
Ashur-uballit II		3	612 BC - 609 BC	Ashur-uballit II was the final ruler of Assyria, ruling from his predecessor Sin-shar-ishkun's death at the Fall of Nineveh in 612 BC to his own defeat at Harran in 609 BC. He was possibly the son of Sin-shar-ishkun and likely the same person as a crown prince mentioned in inscriptions at the Assyrian capital of Nineveh in 626 and 623 BC. Over the course of Sin-shar-ishkun's reign, the Neo-Assyrian Empire had been irreversibly weakened. However, Ashur-uballit rallied what remained of the Assyrian army at Harran where, bolstered by an alliance with Egypt, he ruled for three years. His identification as 'king of Assyria' comes from Babylonian sources. Contemporary Assyrian inscriptions suggest that the Assyrians saw Ashur-uballit as their legitimate ruler, but continued to refer to him as 'crown prince' seeing as he could not undergo the traditional Assyrian coronation ceremony at Assur and thus hadn't formally been bestowed with the kingship by the Assyrian chief deity, Ashur. His rule at Harran came to an end when the city was seized by Medo-Babylonian forces in 610 BC. Ashur-uballit's attempt at retaking it in 609 BC was repulsed whereafter he is no longer mentioned in contemporary chronicles, signalling the end of the ancient Assyrian monarchy.

Reign of King Ashur-dan II (?) (934 BC - 912 BC)

Bronze statue

Bronze statue with inscription of King Ashur-dan, dedicated by a scribe of Ishtar of Arbeles, Shamshi-Bel. Tunic, shawl, fringe, belt, dagger.

The identity of the king is disputed: Deller and Grayson (RIMA 1 A.0.83.2001) identify him with Ashur-dan I (1178-1133 BC). The Louvre cartel indicated Ashur-dan II (933-912 BC) when the picture was taken. The Louvre database https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010120461 does not decide between Assurdan I, II or III.

Translation in RIMA 1 (pp. 307-308): 'To the goddess Ištar, the great mistress who dwells in Egašankalamma, mistress of Arbail, [his] mistress: For the life of Aššur-dān, king of [Assyria], his [lord], Šamšī-bēl, temple scribe, son of Nergal-nädin-ahi (who was) also scribe, for his life, his well-being, and the well-being of his eldest son, dedicated and devoted (this) copper statue weighing x minas. The name of this statue is: 'O goddess Istar, to you my ear (is directed)!'.

Details on the object: Statue of Ashurdan I, II or III (?), whose arms and head have disappeared. The king is standing, dressed in a long tunic and a fringed shawl, a dagger held in his belt; inscription on the bottom of the garment.

Height 295 mm, width 103 mm, thickness 53 mm.
Catalog: Urmiah region Photo: Zunkir
Permission: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

Reign of King Adad-nirari II (911 BC - 891 BC)

Basalt Pedestal

Basalt pedestal inscribed with name and titles of Adad-nirari II; probably supported a sacred pole in front of one of the temple shrines; hollow cylindrical column; inscribed.

Circa 900 BC.

Height 415 mm, width 285 mm, depth 270 mm.

Catalog: Basalt, Kouyunjik, BM/Big number 90853
Photo: Original, British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Reign of King Tukulti-Ninurta II (890 BC - 884 BC)

Wall-tile

Glazed wall-tile of fired clay showing a charioteer. There is a border of chevrons top and bottom and a cuneiform inscription.

Length 665 mm, width 465 mm, thickness 65 mm.

There is a painted inscription containing the titles and genealogy of King Tukulti-Ninurta II.

Tukulti-Ninurta consolidated the gains made by his father over the Neo-Hittites, Babylonians and Arameans, and successfully campaigned in the Zagros Mountains of Iran, subjugating the newly arrived Iranian peoples of the area, the Persians and Medes, during his brief reign. Tukulti-Ninurta II was victorious over Ammi-Ba'al, the king of Bit-Zamani, and then entered into a treaty with him, as a result of which Bit-Zamani became an ally, and in fact a vassal of Assyria. Tukulti-Ninurta II developed both Nineveh and Assur, in which he improved the city walls, built palaces and temples and decorated the gardens with scenes of his military achievements.

Catalog: Glazed pottery, Ashur, BM/Big number 115705
Photo: Original, British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Additional text: Wikipedia

Assyrian Palaces

Artist’s impression of Assyrian palaces from The Monuments of Nineveh by Sir Austen Henry Layard, 1853.

Nineveh, also known in early modern times as Kouyunjik, was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located in the modern-day city of Mosul in northern Iraq. It is located on the eastern bank of the Tigris River and was the capital and largest city of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, as well as the largest city in the world for several decades. Today, it is a common name for the half of Mosul that lies on the eastern bank of the Tigris, and the country's Nineveh Governorate takes its name from it.

It was the largest city in the world for approximately fifty years until the year 612 BC when, after a bitter period of civil war in Assyria, it was sacked by a coalition of its former subject peoples including the Babylonians, Medes, Persians, Scythians and Cimmerians. The city was never again a political or administrative centre, but by Late Antiquity it was the seat of a Christian bishop. It declined relative to Mosul during the Middle Ages and was mostly abandoned by the 13th century AD.

Its ruins lie across the river from the historical city center of Mosul, in Iraq's Nineveh Governorate. The two main tells, or mound-ruins, within the walls are Tell Kuyunjiq and Tell Nabī Yūnus, site of a shrine to Jonah, the prophet who preached to Nineveh. Large amounts of Assyrian sculpture and other artifacts have been excavated there, and are now located in museums around the world.

Photo: Layard (1853) from a sketch by James Fergusson (1808–1886)
Proximal source: New York Public Library
Text: Wikipedia

Restoration of a hall in an Assyrian Palace.

Photo: Layard (1849)
Proximal source: New York Public Library

Nineveh - Mashki Gate

The reconstructed Mashki Gate of Nineveh. It has since been destroyed by the Islamic State.

Photo: Omar Siddeeq Yousif
Permission: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license
Proximal Source: Wikipedia

Reign of King Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BC)

Head of King Ashurnasirpal II

Assyrian, about 883 - 859 BC. From Nimrud, North-West Palace, Room S, door e, panel 1.

Circa 865 BC - 860 BC

Wall panel of the head of king Ashurnasirpal II.

Height 597 mm, width 660 mm

Nimrud is an ancient Assyrian city (original Assyrian name Kalhu, biblical name Calah) located in Iraq, 30 kilometres south of the city of Mosul, and 5 kilometres south of the village of Selamiyah, in the Nineveh Plains in Upper Mesopotamia. It was a major Assyrian city between approximately 1350 BC and 610 BC.

Catalog: Gypsum alabaster, Nimrud, North-West Palace BM/Big number 135156
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Additional text: Wikipedia

Plan I, General Plan, Nimrud.

Photo: Layard (1849)
Proximal source: New York Public Library

Plan II, South West Ruin / Palace, Nimrud.

( This image has been rotated 180 ° to agree with the general plan above - Don )

Photo: Layard (1849)
Proximal source: New York Public Library

Plan III, North-West Palace, Nimrud.

Photo: Layard (1849)
Proximal source: New York Public Library

Plan IV, Upper Chambers on the West Side of the Mound, Nimrud.

Photo: Layard (1849)
Proximal source: New York Public Library

Plan, Excavated ruins at Nineveh (Kouyunjik).

Photo: Layard (1849)
Proximal source: New York Public Library

9th century BC (late Assyrian)

Inlay of a Cow Suckling a Calf

Some of the most elaborate ivory works have been discovered in the Kalhu (present-day Nimrud). These objects were brought from Syrian and Phoenician workshops to the Neo-Assyrian court. Egyptianising style and Egyptian motifs were quite popular among those artists. Large quantities of such ivory works were excavated in special store rooms in Nimrud, particularly in Fort Shalmaneser. This inlay displays a typical Egyptian motif, which may be related to Hathor, the Egyptian goddess who often took the form of a cow and suckled royal infants. The proportions and compact composition are characteristic of the ivory-carving schools of northern Syria.

Dimensions 5 × 10 × 2 cm.

Photo: Walters Art Museum
Proximal source: Wikipedia
Permission: This work is free and may be used by anyone for any purpose

Reign of King Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BC)

Winged human headed lion.

Assyrian, about 883 - 859 BC. From Nimrud, North-West Palace, Room G, door b, panel 2.

This protective spirit guarded the entrance into what may have been a banquet hall. The pair to it is in the Metropolitan Museum, New York ( see below - Don ).

Gypsum alabaster wall panel relief; winged human headed lion facing right; protective spirit; guarded entrance; inscription.

(  The three 'horns' encircling the crown indicate that the wearer was of god-like status - Don )

Gypsum alabaster is a fine-grained, massive gypsum that has been used for centuries for statuary, carvings, and other ornaments. It normally is snow-white and translucent but can be artificially dyed; it may be made opaque and similar in appearance to marble by heat treatment.

Height 317 cm, length 281 cm.

Discovered by Layard at the beginning of 1847. It was placed on a raft and despatched from Nimrud towards the end of April 1847. It arrived at Basra, Iraq's main port with river access to the Persian Gulf, before the end of May. It was too heavy for further transport until loaded onto the Lynch & Co. sailing-ship 'Apprentice', arriving in London at the end of September 1850.

Catalog: Nimrud, North-West Palace, Room G, door b, panel 2. BM/Big number 118873
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Additional text: Encyclopedia Britannica

Reign of King Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BC)

Winged human headed lion.

Assyrian, about 883 - 859 BC. From Nimrud.

This protective spirit guarded the entrance into what may have been a banquet hall.

From the ninth to the seventh century B.C., the kings of Assyria ruled over a vast empire centered in northern Iraq. The great Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II (reigned 883–859 BC), undertook a vast building program at Nimrud, ancient Kalhu. Until it became the capital city under Ashurnasirpal, Nimrud had been no more than a provincial town.

The new capital occupied an area of about nine hundred acres, around which Ashurnasirpal constructed a mudbrick wall that was 120 feet thick, 42 feet high, and five miles long. In the southwest corner of this enclosure was the acropolis, where the temples, palaces, and administrative offices of the empire were located. In 879 BC Ashurnasirpal held a festival for 69 574 people to celebrate the construction of the new capital, and the event was documented by an inscription that read: 'the happy people of all the lands together with the people of Kalhu — for ten days I feasted, wined, bathed, and honoured them and sent them back to their homes in peace and joy.'

The so-called Standard Inscription that ran across the surface of most of the reliefs described Ashurnasirpal's palace: 'I built thereon [a palace with] halls of cedar, cypress, juniper, boxwood, teak, terebinth, and tamarisk [?] as my royal dwelling and for the enduring leisure life of my lordship.' The inscription continues: 'Beasts of the mountains and the seas, which I had fashioned out of white limestone and alabaster, I had set up in its gates. I made it [the palace] fittingly imposing.'

Among such stone beasts is the human-headed, winged lion (lamassu) pictured here. The horned cap attests to its divinity, and the belt signifies its power. The sculptor gave these guardian figures five legs so that they appear to be standing firmly when viewed from the front but striding forward when seen from the side. Lamassu protected and supported important doorways in Assyrian palaces.

Dimensions: 311 x 62 x 277 cm, 7257 kg

Catalog: Medium: Gypsum alabaster, Accession Number: 32.143.2
Credit Line: Gift of John D. Rockefeller Jr., 1932
Photo and text: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/322609
Permission: Public Domain
Source: Original, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Plan of the citadel of Nimrud.

Rephotography: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source and text: Poster with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

The Citadel of Nimrud.

Rendering of the citadel at Nimrud, extracted from the virtual world of the citadel created by Learning Sites; inset is a traditional plan of the same site.

Photo: © 2015 Learning Sites, Inc.
Source: Sanders (2015)

Reign of King Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BC)

Winged human headed bull.

Assyrian, about 883 - 859 BC. From Nimrud, North-West Palace, Room S, door e, panel 1.

This protective spirit of a winged human headed bull facing left guarded the entrance into what may have been the king's private apartments. The pair to it is in the Metropolitan Museum, New York. ( see below - Don ).

Height 309 cm, length 315 cm. An inscription records the name, titles and conquests of Ashurnasirpal II.

Catalog: Nimrud, North-West Palace, Room S, door e, panel 1. BM/Big number 118872
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Reign of King Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BC)

Winged human headed bull (lamassu).

Assyrian, about 883 - 859 BC. From Nimrud, the North-West Palace.

From the ninth to the seventh century B.C., the kings of Assyria ruled over a vast empire centred in northern Iraq. The great Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II (reigned 883–859 BC), undertook a vast building program at Nimrud, ancient Kalhu. Until it became the capital city under Ashurnasirpal, Nimrud had been no more than a provincial town.

The new capital occupied an area of about nine hundred acres, around which Ashurnasirpal constructed a mudbrick wall that was 120 feet thick, 42 feet high, and five miles long. In the southwest corner of this enclosure was the acropolis, where the temples, palaces, and administrative offices of the empire were located. In 879 B.C. Ashurnasirpal held a festival for 69 574 people to celebrate the construction of the new capital, and the event was documented by an inscription that read: 'the happy people of all the lands together with the people of Kalhu—for ten days I feasted, wined, bathed, and honoured them and sent them back to their home in peace and joy.'

The so-called Standard Inscription that ran across the surface of most of the reliefs described Ashurnasirpal's palace: 'I built thereon [a palace with] halls of cedar, cypress, juniper, boxwood, teak, terebinth, and tamarisk [?] as my royal dwelling and for the enduring leisure life of my lordship.' The inscription continues: 'Beasts of the mountains and the seas, which I had fashioned out of white limestone and alabaster, I had set up in its gates. I made it [the palace] fittingly imposing.'

Among such stone beasts is the human-headed, winged bull pictured here. The horned cap attests to its divinity, and the belt signifies its power. The sculptor gave these guardian figures five legs so that they appear to be standing firmly when viewed from the front but striding forward when seen from the side. Lamassu protected and supported important doorways in Assyrian palaces.

Dimensions 314 x 67 x 310 cm, 7257 kg.

Catalog: Medium: Gypsum alabaster, Accession Number: 32.143.1
Credit Line: Gift of John D. Rockefeller Jr., 1932
Photo and text: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/322608
Permission: Public Domain
Source: Original, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The ancient state of Assyria lay in what is now northern Iraq. The sculptures above are from the reign of King Ashurnasirpal II (reigned 883–859 BC), a king whose military expeditions to the west reached the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, and helped lay the foundations for an empire that came to dominate the Near Eastern political landscape from the ninth through seventh centuries B.C. The king himself is depicted on one of the reliefs (32.143.4). Ashurnasirpal moved from the traditional Assyrian capital, Ashur, to Nimrud, and there built a new and spectacular palace, today called the Northwest Palace for its position on the site’s citadel. Texts survive describing the palace’s completion and inauguration, involving a banquet for almost 70 000 people. The number is probably exaggerated, but there is no doubt that this was a huge festival.

Like most ancient Near Eastern palaces, the Northwest Palace was made of mud brick. Ashurnasirpal seems to have been the first Assyrian king to line his palace walls with stone bas-reliefs, and his inscriptions boast of finding and utilising the stone that made it possible. This stone, which could be quarried locally, is a gypsum, sometimes called alabaster (it is almost white when first cut) and colloquially known as 'Mosul marble' after the nearby modern city. The slabs are extremely heavy, and simply quarrying and transporting the stone for use in the palace was a major undertaking. Once in position, the carving of the reliefs, with their carefully modelled figures and perfectly smooth backgrounds, represented another enormous task. An inscription describing the king’s achievements, today called the Standard Inscription, was carved across the centre of each panel. It seems likely that the repetition of the inscription, like that of the reliefs’ imagery, formed part of the magical protection of the palace and the king. Finally, the reliefs were brightly painted. Some pigment can still be seen in rare cases (31.72.1), and analysis of microscopic traces can sometimes reveal the original colours even when no paint is visible. Many of the figures in the reliefs wear clothes with embroidered patterns, rendered on the stone as fine engraving (1982.1188.4); these would originally have been picked out in contrasting colours.

Map of the central area of the Neo-Assyrian Empire.



Photo: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin - Vorderasiatisches Museum, Ausführung: Christoph Forster, datalina
Source: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Pergamonmuseum

Reign of King Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BC)

Wall panel; gypsum alabaster relief from the North West Palace of Nimrud.

King Ashurnasirpal appears twice, dressed in ritual robes and holding the mace symbolising authority. In front of him there is a Sacred Tree, possibly symbolising life, and he makes a gesture of worship to a god in a winged disc. The god, who may be the sun god Shamash, has a ring in one hand; this is an ancient Mesopotamian symbol of god-given kingship.

There are protective spirits on either side behind the king. This symmetrical scene, heavy with symbolism, was placed behind the royal throne. There was another opposite the main door of the throne room, and similar scenes occupied prominent positions in other Assyrian palaces; they were also embroidered on the royal clothes. Traces of colour pigment were noted on the sandals at the time of excavation, i.e. red soles and black uppers.

Circa 883 BC - 859 BC.

Height 195 centimetres (in total), width in total 433 cm.

There was another of these opposite the main door of throne room and in other palaces and the scene would have been represented on royal clothes.

In set with 1849,1222.4-5

In set with 1850,1228.24-26

Found by Layard, May 1846; packed into five cases on a raft despatched from Nimrud April 1847; three cases were shipped on the Indian Navy sloop 'Clive' June 1848, reaching Bombay in October that year and then brought to England on H.M.S. Meeanee in August 1849; the two remaining cases were shipped direct to England on the 'Apprentice' in August 1848, arriving January 1849.

Catalog: Gypsum alabaster, pigmented, Nimrud, BM/Big number 124531
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Reign of King Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BC)

Wall panel; gypsum alabaster relief from the North West Palace of Nimrud.

Circa 883 BC - 859 BC.

Gypsum alabaster wall panel depicting a protective spirit in relief: this figure, a man with wings like an angel, is a protective spirit, probably an 'apkallu'. He carries a goat and a giant ear of corn ( i.e. wheat or barley - Don ), possibly symbolic of fertility though their precise significance is uncertain.

He wears a kilt with long tassels hanging from it, indicating his semi-divine status, and a fringed robe, embroidered with clusters of dates, which is drawn round the body and thrown over his shoulder, leaving the right leg exposed. There are sandals on his feet. A bead necklace round his neck is held in position by a tassel at the back. His armlets have animal-head terminals, and there are rosettes on his wristlets and on his diadem.

He has the magnificent curled moustache and long curled beard and hair typical of ninth-century figures. The musculature of his leg is exaggeratedly drawn, with a prominent vein encircling his ankle.

Across his body runs the standard inscription. This was incised after the carving of the figure was complete, and it cuts through some of the fine details of decoration on the dress.

Height 224 cm, width 127 cm, thickness 12 cm.

This figure was probably one of a pair which guarded an entrance into the private quarters of the king. It was previously described on a label as from Room Z rather than T.

Shipped by the excavator, Sir Austen Henry Layard, on the 'Apprentice'; arrived January 1849.

Catalog: Gypsum alabaster, pigmented, Nimrud, BM/Big number 124561
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Reign of King Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BC)

Tribute Bearers

Circa 883 BC - 859 BC.

Gypsum wall panel relief from the North West Palace of Nimrud, carved and showing tribute bearers. One has a North West Syrian type turban and raises clenched hands in token of submission; the second may be Phoenician and brings a pair of apes.

There is an inscription written in cuneiform script with partial white infilling in some of the signs. The panel originally had traces of black paint at the top.

Height 263 cm, width 259 cm.

This panel was part of the façade of the throne room. Layard (1849, 'Nineveh and its Remains', vol. I, p. 118) refers to how at the time of discovery there were extensive traces of black pigment covering the face of the man with the monkeys, and he speculated that this was either from a deliberate attempt to depict a negro or that the paint had washed down from the man's hair. No traces of this are now visible to the naked eye (2008).

Layard refers to the survival at the time of excavation of pigment on selective portions of other sculptures at Nimrud, specifically on the hair, beards, eyes and sandals of some sculptures and the red-painted tongue of an eagle-headed genie (ibid., pp. 71-72, 126). The white infilling in the inscription on this particular scuplture may also be ancient and resembles a feature noted on Persepolitan (the capital of ancient Persia) inscriptions.

Catalog: Gypsum alabaster, pigmented, Nimrud, BM/Big number 124562
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Reign of King Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BC)

Eagle Headed Winged Genie

Gypsum alabaster wall panel relief, circa 865 BC - 860 BC, showing an eagle-headed protective spirit in the character of a fertiliser of the date-palm, facing right and holding a bucket in one hand and in the other a spathe (leaf-like sheath for the flowers) of the date palm. He is tending a tree, not visible in this panel, a symbol of vegetal life and fertility.

There is a band of cuneiform inscription of Ashurnasirpal II across the centre.

Height 241 cm, width 169 cm.

Winged Genies occur in the reliefs of the walls of Ashurnasirpal II’s palace at Nimrud (originally Kalhu) and Sargon II’s palace Dur-Sharrukin, "Fortress of Sargon". There are three common stylistic tendencies in reliefs with genii. First there are bearded, winged figures wearing a horned helmet. Next there are bearded, winged figures wearing a diadem instead of helmet. Finally there are winged, muscular, male figures with bird heads. They are usually adorned with rosettes on their diadem and/or wrists. Most often they are wearing a short sleeved, knee-length tunic with a tasseled hem. Over the tunic is an ankle length fringed shawl that covers the near leg, wraps around the body and drapes the left shoulder, with the end hanging down the back to the waist.

Catalog: Gypsum alabaster, repaired from fragments, Nimrud, North West Palace, Room G, panel d 1, BM/Big number WA 124576
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Additional text: various sources including Wikipedia

Reign of King Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BC)

Eagle Headed Winged Genie

Height 220 cm, width 163 cm.

Catalog: Gypsum alabaster, VA 00941, Nimrud, Northwest Palace, Room F
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source and text: Pergamon Museum, Berlin, recherche.smb.museum

Reign of King Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BC)

Eagle Headed Winged Genie

Eagle-headed protective spirit.

Height 106 cm, width 69 cm.

( This fragment is asymmetrical - Don )

Circa 865 BC - 860 BC

Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum
Catalog: Gypsum alabaster, Nimrud, North West Palace, BM/Big number 118921
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Reign of King Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BC)

Human Headed Winged Genie

Winged genie with bucket and cone.

Relief Plaque.

Height 232 cm, width 162 cm.

Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Catalog: Gypsum alabaster, Found Nimrud, Northwest Palace, Room C, present location Pergamon Museum, Level 1, Museum of the Near East, Room 11, VA 00943
Source and text: Pergamon Museum, Berlin, recherche.smb.museum

Reign of King Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BC)

Stone Reliefs.

These stone reliefs were originally painted, to judge by the traces of colour detected on the sandals of several of the figures. The reliefs show King Ashurnasirpal II in a cultic function during a libation between winged divine beings.

These reliefs served as magical protection for the king.

Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Catalog: Gypsum alabaster, painted.
Source and text: Pergamon Museum, Berlin, recherche.smb.museum

Reign of King Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BC)

Ashurnasirpal II

Gypsum alabaster wall panel relief showing Ashurnasirpal II, originally flanked by other figures, wearing the royal cap with pointed projection and lappets, and a long garment which reaches down to his ankles, with sandals and armlets and bracelets. He holds the staff of royalty in his right hand, and his left rests upon the handle of his sword.

In a fold of his garment, a little above the waist, are thrust two daggers. There is black and red paint on the sandals. There is an inscription written in cuneiform script. The panel once stood at the head of a room on the private side of the palace.

Circa 865 BC - 860 BC

Height 325 cm, width 147 cm.

The flanking figures are in New York and New Haven.

Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum
Catalog: Gypsum alabaster, painted, Nimrud, North West Palace, BM/Big number 124563
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Reign of King Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BC)

Ashurnasirpal II

Court Scene

Assyrian, about 865 - 860
Gypsum wall panel relief, from Nimrud, North-West Palace, Room G, Panels 2, 3, 4.

King Ashurnasirpal is enthroned between attendants, and the group is flanked by a pair of winged protective spirits. The workmanship of these panels, from the head of what was possibly a banquet hall, is exceptionally fine. Detailed patterns are represented by delicate incisions on the clothes. There are traces of paint on the sandals.

(leftmost panel) 124564:

Gypsum wall panel relief: showing part of a court scene. A royal eunuch attendant offers a bowl of wine to the king. Behind him is a four-winged protective spirit, wearing the two-horned cap, and holding in his hands objects used in connection with the ceremony of fertilising the date palm.

The sandals are coloured black with red soles. The clothes have incised patterns, including a palm with a rampant horned animal on each side of it, the palm with winged protective spirits in the character of fertilisers of the palm, and a winged, horned animal with its head turned behind. Ashurnasirpal II is also shown holding up in each hand a wild bull, head downwards, by a hind-leg. There is an inscription written in cuneiform script.

( I cannot find any of these decorations - Don )

(middle panel) 124565:

Ashurnasirpal II seated on his throne, with his feet on a footstool, holding a bowl of wine in his right hand; behind him stands an attendant with a fly-flapper, and bearing the royal bow, quiver, and sword. The sandals are coloured black with red soles and the clothes have incised patterns. The panel has been inscribed with cuneiform script.

(rightmost panel) 124566:

Depicted is an attendant bearing the royal bow and quiver and sword, followed by a winged being, who wears the two-horned cap, and holds in his hands objects used in connection with the ceremony of fertilising the palm-tree. The sandals are coloured black with red soles, and the clothes have incised patterns. The decorative borders on the garments worn show a palm-tree with an ostrich on each side of it, within a border filled with rosettes, together with clusters of palm-leaves and fruit. There is an inscription written in cuneiform script.

Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum
Catalog: Gypsum alabaster, painted, Nimrud, North West Palace, Room G, panels 2, 3, 4, BM/Big number WA 124564, 124565, 124566
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Reign of King Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BC)

Ashurnasirpal II

Gypsum wall panel relief showing a formal scene. Ashurnasirpal II appears as conquerer with bow and arrows flanked by a protective spirit. The sandals are coloured black with red soles. The royal garments have decorative borders consisting of a winged protective spirit wearing a two-horned cap, and a man-headed winged lion.

( I cannot find any of these decorations - Don )

There is an inscription written in cuneiform script. This panel forms part of group showing the king as conqueror with bow and arrow, and also holding bow and bowl, flanked by attendants.

Circa 865 BC - 860 BC.

Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum
Catalog: Gypsum alabaster, painted, Nimrud, North West Palace, Room G, panels 6, 12, 10, BM/Big number 124567
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Reign of King Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BC)

Ashurnasirpal II

Gypsum wall panel relief: showing a formal scene. A protective spirit, in a two-horned cap, and an attendant bearing the royal bow and quiver, mace and sword are depicted. The sandals are coloured black with red soles. There is an inscription written in cuneiform script. This panel forms part of a group showing king as conqueror; including bowl.

Circa 865 BC - 860 BC.

There are traces of the original red and black pigment on the sandals.

Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum
Catalog: Gypsum alabaster, painted, Nimrud, North West Palace, Room G, panels 6, 12, 10, BM/Big number 124568
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Reign of King Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BC)

Ashurnasirpal II

Gypsum wall panel relief: showing a formal scene. Ashurnasirpal II appears holding a bow and bowl flanked by a human attendant with a fly-flapper. The royal garments have decorative borders composed of heads of palms, horned animals, and perhaps winged bulls. The sandals are coloured black with red soles. These designs also show a cluster of palm-leaves, ostriches and rosettes. This panel forms part of a group showing the king as conqueror.

( There are marks on the borders of the royal garments, but I cannot identify them as per the description - Don )

Circa 865 BC - 860 BC.

There are traces of the original red and black pigment on the sandals.

Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum
Catalog: Gypsum alabaster, painted, Nimrud, North West Palace, Room G, panels 6, 12, 10, BM/Big number 124568
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Reign of King Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BC)

Ashurnasirpal II

King Ashurnasirpal appears twice, dressed in ritual robes and holding the mace symbolising authority. In front of him there is a Sacred Tree, possibly symbolising life, and he makes a gesture of worship to a god in a winged disc. The god, who may be the sun god Shamash, has a ring in one hand; this is an ancient Mesopotamian symbol of god-given kingship.

( Note that a number of other sources attribute this specific god in a winged disc to Ashur, Ašur, Aššur, a god of the ancient Assyrians and Akkadians, and the head of the Assyrian pantheon in Mesopotamian religion, who was worshipped mainly in northern Mesopotamia, and parts of north-east Syria and south-east Asia Minor which constituted old Assyria. He may have had a solar iconography - Don )

There are protective spirits on either side behind the king. This symmetrical scene, heavy with symbolism, was placed behind the royal throne in the North West Palace. There was another opposite the main door of the throne room, and similar scenes occupied prominent positions in other Assyrian palaces; they were also embroidered on the royal clothes. Traces of colour pigment noted on the sandals at the time of excavation, i.e. red soles and black uppers.

Circa 865 BC - 860 BC

Representations of: Ashurnasirpal II, Ashur (?), Shamash (?)

Found by Layard May 1846; packed into five cases on a raft despatched from Nimrud April 1847; three cases were shipped on the Indian Navy sloop 'Clive' June 1848, reaching Bombay October that year and then brought to England on H.M.S. Meeanee in August 1849; the two remaining cases were shipped direct to England on the 'Apprentice' in August 1848, arriving January 1849.

Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum
Catalog: Gypsum alabaster, painted, Nimrud, North West Palace, BM/Big number 124531
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Additional text: Wikipedia

The King Ashurnasirpal II Gates at Balawat

Reign of King Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BC)

Bronze gate ornaments showing the achievements of King Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BC)

From Balawat, near Nimrud.

These embossed bronze bands, like those of Shalmaneser III, were attached to the leaves of a door in a small palace. They show scenes of warfare, prisoners or tribute-bearers brought before the king. In the lowest two registers, the king and his companions hunt lions and wild cattle.

Catalog: Wood, bronze, ANE 124685-98 (part)
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Reign of King Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BC)

Balawat Gates

Bronze gate ornaments showing the achievements of King Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BC)

Close up of the right hand gate showing a hunting scene with an archer on a leaping horse with a lion on the ground.

From Balawat, near Nimrud.

Catalog: Wood, bronze, ANE 124685-98 (part)
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Reign of King Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BC)

Bronze gate ornaments from a bronze-decorated gate showing horses drawing a chariot, arms bearers, and tributaries.

From Balawat, near Nimrud.

Catalog: Wood, bronze, ME N2063-2065
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Lid.

Box with tablets.

Reign of King Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BC)

Lidded limestone box with foundation tablets.

Assyrian, circa 875 BC - 865 BC.

From Balawat, near Nimrud.

This box was placed in the Temple of Mamu, god of dreams. The tablets, represented here by plaster casts of the originals (ME 90980-1), give the titles and achievements.

Limestone coffer with lid: containing casts of stone foundation tablets. Inscribed on top and at one end.

Height 36 cm, length 85 cm, width 48 cm.

Named in inscription: Ashurnasirpal II

Catalog: limestone, ME 90980-1, 135121
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

King Shalmaneser III, 858 BC - 824 BC

Limestone Stela

A round-topped stele, of inferior limestone, much eroded. The king, Shalmaneser III, stands before four divine emblems:

1. The winged disk, the symbol of the god Ashur, or, as some hold, of Shamash.

2. The six-pointed star of Ishtar, goddess of the morning and evening star.

3. The crown of the sky-god Anu, in this instance with three horns, in profile.

4. the disk and crescent of the god Sin as the new and the full moon.

On his collar the king wears as amulets the fork, the symbol of the weather-god, Adad; a segment of a circle, of uncertain meaning; an eight-pointed star in a disk, here probably the symbol of Shamash, the sun-god; a winged disk, again of the god Ashur.

The gesture of the right hand has been much discussed and variously interpreted, either as the end of the action of throwing a kiss as an act of worship, or as resulting from cracking the fingers with the thumb, as a ritual act which is attributed to the Assyrians by later Greek writers, or as being simply a gesture of authority suitable to the king, with no reference to a particular religious significance.

It seems fairly clear that the gesture is described in the phrase 'uban damiqti taraṣu', 'to stretch out a favourable finger', a blessing which corresponds to the reverse action, in which the index finger is not stretched out. There is a cuneiform inscription written across the face and base and around the sides of the stela.

Height 221 cm, width 87 cm, depth 23 cm

Catalog: BM 118884
Photo: British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

The King Shalmaneser III Gates at Balawat

Reign of King Shalmaneser III, 858 BC - 824 BC



This is a full scale reconstruction of the gates from the palace of Shalmaneser III (859-824 BC) at Balawat. It is made of cedarwood and fitted with electrotype (the electrolytic deposition of copper on a mould) copies of the original bronze bands.

The gates were not quite complete when excavated by H. Rassam in 1878. He described them as consisting of 'two poles about fifteen feet high - out of each project half a dozen scrolls each measuring about six feet in length.' Most of the missing pieces are in other museums.

It was possible to estimate the gates' original height, about seven metres, from the length of the bronze strips placed along the doors' edges.

The spacing of the horizontal bands was indicated by variations in the corrosion patterns on the underside of the strips and by the position of cut-outs at the back, marking the location of the horizontal bars to which the strips were nailed. The arrangement of the bands was worked out by assuming that the tree trunks used as doorposts tapered upwards. The parts of the bands encircling the posts would have been smaller towards the top.

Catalog: Cedarwood and electrotype (deposited copper) BM/Big number unrecorded
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Reign of King Shalmaneser III

The Palace Gates of Shalmaneser III, 859 BC - 824 BC.

From Balawat, near Nimrud.

( I can just imagine the master craftsman who designed and oversaw the making of these gates looking at them when they were finally completed, and hung in all their glory, saying something like:

"That's not a gate - THIS is a gate! - Don )

Tablets inform us that the gates at Balawat (one days march to the north-east of Nimrud) were made of fragrant cedar wood; they were hung on huge cedar-wood trunks capped with bronze and turned in stone sockets. The gates were perhaps around 6.8 metres high. When they were discovered in 1878 by Hormuzd Rassam, the wood had completely rotted, leaving the bronze fragments now in the Museum. Eight bands were fixed to the outer face of each door, and there is a great variety in the details of the subject-matter and in the workmanship.

The carvings and inscriptions left by Shalmaneser are still visible today south-west of Lake Van in eastern Turkey. Catalog: Wood, bronze
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Additional text: Google Arts and Culture

Reign of King Shalmaneser III

The Palace Gates of Shalmaneser III, 859 BC - 824 BC.

From Balawat, near Nimrud.

Bronze ornaments from the gate above.

On the left, the fourth and fifth band from the base of the left door-leaf, showing cattle, rams, goats and horses being driven to a city.
The upper register, from Band VII.2, shows the campaign in Armenia, 857 BC, with images of the Tribute of the men of Gilzani, bringing rams, goats and horses.

The lower two registers, from Band VI.2, show the campaign in Northern Syria, 858 BC, depicting the Tribute of Sangar; the city of Carchemish.

On the right, the third and fourth band from the base of the right door-leaf, showing horse-drawn chariots with two horses and two charioteers moving left, An inspector on a chair with soldiers carrying swords, bows, and quivers of arrows ranked behind him, and carters in front moving to the right across a bridge, then above, carters bringing tributes past date trees, moving to the left.
Plate XI.5, Campaign in Southern Babylonia, 851 BC.
Upper Register: Chaldeans from Bit-Dakuri, carrying tribute through a date plantation.
Lower Register: Assyrian inspector, seated, watching the collection of a tribute at a bridge of boats.

Catalog: Wood, bronze.
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Specific information on the Bands and their interpretation: King (1915)

Reign of King Shalmaneser III

The Palace Gates of Shalmaneser III, 859 BC - 824 BC.

From Balawat, near Nimrud.

Band II.3 - Campaign in Armenia, 860 BC.

Upper Register: Slaughter of Urartians by Assyrian chariots, under Shalmaneser's leadership.

A city beside a lake is shown in flames on the left, with archers on chariots killing at will, with dead and wounded on the ground.

Lower Register: Storming and capture of a city of Urartu. Urartu, also known as the Kingdom of Van, is centred around Lake Van in the historic Armenian Highlands.

Ladders were used to storm the city, which is shown in flames, beside a lake. The archers and swordsmen (who carry narrow rectangular shields) are shown as infantry in this case.

Catalog: Wood, bronze.
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Specific information on the Bands and their interpretation: King (1915)

Reign of King Shalmaneser III

The Palace Gates of Shalmaneser III, 859 BC - 824 BC.

From Balawat, near Nimrud.

Plate LXII Band XI.3

Campaign in Southern Babylonia, 851 BC.

Upper Register: Shalmaneser receiving the tribute of Adini, the Chaldean.

Lower Register: The head of Shalmaneser's column meeting the Chaldeans bearing tribute.

Catalog: Wood, bronze.
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Specific information on the Bands and their interpretation: King (1915)

Reign of King Shalmaneser III

The Palace Gates of Shalmaneser III, 859 BC - 824 BC.

From Balawat, near Nimrud.

Plate XIX Band IV.1

Campaign in Northern Syria, 858 BC

Upper Register: Assyrian infantry and chariots at the storming of Dabigu.

Lower Register:Chariots advancing from an Assyrian camp.

Catalog: Wood, bronze.
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Specific information on the Bands and their interpretation: King (1915)

The buildings on the citadel of Balawat, with suggested restoration by Professor D. Oates.

The Shalmaneser gates may have been placed at point B, the Ashurnasirpal ones at point A.

Rephotography: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Poster, British Museum
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

King Shamshi-Adad V

King of Assyria 823 BC to 811 BC.

The limestone stela shows the Assyrian king Shamshi-Adad V worships in front of god symbols. The cuneiform inscriptions narrate the king's military campaign until 814 BCE.

Limestone stela of Shamshi-Adad V: a round-topped stela of white limestone. The king stands in the gesture of blessing before five divine emblems: the crown of the sky-god Anu, with three horns, the winged disk, the disk and crescent, the fork, the eight-pointed star of Ishtar. The cross worn as an amulet is a symbol of the sun god.

Height 195 cm, width 93 cm, depth 72 cm.

Inscription written in strange form of cuneiform to give impression of age and authority; an incomplete account of the king's campaigns to 815 BC.

The cross worn as an amulet is found not infrequently on seals of the Kassite period in Babylonia, 1500-1000 B.C., and occurs on Sumerian seals of the early archaic period.

Catalog: Limestone, Temple of Nabu, BM/Big number 118892
Photo: Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg)
Permission: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Reign of King Adad-nirari III

(also Adad-narari), King of Assyria 811 BC to 783 BC.

This attendant god, one of a pair with 118888, was found at the Temple of god Nabu at Nimrud, Mesopotamia, Iraq. The cuneiform inscription mentions the name of the Assyrian king Adad-nirari III and his mother, Sammuramat.

This limestone statue of an attendant god was dedicated to Nabu by Adad-Nirari III and Sammuramat. It is carved from inferior limestone, standing in the attitude of submission, wearing the single-horned crown proper to minor deities. There is a cuneiform inscription around the skirt. Circa 810 BC - 800 BC.

Height 183 cm.

Inscription translation: ( ' O man coming hereafter, wait on Nabu. Trust no other god.' )

Inscription note: Mentions Adad-Nirari III and his powerful mother Sammuramat, the original Semiramis; ends by advising reader to trust Nabu.

The figure was dedicated to Nabu, the god of learning, in the temple of Ezida at Calah by the governor of Calah and other cities, for the life of the king and of his consort Sammuramat (probably the original of the legendary Semiramis), of the donor and of the people under his rule. The unjustified inference has been drawn that this figure represented Nabu, but it clearly represents an attendant of the kind found in the prophylactic terracotta figurines.

The inscription around the skirts is the same on both figures, and has been published in Rawlinson, vol. i, Plate 35, no. 2, and translated in Luckenbill, 'Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia', vol. i, p. 264.

Catalog: Inferior limestone, BM/Big number 118889
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Reign of Shalmaneser IV

King of Assyria 782 BC to 773 BC.

Stele of Bel-harran-beli-usur, from Tell Abta, west of Mosul, Iraq. 8th century BCE. He prays before the divine symbols of gods.

Photo: Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg)
Permission: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license
Source and text: Ancient Orient Museum, Istanbul, Turkey.

Reign of Ashur-Dan III

King of Assyria 772 BC to 755 BC.

The eclipse of the sun, June 15, 763 BC. Ashur-dan III is shown watching the eclipse.

The eclipse has been dated to the tenth year of the reign of king Ashur-dan III.

For some years, Assyria had been passing through a period of weakness. Matters reached a climax in 763 BC when the total eclipse of the sun was taken as a terrible portent of the wrath of the gods.

After 765 BC, a very unstable time is suggested in the records. Plague is reported in both 765 and 759 BC and a revolt in the Assyrian heartland is recorded from 763–762 BC, a revolt in Arrapha 761–760 BC and a revolt in Guzana 759–758 BC until peace was at last restored in 758 BC.

Perhaps the many revolts were in response to the plague epidemic as well as the Bur-Sagale solar eclipse on 15 June 763 BC. Solar eclipses, especially full eclipses that were visible to everyone in the empire (as was the case for this eclipse) were always interpreted as bad omens, and as such the epidemic and the eclipse may have been interpreted as the gods withdrawing their divine support for Ashur-dan's rule. The last campaign noted is a third campaign to Hatarikka in 755. It is probable that some, or perhaps even all, of the campaigns were actually led by Shamshi-ilu, rather than the king. Ashur-dan died in 755 BC and was succeeded by his brother, Ashur-nirari V.

Artist: Margaret Dovaston
Photo and text: Hutchinson (1915)
Additional text: Wikipedia

Reign of Ashur-nirari V

King of Assyria 754 BC to 745 BC.

Fragment of a clay tablet; top right corner. Sumerian incantation ?,interlinear. 2 lines of inscription, Neo-Assyrian.

Length 4 cm, width 3 cm.

Like his predecessor, Ashur-nirari ruled during a period of Assyrian decline from which few sources survive. An unusually small share of Ashur-nirari's reign was devoted to campaigns against foreign enemies, perhaps suggesting domestic political instability within Assyria. In 746 or 745 BC, there are records of a revolt in Nimrud, the Assyrian capital.

Catalog: K.15272 Photo and text: British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Stele protecting a royal land grant (Akkadian kudurru) of Nabu-shuma-ishkun.

Eighth year of the reign of Nabu-shuma-ishkun, King of Babylon, 761 BC - 748 BC.

Nabû-šuma-iškun, Nabu-shuma-ishkun, meaning 'Nabu has set a name', was king of Babylon, ca. 761 BC – 748 BC, and ruled during a time of great civil unrest. He came from the Bīt-Dakkūri tribe, a Chaldean group apparently unrelated to that of his immediate predecessor, Erība-Marduk.

Found at Borsippa, an important ancient city of Sumer, built on both sides of a lake about 18 km southwest of Babylon on the east bank of the Euphrates.

Following the definition of Belser (1894) who was also the first to label these objects with the term 'kudurru', a kudurru was a stele, a stone document used as a boundary stone and as a record of land grants to vassals by the Kassites and later dynasties in ancient Babylonia between the 16th and 7th centuries BC. The original kudurru would typically be stored in a temple while the person granted the land would be given a clay copy to use to confirm legal ownership.

This stele, circa 753 BC – 752 BC has inscriptions and symbols of the gods, some on pedestals.

Height 220 mm, width 157 mm, thickness 71 mm, weight 3820 gm.

Catalog: Black Limestone, Level 1, Museum of the Ancient Near East, Room 6. VA 3031
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source and text: Pergamon Museum, Berlin, recherche.smb.museum
Additional text: Wikipedia

Stele , or kudurru protecting a royal land grant.

This piece in black limestone shows 'fantastic' two horned animals, mušḫuššu, similar to the mušḫuššu of the Ishtar Gate in Babylon.

This stele shows the symbol of Marduk, a triangular headed spade, atop a temple facade pulled by his sacred animal the snake-dragon, Mushus. Closely associated with the city of Babylon, Marduk's importance was tied to the rise of the political power of Babylon as capital of an empire.

Late 8th century BC, 11th year of the reign of Sargon II.

Height 325 mm, width 170 mm, thickness 90 mm, weight calculated as 9 kg.

Catalog: Pergamon Museum, Level 1, Museum of the Near East, Room 6, VA 00209
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source and text: Pergamon Museum, Berlin, recherche.smb.museum
Additional text (proximal source, an image from elsewhere): http://bharatkalyan97.blogspot.com/2017/07/indus-script-hieroglyphs-on-kassite.html

Neo-Assyrian, reign of Tiglath-pileser III, 728 BC.

Gypsum alabaster wall panel relief

In the upper register of this wall panel relief, a line of Assyrian warriors moves to the left. On the right, an Assyrian soldier wears a mail-shirt over the tunic decorated with the fringed border which hangs down between his knees, and, as it seems, a helmet, pulls at the branches of a low tree.

In front of this soldier are six warriors consisting of three slingers and before them, a man with round shield and dagger, all similarly dressed, except that the tunic of the shield-bearer is richly ornamented with concentric squares.

He follows a pair of warriors; the first, wearing a garment decorated with fringes and small discs put into squares, is an archer; the man partly hidden by him and wearing an ornamented tunic holds a dagger in his right hand. The attitude of this pair strongly reminds one of two warriors standing behind the siege-shield, and Layard understandably mistook the figure in front of them as that of a shield.

He is, however, a man dressed in a fringed and ornamented garment.

The upper register is noteworthy, because the ritual scene, the anointing of a bare tree, carried out in this case by a man in military dress, on a small scale which can only be explained as showing the action takes place in the distance, is combined with dagger men, archers, and slingers arranged as if in a siege scene. It is possible that the soldiers are marching in a procession, but not probable in view of the actions of the bowmen and slingers.

In the lower register, the king, Tiglath-pileser III, facing to the left, places his foot on the neck of an enemy. He wears his high crown decorated with the three bands, the ends of the lowest hanging down on his back, and a fringed garment. His wrists are ornamented with four-fold bracelets and round his neck hangs a necklace with the divine symbols of Sin (crescent), Istar (star), Samas (sun), Anu (horned cap), and Adad (trident).

He holds a bow in his left hand; in his right hand he points a spear at the suppliant enemy upon whose neck he puts his right foot, apparently condemning him to death. The enemy has fallen to his knees, his face nearly touching the ground. He wears a long garment and a round cap, and has a close beard.

Behind the king stands a beardless attendant, a fringed cloth over his left shoulder, his right hand holding a fan. The victim is introduced by the 'vizier', wearing a fringed garment and wrap, who raises his right hand. A beardless attendant, following him and similarly dressed, wears sandals. This is curious, because the 'vizier' seems to be without them, at least they are no longer visible in the relief. The mutilation of the king's face may be due to the action of Sargon. The inscription is in two columns, the beginnings of the lines in column I and the ends of the lines in column II being lost.

(  Note that the 'vizier' may be Tiglath-pileser III's son, Shalmaneser V, during his time as crown prince to his father - Don )

An inscription note in cuneiform describes some of the campaigns of Tiglath Pileser III in Iran in 744BC. The inscription on this slab was recorded by Layard, 'Inscriptions in the Cuneiform Character', pl.51 (= Rost, 'Die Keilschrifttexte Tiglat-Pilesers III', pls.IX-X); it deals with Tiglath-pileser III's campaigns against the provinces of Media. The Annals of the king report two campaigns against Media, one in his 2nd, the other in his 9th 'palû'. According to Rost, the part of the inscription preserved on this slab belongs to the campaign of the 2nd 'palû'.

Height 272 cm, length 239 cm.

This wall panel forms one of a series with two disconnected scenes.

Catalog: Nimrud, gypsum alabaster, North West Palace (Nimrud), reused in the South West Palace (Nimrud), BM/Big number 118933
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Neo-Assyrian, reign of Tiglath-pileser III, 728 BC.

Gypsum alabaster wall panel relief

In the upper register a city, depicted in plan and in a series of three elevations, is attacked by the Assyrians. Of the three elevations, the uppermost, at the top of the slab, is now completely effaced. The middle one recedes from the lower on the left-hand side, but coincides on the right, a fact which precludes the interpretation as an upper storey, or even as a middle line of defence.

The two walls might, in this kind of representation, be the two walls, of different length, meeting at the corner represented in plan; but this leaves the third wall unexplained. Apparently only women remain in this middle section of the defence, ready to surrender.

In the lowest elevation archers are seen in embrasures, fighting behind a parapet which also serves as the outline of the plan of the city. In other embrasures there are round-topped objects which may represent doors, for inside the city plan, in the centre, two Assyrian soldiers, defending their heads with shields, cut through such an object with daggers, while on the left four others carry away the booty already seized, a couch and two sacks of goods.

To the right lie enemy dead, and an Assyrian soldier is driving an ox away. The plan is used for yet another type of picture; two auxiliaries, wearing crested helmets and crossed bands, have advanced from behind a palisade to force a breach at the corner of the city wall, and are attacking the brickwork, represented in plan, with their lances, while defending themselves with their shields.

The mixture of elevation and plan in this scene, though characteristic, is unusual in Assyrian work by reason of its complexity.

The inscription on the centre band gives 12 lines of one column, the commencement broken, and the beginnings of 11 lines of a second.

Inscription translation: The 'erib-biti' priests of the temples of Esagila, Ezida, and Emeslam brought me the 'rihati' of Bel Nabu, and Nergal. ... I richly adorned them and they went their way to their own land.

Inscription note: Describes the resettlement of prisoners after the Assyrian campaign of 745 BC. Written in 12 fines of one column, the commencement broken, and the beginnings of 11 lines of a second.

In the lower register a procession of Assyrian soldiers carries away statues of the gods. It is very doubtful whether the head of the first deity was turned full-face, and the head-dress has completely disappeared.

The honourable treatment accorded these gods and the types represented show that these were deities recognised by the Assyrians; the first two are forms of Ishtar, the fourth is the weather god, whether his name be Adad or some other form. It is not impossible that the scenes in both registers depict incidents in the campaign against the Chaldaeans to which the text on the centre band refers. It may be that the lower scene shows statues of Babylonian gods returned to their own cities by the Assyrians.

Height 272 cm, length 254 cm.

Named in inscription & portrayed: Tiglath-pileser III, representation of Ishtar and Adad, named in inscription Bel, Nabu, Nergal, Temple of Nabu (Borsippa).

Catalog: Nimrud, gypsum alabaster, Central Palace, reused in the South West Palace (Nimrud), BM/Big number 118934
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Neo-Assyrian, reign of Tiglath-pileser III, 728 BC.

Gypsum alabaster wall panel relief

( there are two panels joined here, the join may be identified by a vertical somewhat lighter colour - Don )

The relief on the left, BM 118882, shows a city captured, its inhabitants and animals being driven away.

The city is surrounded by a double wall fortified with turrets and battlements. The walls are crenellated but have no openings. Three square gateways with double doors lead into the city, within which a date-palm grows. This indicates that this scene is laid in Babylonia.

On a low platform in front of the walls, apparently made by the Assyrians for the attack, stand two battering rams (of that to the left only traces are visible). They are not in action because the city is already taken. A scribe writes to an officer's dictation as women and children are driving away in bullock-carts with eight-spoked wheels.

The cart nearest to the city is heavily loaded and on top of it sit two women, their feet resting on the backs of the bullocks, and a little boy. The first woman has long hair hanging down to her neck and holds a bottle with both hands. The woman behind her holds a staff in her right hand, and her veil hangs down over her shoulders. The boy seems to wear a cap (or coiffure?) with a sort of tuft.

The second cart is lower, but longer. It seems to carry a mother with her son and daughter. The boy is somewhat older than that in the first cart but wears a similar cap(?). The girl holds a water-skin in her left hand. Both women wear a cloth or garment which covers their heads. In front of the carts is a herd of cattle, beyond them a date-palm. This is only the left part of a group. The full group shows the deportation during Tiglath-Pileser III's campaigns in Southern Iraq.

Height 99 cm, length 290 cm. When combined with the panel on the right, length is 1105 cm.

( There appears to me to be some error with the lengths of these panels in all parts of the BM notes with regard to this item. The numbers do not match up - Don )

On the right hand edge of the left panel, BM 1849,0502.6, a beardless officer stands, wearing a long garment and a fringed wrap, his left hand resting on his sword, his right holding a short stick. He appears to be counting out the spoil to the two Assyrian scribes standing opposite him in the right hand panel, BM 1848, 1104.5. Both are beardless like the officer, but their garments are decorated with fringes and they wear sandals.

The first holds a clay-tablet in his left, the stylus in his right hand; the second is writing on a roll presumably made of leather; they are the Scribe of the Cuneiform and his colleague, the writer of Aramaic. The artist seems to have intentionally given the scribes slightly different features from the officer.

The counted spoil, fat-tailed sheep and goats, is arranged in two rows. They are driven away by a beardless officer. To the right traces are visible of a male figure with raised arm, obviously an Assyrian soldier who follows a line of prisoners.

The full group shows the deportation during Tiglath-Pileser III's campaigns in Southern Iraq; on the left, a captured town with siege engine by the gate; in the centre Assyrian clerks with tablet and scroll record details of campaign; civilian prisoners with possessions and livestock are moving to the right.

Left panel: 1849,0502.6, height 99 cm, length 290 cm.

Right panel: 1848, 1104.5, height: 97 cm, length 142 cm

Layard, after having drawn slabs 1848,1105.5 and 1849,0502.6 (BM. 118882), realised that the two reliefs formed one scene and provided a short description of it in ‘Nineveh and its Remains’, vol. II, pp.22-3.

Catalog: Nimrud, Central Palace, gypsum alabaster, BM/Big number 118882
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Neo-Assyrian, reign of Tiglath-pileser III, 728 BC.

Gypsum alabaster, wall panel relief

Three Assyrian soldiers, behind a siege-shield facing to the left, attack a city. The drawing ( perhaps Or.Dr.III, 'Central VI: "Seige of a City"', an original drawing held in the British Museum collection - Don ) shows another identical group standing behind them. The first and nearest soldier, an archer, is beardless and wears a long garment held at the waist by a broad fringed(?) girdle. His sword-belt runs From his right shoulder to his left hip. The narrow object on his back is perhaps a bow-case, since the quivers in Tiglath-pileser's reliefs are broader and usually have fringes attached to them. The second archer has a full beard, a long garment, and also a sword. The third soldier, with a full beard and dressed in a tunic, has a dagger in his right hand, while with the left he holds the tall shield. This shield, used only in sieges, has the upper square return, characteristic of the time of Tiglath-pileser III. All three men wear round caps or helmets with earflaps.

The Assyrians are attacking a castle or small fortified city surrounded by water (lake or moat?); on its bank grow date-palms and a pomegranate tree, indicating some locality in southern Babylonia. On the relief there remain only part of a turret and the arm of an archer shooting against the attackers.

This panel is one of a set of panels showing Tiglath-Pileser III's campaigns in Southern Iraq.

Height 103 cm, width 109 cm.

Catalog: Nimrud, Central Palace, gypsum alabaster, BM/Big number 118904
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Neo-Assyrian, reign of Tiglath-pileser III, 728 BC.

Gypsum alabaster wall panel relief

Assyrian soldiers attack a triple-walled city from the right. It stands on an artificial mound on which grows a date-palm, indicating a locality in Babylonia. Its walls are fortified with turrets and battlements. A square gateway on the left with double doors leads into it. A pair of archers stands on both the first and second wall. They wear tunics and have long curly hair and beards. Their arms consist of bows, swords, and quivers equipped with fringes. In front of the platform supporting the city lie two naked headless bodies; one of the defenders falls down from the wall, head first, his hair falling over his forehead.

The Assyrians have built a ramp, up which they move their battering ram to the level of the city. The machine has four wheels and is covered with some kind of fringed cloth. A pair of archers stand in its small tower. A third, wearing a fringed garment, kneels on its back. Behind it, a naked headless body falls to the ground.

The upper right part of the relief shows an Assyrian soldier spearing a fallen enemy. He has a pointed beard and short curly hair, and wears a broad girdle held by two crossed bands with a small disc in the middle. His pointed helmet is crowned with a crescent-shaped feathered crest from which a band-like projection hangs down on the back of the helmet. He holds a round shield in his right hand, in his left, his spear. His victim, holding two arrows in his right, his bow in his left hand, falls against a date-palm which is breaking down. The object behind the soldier's feet is probably the trunk of another palm tree cut down by the Assyrians.

The panel is peculiarly interesting because the two lower horizontal lines of the building slope upwards in the representation at different angles. This secures a counterbalance to the slope of the ramp, but is not necessarily due to the desire for balance. It seems clear that the three superimposed walls are not stories of a building, nor even three successive walls, for then the middle wall would not need defence at the same moment as the outermost wall. It seems possible that the three walls represent three sides of the whole fortification, with the object of showing that the defence continued active on two sides when the defence of the third side had ceased action. The location of the town in Babylonia seems to be marked by the palm-tree shown inside the lowest wall. This panel is one of a set showing Tiglath-Pileser III's campaigns in Southern Iraq.

Height 99 cm, width 101 cm.

Catalog: Nimrud, Central Palace, gypsum alabaster, BM/Big number 118902
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Shalmaneser V

Reign: 726 BC - 722 BC

The person identified as a 'vizier' with raised right hand on the left of Tiglath-pileser III in this image may be Tiglath-pileser III's son, Shalmaneser V, during Shalmaneser V's time as crown prince to his father.

Shalmaneser campaigned extensively in the lands west of the Assyrian heartland, warring not only against the Israelites, but also against the Phoenician city-states and against kingdoms in Anatolia. Though he successfully annexed some lands to the Assyrian Empire, his campaigns resulted in long and drawn-out sieges lasting several years, some being unresolved at the end of his reign. The circumstances of his deposition and death are not clear, though they were likely violent, and it is unlikely that Sargon II was his legitimate heir. It is possible that Sargon II was entirely unrelated, which would make Shalmaneser V the final king of the Adaside dynasty, which had ruled Assyria for almost a thousand years.

Catalog: Nimrud, gypsum alabaster, North West Palace (Nimrud), reused in the South West Palace (Nimrud), BM/Big number 118933
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Additional text: Wikipedia

Stele protecting a royal land grant of Marduk - apla - iddina II.

Merodach-Baladan, King of Babylon, enfeoffs (gives someone freehold property or land in exchange for their pledged service) a vassal.

Place of discovery unknown.

Symbols of the gods on the upper register, below the enfeoffment scene.

715 / 714 BC (seventh year of the reign of Marduk-apla-iddina II).

The Babylonian king Marduk-apla-iddina II, named in the inscription, (and called Merodach-Baladan in the bible) is depicted on the left. In front of him is the temple functionary Belu-sche-eriba whose services to the country and its people are acknowledged in the text. They were the reason for the donation of the land, which was to be protected by this stone monument. The text begins with an explanation of the divine legitimacy of the king and his deeds for the good of the Babylonian empire. The main part describes in cadastral form the location of the plots of land in the surrounding countryside in relation to canals, roads and other plots.

It ends with a curse against the man who does something against the land donation, 'That man Anu, Ea and Bel, the great gods; as far as their names are mentioned in this tablet, may destroy his name, seed and offspring in the mouth of the people, cut off his further life. The tablet is sealed with the king's seal of decree, so that no action for change or recovery may be brought.'

Marduk-apla-iddina II, in the Bible Merodach-Baladan, was a Chaldean leader from the Bit-Yakin tribe, originally established in the territory of the Sealand in southern Babylonia. He seized the Babylonian throne in 722 BC from Assyrian control and reigned from 722 BC to 710 BC, and from 703 BC to 702 BC. His reign is defined by some historians as an illegitimate Third Dynasty of the Sealand, inside of the Xth Dynasty of Babylon, or Assyrian Dynasty.

He was known as one of the kings who maintained Babylonian independence in the face of Assyrian military supremacy for more than a decade.

Sargon of Assyria repressed the allies of Marduk-apla-iddina II in Elam, Aram and Israel and eventually drove (ca. 710 BC) him from Babylon. After the death of Sargon, Marduk-apla-iddina II briefly recaptured the throne from a native Babylonian nobleman. He reigned nine months (703 BC – 702 BC). He returned from Elam and ignited rebellion in Babylonia. He was able to enter Babylon and be declared king again. Nine months later he was defeated near Kish by the Assyrians, but managed to flee to Elam. He died in exile a couple of years later.

In the Bible He is mentioned as king of Babylon in the days of King Hezekiah, both in 2 Kings 20:12 (here called Berodach-baladan) and in Isaiah 39:1. In both passages he sends Hezekiah a letter, having heard of his illness and recovery. His messengers who have delivered the letter are lavishly entertained by Hezekiah, leading the prophet Isaiah to criticise Hezekiah for his excessive openness about the wealth he had amassed.

Height: 460 mm, width 330 mm, thickness 105 mm, weight calculated as 27 kg.

Catalog: Limestone, Pergamon Museum, Level 1, Museum of the Ancient Near East, Room 6, VA 02663
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source and text: Pergamon Museum, Berlin, recherche.smb.museum
Additional text: Wikipedia

Sargon II

Reigned 722 BC – 705 BC

The Sargon Stele shown at left was found in the autumn of 1845 in Cyprus on the site of the former city-kingdom of Kition, in present-day Larnaca to the west of the old harbour of Kition on the archaeological site of Bamboula. The language on the stele is Assyrian Akkadian.

The basalt stele was placed there during the time Sargon II (reigned 722 BC – 705 BC) ruled the Neo Assyrian Empire. It was offered for sale to the British Museum, which bid 20 pounds. Ludwig Ross offered 50 pounds for the stele and it was shipped to Berlin.

Together with the stele was found a gilded silver plaquette, that today is located at the Louvre.

It was erected by King Sargon II of the Neo-Assyrian Empire near Kition (modern Larnaca) and describes his conquests, and notes the voluntary submission of the Seven Kings of the Land of Ia (which has been identified as Cyprus) and Iatnana meaning the Islands of the Danaans, i.e., Greece. Likely this act of submission provided the Cypriot kings with a trade network and a source of stable markets for the exportation of copper and other trade goods.

The site of this royal monument in Cyprus impressively illustrates that the influence of the Assyrian Empire reached very far west in the late 8th century BC.

Height 210 cm, width 68 cm, thickness 35 cm. The stele shows King Sargon II in typical Assyrian royal costume with a long, fringed robe and royal headdress. In his left hand he holds a club, his right hand is raised in prayer.

In front of his head are eight symbols representing various Assyrian deities. The same eight gods are invoked in the first lines of the long inscription placed on the front of the stela.

In the rest of the text, Sargon's royal titles are mentioned, as well as his military successes, and his role as protector of the Marduk sanctuary in Babylon is emphasised.

In addition, legations from distant lands are enumerated. The last lines of the inscription refer to the erection of the stele itself, instruct future kings to preserve it, and conclude with the obligatory curse formulas against those who would harm this image of the king.

Catalog: Basalt, Pergamon Museum, Level 1, Museum of the Ancient Near East, Room 3, VA 00968
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source and text: Pergamon Museum, Berlin, recherche.smb.museum, with additional text by Anja Fügert
Additional external text: Wikipedia, cyprusthepodcast.podbean.com/e/primary-source-v-the-sargon-stele/

Portrait of Sennacherib

Reign 704 BC - 681 BC

This is a cast of a rock relief of Sennacherib from the foot of Cudi Dağı, near Cizre. The cast is exhibited in Landshut, Germany.

Photo: Timo Roller
Permission: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license

The Siege of ...-alammu by the army of Sennacherib (704 BC - 681 BC)

(The full name is lost, only the last part survives, -alammu. The city probably lay in modern day Turkey or Iran. )

Wall relief of gypsum alabaster from the South West Palace (Nineveh), circa 700 BC - 692 BC .

This shows soldiers attacking a high fort with bows and arrows, but without siege engines.

This image shows the large standing shield used for such attacks, tall, and with a large handle, and wide enough to shelter a soldier and an archer from arrows.

The soldier held the standing shield upright and in place while carrying what may be a dagger or short sword, while the archer aimed and shot his arrows from its protection. Other archers without a shield bearer used local cover, from a more protected position where possible.

BM description: Stone wall panel relief in four parts: the system of fortifications of the city, ..._alammu, built on an artificial (?) mound, comprising independent towers surrounding the mound, and an acropolis with a double wall.

A strong gateway guarded the main approach up the incline. Archers shoot at the gate whilst spearmen work their way towards the walls. The Assyrians have already captured the towers, but have not yet completed the assault on the acropolis, and the outer wall is still being defended, though some of the garrison appear to be surrendering.

The towers are of two forms, one simple, the other stepped in such a way that an upper 'storey' is entered from the roof of a projecting extension of the lower room. The wall panel is inscribed. The dress of the inhabitants indicates that town was located in Turkey or Iran.

Reign of Sennacherib, 700 BC - 692 BC. Room XIV, the South-West Palace at Nineveh, Mesopotamia, modern-day Iraq.

Height 246 cm, length 583 cm

Catalog: Gypsum alabaster, BM/Big number 124785
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Siege of ...-alammu by the army of Sennacherib (704 BC - 681 BC)

The standing shield, highlighted here in a red oval, was far more flexible in use than single archers, who had to use whatever cover was available.

The two men behind a standing shield could choose the best place to kneel and shoot, even if this was right out in the open, but close to the enemy.

Photo and text: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum

This image shows an Assyrian soldier at left with a standing shield, a soldier with the smaller, more ubiquitous circular shield, and an archer on the right. The standing shield was designed to rest on the ground, with the archer having much more protection than from a handheld small round shield, yet from a very mobile and relatively light device.

The standing shield was a two person device, one to hold the shield upright, and move it as necessary, and the other, an archer, to use it as protection while shooting arrows.

( This particular design (there are others) combines stiffness, strength and light weight by its curved but thin construction, perhaps achieved by the steaming of a suitable plank of wood.  - Don )

Photo: Braun & Schneider (circa 1861 - 1880)
Permission: Public Domain
Proximal Source: Wikimedia Commons

Water Basin

Reign of Sennacherib, 704 BC - 681 BC

This water basin, originally cut from a single basalt block, was completely shattered when discovered. The waterbasin was located in one of the courtyards of the Temple of Ashur. The original fragments were utilised to reconstruct the waterbasin seen here.

On the corners and in the centre of each side are depictions of watergods holding overflowing waterjugs. Streams of water flow from the sky above, into the jug and downward to the earth below. Two priests wearing fish-skins hold small buckets to purify the central figure of the watergod. A cuneiform inscription, repeated several times, invokes the name of Sennacherib (704-681 BC). The interior of the basin is undecorated. Its location and decoration suggest that the waterbasin was used for cultic purification rites.

Height 117cm, length 3120 cm, breadth 3120 cm.

Catalog: Basalt, Ashur (Qal'at Sherqat), Quadrant i E 3 III, in the well of the east building of Sennacherib, accession number VA Ace 01835
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source and text: Pergamon Museum, Berlin, recherche.smb.museum

Relief Panels

Reign of Sennacherib, 704 BC - 681 BC

This representation found in the Southwest Palace of the Assyrian King Sennacherib (704 - 689 BC) shows armed soldiers marching to the left.

The Assyrian army, which was rigidly organised and extremely powerful consisted of four different units: chariotry, cavalry, foot-soldiers and pioneers.

Since the 8th century BC, non-Assyrian soldiers were recruited to reinforce the regular troops.

The bent tip decorating the two helmets to the right identifies these soldiers as mercenaries.

(left) height 179 cm, width 124 cm.

(right) height 190 cm, width 130 cm.

Catalog: (left) VA 00957, (right) VA 00958
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source and text: Nadia Cholidis, Pergamon Museum, Berlin, recherche.smb.museum

Relief Panels

Reign of Sennacherib, 704 BC - 681 BC

These orthostats, which were placed on the side walls of a ramp, show Assyrian officers and courtiers carrying a mobile throne. Only the decorated pole of the throne is preserved. The peculiar combination of throne and chariot is attested for the first time during the reign of Tiglath-Pileser III (745 - 727 BC). It represents a special development.

Upper image: height 174 cm, width 142 cm.

Lower image: height 154 cm, width 118 cm.

( The decorated pole is shown in the upper image, and consists of a curved object equipped with a carrying handle and decorated with a carved horse head - Don )

Catalog: upper image VA 00955, lower image VA 00956
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source and text: Nadia Cholidis, Pergamon Museum, Berlin, recherche.smb.museum

Reign of Sennacherib, 704 BC - 681 BC

Nineveh, wall panel, relief.

This monumental relief depicts several shield bearers and a group of musicians carrying diverse instruments. The rectangular drum with a string, which can still be found in modern Iraq and North Africa, is attested here for the first time. The same applies to the cymbals, which are made of two sound boxes with handles. At the end of the procession walks a richly decorated woman, who might have been carrying a round drum.

The cut of these orthostats suggests that the representation was situated on the side walls of a descending ramp, which obviously leads from the royal palace to the Ishtar Temple. The Assyrian king thus was able to approach the temple of the goddess directly on cultic occasions.

Catalog: Gypsum alabaster
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source and text: Pergamon Museum, Berlin, recherche.smb.museum

Recognition of King Esarhaddon/Esarhaddon/Asarhaddon of Assyria as King of Nineveh.

Reign 681 BC - 669 BC

Esarhaddon was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from the death of his father Sennacherib in 681 BC to his own death in 669. The third king of the Sargonid dynasty, Esarhaddon is most famous for his conquest of Egypt in 671 BC, which made his empire the largest the world had ever seen, and for his reconstruction of Babylon, which had been destroyed by his father.

After a very difficult ascension to the throne, Esarhaddon was plagued by paranoia and mistrust for his officials, governors and male family members until the end of his reign. As a result of this paranoia, most of the palaces used by Esarhaddon were high-security fortifications located outside of the major population centres of the cities.

Also perhaps resulting from his mistrust for his male relatives, Esarhaddon's female relatives, such as his mother Naqiʾa and his daughter Serua-eterat, were allowed to wield considerably more influence and political power during his reign than women had been allowed in any previous period of Assyrian history.

Despite a relatively short and difficult reign, and being plagued by paranoia, depression and constant illness, Esarhaddon remains recognised as one of the greatest and most successful Assyrian kings. He quickly defeated his brothers in 681, completed ambitious and large-scale building projects in both Assyria and Babylonia, successfully campaigned in Media, the Arabian Peninsula, Anatolia, the Caucasus, and the Levant, defeated and conquered Lower Egypt, and ensured a peaceful transition of power to his two heirs Ashurbanipal and Shamash-shum-ukin after his death.

Photo: A.C. Weatherstone
Source: Hutchinson (1915)
Text: Adapted from Wikipedia

King Esarhaddon/Esarhaddon/Asarhaddon of Assyria

671 BC

Victory stele of King Asarhaddon of Assyria over Egypt showing a representation of King Esarhaddon of Assyria, excavated in the inner gate-room of the citadel of Sam`al/Zincirli (Turkey), (now Sendschirli).

During his campaigns against Egypt, Esarhaddon of Assyria conquered and subjected numerous Syrian city-states including Sam`al. The commemorative stele depicts a super-human sized Esarhaddon with his right hand raised, worshipping his gods. The gods, in the upper right hand side, are shown in human form riding their associated animal or symbolically. The king wears the beribboned, decorated royal crown. In his left hand he holds both the mace and two ropes.

The ropes end with rings through the lips of two prisoners. The kneeling smaller figure appears to depict the Egyptian crown prince. The supplicating, standing figure, is likely that of a Syrian city-state ruller.

On the left side of the stele is the figure of king Shamash-shum-ukin, later king of Babylon, and on the right side, Assurbanipal, the heir apparent of Assyria. A cuneiform inscription covering the lower half of the front of the stele and completely covering the reverse reports the victorious campaigns of king Esarhaddon.

Inscription:

'Whoever removes this stela from its place, erases my written name, and writes his own name there, may his manhood feminize Ishtar, mistress of battle and combat, and make him sit down bound at the feet of his enemies."

This curse formula ends the inscription that covers the front and back of the stele. The monument was commissioned by the Assyrian king Asarhaddon, who guided the destiny of Assyria at the beginning of the 7th century BC. His foreign policy was marked by the conflict with Egypt for supremacy in Syria-Palestine. Only the 2nd campaign against Taharka in 671 BC brought the hoped-for decision in his favour.

This stele found in Sam'al, in southeastern Turkey, was to record this victory for posterity. After plundering the royal treasuries, Asarhaddon returned to Nineveh with most of his soldiers. While Taharka had managed to escape, his family and court were led into exile. It may be considered ironic that Asarhaddon did not survive a third campaign to the land along the Nile. In the long run this area could not be held anyway; already under Psammetich I Upper Egypt regained its independence in 655 BC.

The front of the stele shows the ruler in monumental size with royal insignia and two conquered adversaries kneeling down before him. At head height are various deity symbols and cult images in a reduced scale. On the narrower sides, Asarhaddon's sons are depicted as a novelty: Assurbanipal, the last important ruler of the Assyrians, and Shamash-shum-ukin, who was to take the throne of Babylon.

The subjugated enemies, bound hand and foot, are held by a rope leading to a ring drawn through the lower lip. Judging by the costume, it could be the Egyptian crown prince and a rebellious Syrian city prince. Baal of Tyre or Abdi-milkutti of Sidon, who had fallen from grace and been beheaded a few years earlier, could also be considered.

The good state of preservation of the stele, which was worked from a very hard stone, is to be owed to a catastrophic fire, which destroyed the princely seat probably still in the 7th century BC completely. Sealed by falling mud-brick walls, the image and inscription survived until they were found in 1888 by the German excavators Robert Koldewey and Felix von Luschan. [Nadja Cholidis]

Height 322 cm, width 135 cm, thickness 62 cm, weight circa 8000 kg.

Catalog: Basalt, Pergamon Museum, Level 1, Museum of the Ancient Near East, Room 3, VA 02708
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source and text: Pergamon Museum, Berlin, recherche.smb.museum

Stele protecting a royal land grant (kudurru) of Shamash-shuma-ukin.

Place of discovery within Mesopotamia unknown.

Black limestone.

Circumferential deity symbols, including an enfeoffment scene and inscription.

667 BC - 648 BC (reign of Shamash-shuma-ukin)

Shamash-shum-ukin was the son of the Neo-Assyrian king Esarhaddon and his appointed successor as king of Babylon, ruling Babylonia from 668 BC to his death in 648 BC.

Despite being the eldest living son of Esarhaddon at the time, Shamash-shum-ukin was designated as the heir to Babylon in 672 BC and in his stead his younger brother Ashurbanipal was designated as the heir to Assyria. Despite documents from Esarhaddon suggesting that the two brothers were intended to have equal power, Shamash-shum-ukin only acceded to the Babylonian throne months after Ashubanipal had become king and throughout his reign could only make decisions and issue orders if these were also approved and verified by Ashurbanipal.

Shamash-shum-ukin assimilated well into Babylonia, despite being ethnically and culturally Assyrian. His royal inscriptions are far more 'quintessentially Babylonian' than those of other Assyrian rulers of southern Mesopotamia, using Babylonian imagery and rhetoric to an unprecedented extent. He participated in the Babylonian New Year's festival and is recorded as partaking in other Babylonian traditions. The Statue of Marduk, the main cult image of Babylon's patron deity Marduk, was returned to Babylon in 668 BC at Shamash-shum-ukin's coronation, having been stolen from the city by his grandfather Sennacherib twenty years prior.

After resentment and hostility had grown between the brothers for some years, Shamash-shum-ukin rebelled against his younger brother in 652 BC. Despite successfully raising several allies, a coalition of enemies of Assyria, to his cause, Shamash-shum-ukin's rebellion proved disastrous. After enduring a two-year siege by Ashurbanipal of Babylon, the city fell in 684 BC and Shamash-shum-ukin died, and although the exact circumstances of his death are unclear, it may be that Shamash-shum-ukin committed suicide by making a pyre of his palace, treasury, and concubines. After his defeat and death there is evidence of a large-scale damnatio memoriae campaign, with images of the king being mutilated, erasing his face.

Height 240 mm, width 145 mm, thickness 110 mm, weight calculated as 7 kg.

Catalog: Limestone, Pergamon Museum, Level 1, Museum of the Ancient Near East, Room 6, VA 03614
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source and text: Pergamon Museum, Berlin, recherche.smb.museum
Additional text: Wikipedia

Stele protecting a royal land grant (kudurru).

Nippur (?)

Fragment of a document stone (Kudurru)

13th/12th century BC.

Height 355 mm, width 420 mm, thickness 200 mm, weight calculated as 55 kg.

Catalog: Limestone, Pergamon Museum, Level 1, Museum of the Ancient Near East, Room 6, VA 00213
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source and text: Pergamon Museum, Berlin, recherche.smb.museum

Reign of King Ashurbanipal, 669 BC - 631 BC

Protective spirits with raised daggers and maces.

Ashurbanipal was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 669 BCE to his death in 631. He is generally remembered as the last great king of Assyria. Inheriting the throne as the favoured heir of his father Esarhaddon, Ashurbanipal's 38-year reign was among the longest of any Assyrian king. Though sometimes regarded as the apogee of ancient Assyria, his reign also marked the last time Assyrian armies waged war throughout the ancient Near East and the beginning of the end of Assyrian dominion over the region.

Assyrian, about 645 BC - 635 BC. From Niniveh, North Palace, Room S, door d, panel 1.

These figures are not fighting one another but guarding against evil forces, which may come from any direction. This kind of spirit was known as Ugallu, or 'Great Lion'.

Height 150 cm, width 135 cm, depth 13 cm

Catalog: Gypsum alabaster, Niniveh, North Palace, Room S, door d, panel 1, BM/Big number 118911
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Reign of King Ashurbanipal, 669 BC - 631 BC

Wall panel, relief

Circa 645 BC - 635 BC

Gypsum alabaster wall panel relief in two parts, showing the netting of deer in partly wooded, hilly terrain. A herd of deer hunted from the left discover that a net has been cast across their escape route between two wooded hills. The trappers are not visibly armed, but one on the right is holding an ensnared, exhausted and possibly wounded deer by the antlers.

( The deer is somewhat obscured by the net, but plainly discernible. As always, click on the small image above, the 'thumbnail' on this page, to see the full size image.  - Don )

(left) height 71 cm, width 102 cm, (right) height 76 cm, width 66 cm,

A pair with 1856,0909.46.b (BM.124871.c)

Catalog: Gypsum alabaster, Niniveh, North Palace, BM/Big number 124871,a (right), and 124871,c (left). Both are shown in the BM image: BM/Big number 124882
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Reign of King Ashurbanipal, 669 BC - 631 BC

Wall panel, relief

Circa 645 BC - 635 BC, Niniveh, North Palace, Room S.

This is part of the 'hunting gazelle' wall relief lower register in gypsum alabaster.

Ashurnasirpal II is shown waiting in a pit with a bow to shoot the leading gazelle down. His assistant is holding out two arrows ready, with a quiver. (BM 124872 is written on the panel at the left corner)

Catalog: Gypsum alabaster, part of the group of images shown at BM/Big number 124882, and given the individual BM/Big number 124872

Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Reign of King Ashurbanipal, 669 BC - 631 BC

Wall panel, relief

Circa 645 BC - 635 BC, Niniveh, North Palace, Room S, panels 13-16, bottom row.

This is part of the 'hunting gazelle' wall relief in gypsum alabaster.

Gypsum wall panel relief showing the hunting of gazelle. A herd of gazelle is disturbed by huntsmen. One looks around (centre panel, BM 124874), tries to escape, and is led into ambush (leftmost panel, BM 124873). King Ashurnasirpal is waiting in a hide, ready to shoot the leader down, one corner of this panel (shown in its entirety in the entry above) may be seen on the left.

( It is important to realise that these wall reliefs tell a story. They are not a moment in time, but can easily represent a whole day or a whole month.

In the leftmost full panel here, BM 124873, we can see two arrows sent by King Ashurnasirpal flying towards the gazelle, one of these misses, and the panel records the moment that the gazelle is hit by a third arrow (or perhaps the one shown in flight at the left). The stories can be told from either left to right or right to left. On the right panel, BM 124874, we can see the start of the gazelle hunt, with gazelles feeding, looking after their young, and one gazelle turning its head in alarm to see the approaching hunter - Don )

Catalog: Gypsum alabaster, part of the group of images shown at BM/Big number 124882, and given the individual BM/Big numbers 124873, 124874

Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Reign of King Ashurbanipal, 669 BC - 631 BC

Close up of mounted soldiers

Circa 645 BC - 635 BC, Niniveh, North Palace, Room S.

These spearmen taking part in the lion hunt are shown riding with just a leather saddle cloth, and thus no stirrups. Although each horse is fitted with reins, bridle, and bit, the riders are controlling the horses by their posture, and possibly in this case by their left hand touching the horse's head. Riding without reins or stirrups is still used today to improve communication between horse and rider, and to develop the skills of the rider.

However, stirrups give horseback riders stability, and their development by the Jin dynasty of China, circa 266 AD – 316 AD, revolutionised the way wars were fought. The balance provided by stirrups allows the mounted soldier to move faster, and to strike with more deadly force.

Catalog: Gypsum alabaster, 124874

Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Text: Don Hitchcock

Reign of King Ashurbanipal, 669 BC - 631 BC

Wall panel, relief

Circa 645 BC - 635 BC, Niniveh, North Palace, Room S.

Gypsum wall panel relief. In the middle row is a lion hunt on horseback; Ashurbanipal drives a spear into one lion's mouth (BM 124875) but another, which has been hit by arrows and left for dead, leaps up to maul the king's spare horse; attendants gallop to the rescue from the left (BM 124874).

On the top row, the king shoots an arrow (BM 124876), hitting a previously released lion in the head (BM 124877), and then on the left dispatches it with a sword (BM 124875).

For over a millennium before these reliefs, it seems that the killing of lions was reserved in Mesopotamia for royalty, and kings were often shown in art doing so. There may have been a religious dimension to the activity. A surviving letter on a clay tablet records that when a lion entered a house in the provinces, it had to be trapped and taken by boat to the king. The Asiatic lion, today only surviving in a small population in India, is generally smaller than the African variety, and much later records show that their killing at close quarters, as depicted in the reliefs, was not an impossible feat. When the sword is used, it seems likely that, as in relatively recent times, the actual technique was that 'the lion-killer wrapped his left arm in a huge quantity of goats'-hair yarn or tent-cloth' and tempted the lion to attack this, while the sword in the right hand despatched him. This padded defence is never depicted. More often, the king shoots arrows at the lion; if these fail to stop him and he leaps, the huntsmen close beside the king use their spears to dispatch the lion.

Catalog: Gypsum alabaster, part of the group of images shown at BM/Big number 124882, and given the individual BM/Big numbers 124874, 124875, 124876

Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Additional text: Wikipedia

Reign of King Ashurbanipal, 669 BC - 631 BC

Circa 645 BC - 635 BC, Niniveh, North Palace, Room S.

Ashurbanipal drives a spear into a lion's mouth, a closeup from the image above of panels 124874, 124875, 124876.

We can see here what is known as the 'Assyrian rosette' on Ashurnasirpal's wrist, and a decorative arm band. Both are long-lived parts of Royal attire, as can be seen on a closeup of a protective spirit on a wall relief carved nearly two hundred years earlier, see the image below.

Catalog: Gypsum alabaster, BM 124875

Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Additional text: Wikipedia, Don Hitchcock

Reign of King Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BC)

Assyrian rosette and arm band.

This close up is from a gypsum alabaster wall panel depicting a protective spirit in relief.

It shows clearly the Assyrian rosette on his wrist, and his armlets have animal-head terminals. This carving from nearly two hundred years earlier than the image of Ashurbanipal above with similar jewellery demonstrates the longevity of these symbols.

Catalog: Gypsum alabaster, pigmented, Nimrud, BM/Big number 124561
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum
Text: Don Hitchcock

Reign of King Ashurbanipal, 669 BC - 631 BC

Wall panel, relief

Circa 645 BC - 635 BC, Niniveh, North Palace, Room S.

Gypsum wall panel relief, BM 124876, BM 124877, BM 124878. The bottom row shows King Ashurbanipal galloping forward (BM 124876), shooting at wild asses or onagars; one of the horsemen behind him has spare arrows and the other has a spare mount (BM 124875); asses are shot or pulled down by dogs; one is lassoed alive, probably for breeding (BM 124882).

In the next episode of the lion hunt, the king has killed both lions; some attendants admire them and others, on hands and knees in disgrace, probably allowed their horses to lag too far behind the king. The top row shows Ashurbanipal on foot, killing a lion with an arrow. The lion has been released from a cage made of undressed timber by a small person, possibly a child, who has his own cage of sawn timber on top of the lion cage to hide in; the lion advances on the king and is hit by an arrow. The bottom row shows king Ashurbanipal galloping forward, shooting at wild asses (onagers); one of the horsemen behind him has spare arrows and the other has a spare mount ( see BM 124875 above - Don ).

Catalog: Gypsum alabaster, part of the group of images shown at BM/Big number 124882, and given the individual BM/Big numbers 124876, 124877, 124878

Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Reign of King Ashurbanipal, 669 BC - 631 BC

A lion is released from its cage

( Here we can see a child who has been given the important but safe job of releasing the lion when called upon to do so. This would be a valuable 'blooding' part of the child's upbringing as either a royal child, or as the child of one of the king's trusted hunters, learning his craft.

At first glance it might seem that the gate lifted up from the guiding channels at the entrance of the cage is too short, but we can imagine a design where the channels end one third the way down the entrance, then there is an opening for the middle third, too small for the lion to exit, and the lower third is covered in, in the same way as the sides.

Thus once the gate is lifted, the opening would be quite deep enough for the lion to step outside to the open air.

This image is a close up of the image above from the panels 124876, 124877, 124878.  - Don )

Catalog: Gypsum alabaster, 124876, 124877, 124878

Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Text: Don Hitchcock

Reign of King Ashurbanipal, 669 BC - 631 BC

Wall panel, relief

Circa 645 BC - 635 BC, Niniveh, North Palace, Room S.

Gypsum wall panel relief, BM 124878, BM 124879, BM 124880, BM 124881, BM 124882. Three panels are missing their top two registers, but in the top register on the left, King Ashurbanipal fires arrows, with attendants waiting with spare arrows, and, indeed, spare bows.

On the lowest register, dogs continue to harry the asses, and one is lassoed alive, using a doubled rope, probably for breeding (BM 124882).

BM 124882 has all three registers, and the top register shows three servants leading a saddled horse. The middle register shows three soldiers, leading a horse which has an ornate set of decorations and tasselled saddle, ready for the king. These two registers have been described as courtiers watching the lion hunts.

Catalog: Gypsum alabaster, part of the group of images shown at BM/Big number 124882, and given the individual BM/Big numbers 124878, 124879, 124880, 124881, 124882

Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Reign of King Ashurbanipal, 669 BC - 631 BC

The King's Horse

Circa 645 BC - 635 BC, Niniveh, North Palace, Room S.

( Horses were vital for transport and war, and the king's horses were pampered pets, ornately 'dressed' when on public display.

Here two archers and a spear carrier stand in front of one of the king's horses, which has costly and beautiful 'tack' in the form of an ornate saddle with tassels, a costly rope possibly of gold, and cockades on its head.

As is still the case with some modern horses shown in dressage competitions, the tail of the horse has been carefully prepared and braided in a complex style.

This image is a close up of the image above from the panel 124882 - Don )

Catalog: Gypsum alabaster, part of the group of images shown at BM/Big number 124882, and given the individual BM/Big numbers 124878, 124879, 124880, 124881, 124882

Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Text: Don Hitchcock

Reign of King Ashurbanipal, 669 BC - 631 BC

Wall panel, relief

Circa 645 BC - 635 BC, Niniveh, North Palace, Room S.

Gypsum wall panel in low relief, described by the BM as being from Panel 4. Circa 645 BC - 635 BC

BM 124885

( So far as I can tell, this catalog number is only for the double fragment at the top of this image. On the right is the still intact BM 124858, and I have not been able to identify the other two fragments, apparently related to BM 124885. However, to my eyes, these four fragments were not originally as physically close to BM 124858 as this arrangement by the curators might suggest - Don )

Royal lion hunt. Fragments showing preparations for the hunt. Armourers string and test the king's bow and arrows. A servant is carrying guards that are to be worn on the king's left forearm and fingers, to protect them when he is shooting. Another servant collects spears. All the equipment is to be handed up to the king and his attendants in the chariot to the right.

Height 58 cm, width 64 cm. ( These dimensions only make sense when applied to the top left hand rectangular fragment, ignoring the irregular fragment attached to it - Don )

Catalog: Gypsum alabaster, BM 124885
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Reign of King Ashurbanipal, 669 BC - 631 BC

Wall panel, relief

Circa 645 BC - 635 BC, Niniveh, North Palace, Room S.

Gypsum wall panel in low relief, circa 645 BC - 635 BC. This is described by the BM as being Panels 5, 6, and 7, with the two wooded knoll panels being 8 and 9.

(from left) Grooms lead horses towards a screened enclosure, within which the royal chariot is being prepared for the hunt. King Ashurbanipal is handed a bow.

Men are struggling to push one of the horses into position while another horse is having his harness tightened. King Ashurbanipal is already in the chariot, and reaches back to receive a bow which is being handed up to him. Soldiers protecting the arena are ready for duty.

Dimensions:

Leftmost panel, 124858:
Height 160 cm, width 127 cm.

Second panel, 124859
Height 157 cm, width 127 cm.

Third panel, 124860
Height 155 cm, width 122 cm.

Fourth panel, 124861:
Height 155 cm, width 114 cm.

Curator's comments: See also 1856,0909.15 (BM.124850) In set with BM.124859-124870 (all 1856,0909.16).

Catalog: Gypsum alabaster, 124858, 124859, 124860, 124861
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Reign of King Ashurbanipal, 669 BC - 631 BC

Close up of preparing the horses and chariot

Circa 645 BC - 635 BC, Niniveh, North Palace, Room S.

Men are struggling to push one of the horses into position while another horse is having his harness tightened. King Ashurbanipal is already in the chariot, and reaches back to receive a bow which is being handed up to him. The horses have decorative loops braided into the ends of their tails. One of the reins to the rear horse has been shortened with a knot similar to the modern 'alpine butterfly loop'.

King Ashurbanipal's face has been intentionally disfigured, like that of Sennacherib on his monuments, probably when the united armies of the Medes and Babylonians destroyed the palace.

The wooden wheels of the chariot are superbly made. Eight spoke wheels began to be used from the period of Tiglat-Pileser (745-727 BC) to the period of Ashurbanipal (669-631 BC).

Thus, the endurance of the chariots when coping with high speeds on the battlefield, and their durability under conditions of rough terrain had increased. In addition, the outer surface of the wooden circle in contact with the ground was often covered with an iron protective ring. This particular example uses strengthening quadrilateral wooden inserts to the ring of the wheel, as well as the by then standard eight spokes. Also, there appear to be iron rivets installed on the outer surface of the wheel, rather than the use of the superior method, an iron ring.

Catalog: Gypsum alabaster, 124858, 124859
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Additional text: Don Hitchcock, arkeonews.net/chariots-in-neo-assyrian-army/

Reign of King Ashurbanipal, 669 BC - 631 BC

Wall panel, relief

Circa 645 BC - 635 BC, Niniveh, North Palace, Room S.

Gypsum wall panel in low relief, circa 645 BC - 635 BC

On the left, Assyrians rush up a wooded knoll, either in fright or to get a better view of the lion hunt. The hill is crowned by a building, or stela, through which we can see another picture of the royal lion hunt; further to the right is a scene where lions are hit by the king's arrows, collapse and die. There are keepers with dogs stationed on the edge of the arena to deter lions from escaping. Behind them, on the left, beside the wooded knoll, a row of soldiers with high shields are ready to stop any lion who tries to break free.

The wooded knoll is decribed by the BM as being made up of Panels 8 and 9.

Dimensions:

Leftmost panel, 124861:
Height 155 cm, width 114 cm.

Second panel, 124862
Height 152 cm, width 119 cm.

Third panel, 124863
Height 155 cm, width 119 cm.

Fourth panel, 124864
Height 158 cm, width 127 cm.

Fifth panel, 124865
Height 158 cm, width 119 cm.

Curator's comments: See also 1856,0909.15 (BM.124850) In set with BM.124859-124870 (all 1856,0909.16).

Catalog: Gypsum alabaster, 124861, 124862, 124863, 124864, 124865
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Reign of King Ashurbanipal, 669 BC - 631 BC

Close up of a wounded lion

Circa 645 BC - 635 BC, Niniveh, North Palace, Room S.

This image shows a lion grievously wounded with four arrows, one of which has come from beneath as the lion attempted to attack the king's chariot.

Close up of the image immediately above.

Catalog: Gypsum alabaster, 124863, 124864
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Text: Don Hitchcock

Reign of King Ashurbanipal, 669 BC - 631 BC

Wall panel, relief

Circa 645 BC - 635 BC, Niniveh, North Palace, Room S.

Gypsum wall panel in low relief, circa 645 BC - 635 BC

A lion hunt is depicted. The king shown in high, distinctive hat races around the arena in his chariot. He shoots arrows at a succession of lions; one arrow in mid-air follows a wounded lion. Meanwhile, attendants with spears, in the king's chariot, ward off another wounded lion, attacking from behind.

Dimensions:

Leftmost panel, 124865
Height 158 cm, width 119 cm.

Second panel, 124866
Height 160 cm, width 231 cm.

Third panel, 124867
Height 163 cm, width 114 cm.

Fourth panel, 124868
Height 163 cm, width 173 cm.

Curator's comments: See also 1856,0909.15 (BM.124850) In set with BM.124859-124870 (all 1856,0909.16).

Catalog: Gypsum alabaster, 124865, 124866, 124867, 124868
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Reign of King Ashurbanipal, 669 BC - 631 BC

Wall panel, relief

Circa 645 BC - 635 BC, Niniveh, North Palace, Room S.

This is a closeup of the image above, in which we may see Ashurbanipal loosing an arrow at a distant lion, while another attempts to mount his chariot, but is fended off by attendants with spears.

Gypsum wall panel in low relief, circa 645 BC - 635 BC

Catalog: Gypsum alabaster, 124866, 124867, 124868
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Reign of King Ashurbanipal, 669 BC - 631 BC

Wall panel, relief

Circa 645 BC - 635 BC, Niniveh, North Palace, Room S.

Gypsum wall panel in low relief, circa 645 BC - 635 BC

A lion is released from its cage by a small person or child, who has his own small cage on top of the lion cage. Horsemen prepare to drive or lure a lion towards Ashurbanipal's chariot. On the right a line of soldiers with high shields rings the arena make sure that the lions do not escape.

Dimensions:

Leftmost panel, 124869
Height 165cm, width 122 cm.

Second panel, 124870
Height 165 cm, width 91 cm.

Curator's comments: See also 1856,0909.15 (BM.124850) In set with BM.124859-124870 (all 1856,0909.16).

Catalog: Gypsum alabaster, 124869, 124870
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Reign of King Ashurbanipal, 669 BC - 631 BC

Lion Hunt, wall panel, relief

Circa 645 BC - 635 BC, Niniveh, North Palace.

Gypsum wall panel in low relief, circa 645 BC - 635 BC

(Leftmost panel, BM 124850)
(Second panel, BM 124851)

Ashurbanipal with pointed hat, races through the arena in his chariot. A lion he has shot pursues the chariot and jumps up at the back. Two attendants hold it back with spears while the king draws a sword to kill it.

(Third panel, BM 124852)

In front, another lion has just received its first arrow in the face, and stands on its hind legs, with both front legs spread in the air in agony. One lion lies dead on the upper part of the panel.

(Fourth panel, BM 124853)

The two horses of the king's chariot jump over a dead lion, controlled by an assistant to the king.

Curator's comments:
In set with BM.124904-124915 (all 1856,0909.14)
In set with BM.124851-124857 (all 1856,0909.15)

Dimensions:

Leftmost panel, 124850
Height 160 cm, width 170 cm.

Second panel, 124851
Height 160 cm, width 163 cm.

Third panel, 124852
Height 160 cm, width 109 cm.

Fourth panel, 124853
Height 160 cm, width 114 cm.

Catalog: Gypsum alabaster, 124850, 124851, 124852, 124853
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Reign of King Ashurbanipal, 669 BC - 631 BC

Close up of a wounded lion

The lions caught up in the lion hunt were subject to horrific injuries.

Catalog: Gypsum alabaster, 124851, 124852
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Text: Don Hitchcock

Reign of King Ashurbanipal, 669 BC - 631 BC

Lion Hunt, wall panel, relief

Gypsum wall panel in low relief, circa 645 BC - 635 BC, Niniveh, North Palace, Room C.

(Leftmost panel, BM 124853)

The two horses of the king's chariot jump over a dead lion, controlled by an assistant to the king.

(Second panel, BM 124854)

The king has grabbed a spear from an attendant and drives it into a wounded lion that is biting the wheel of the chariot. One attendant holds the royal bow, while another holds a spear ready.

( Marked WA 124852-5 on the museum card, but the BM catalog online only recognises the numbers 124852, 124853, 124854, 124855 as individual searches, as just the number, and without the WA prefix - Don )

(Third, fourth, and fifth panels, BM 124855, BM 124856, BM 124857)

Lions are released from cages into the arena, one by one, and men on horses drive or lure them to the king's chariot; the king shoots them; death agonies are realistically shown. Some tails were originally carved too long and have been shortened.

At BM 124856, upper register, a lioness is shown in her death throes, struck by three arrows, one of which has caused her to lose strength in her rear legs. This superb though horrifying image is deservedly famous for its artistry, and is often reproduced.

Curator's comments:
In set with BM.124904-124915 (all 1856,0909.14)
In set with BM.124851-124857 (all 1856,0909.15)

Dimensions:

Leftmost panel, 124853
Height 160 cm, width 114 cm.

Second panel, 124854
Height 160 cm, width 124 cm.

Third panel, 124855
Height 160 cm, width 132 cm.

Fourth panel, 124856
Height 160 cm, width 124cm.

Fifth panel, 124857
Height 160 cm, width 163 cm.

Catalog: Gypsum alabaster, 124853, 124854, 124855, 124856, 124857
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Reign of King Ashurbanipal, 669 BC - 631 BC

Wounded Lioness

At BM 124856, upper register, a lioness is shown in her death throes, struck by three arrows, one of which has caused her to lose strength in her rear legs. This superb though horrifying image is deservedly famous for its artistry, and is often reproduced.

Catalog: Gypsum alabaster, 124856
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Text: Don Hitchcock

Reign of King Ashurbanipal, 669 BC - 631 BC

Lion Hunt, wall panel, relief

Gypsum wall panel in low relief, circa 645 BC - 635 BC, Niniveh, North Palace, Room C.

(Leftmost panel, BM 124857)

Lions are released from cages into the arena, one by one, and men on horses drive or lure them to the king's chariot.

(lower left fragment, BM 124883)
Part of a lion cage, with an enraged penned lion inside.

(Upper middle fragment, BM unknown)
Parts of four servants are visible, carrying a dead lion on their shoulders, with the two left hands shown at the spine of the lion belonging to the two rearmost men.

(lower right fragment, BM 124921 )
Gypsum wall panel relief: fragment of lowest register showing six servants carrying a dead lion. Unfinished at the right because of the corner which originally abutted it. Nothing certain is known about the position of this piece. It may have been a sculptor's trial piece.

Curator's comments:
In set with BM.124904-124915 (all 1856,0909.14)
In set with BM.124851-124857 (all 1856,0909.15)

Dimensions:

Leftmost panel, 124857
Height 160 cm, width 163 cm.

Lower right fragment, BM 124921
Height 53 cm, width 71 cm.

Lower left fragment, BM 124883
Height 64 cm, width 69 cm

Catalog: Gypsum alabaster, 124857, 124921, 124883
Photo: Don Hitchcock 2015
Source: Original, British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Text: Card with the display at the British Museum, http://www.britishmuseum.org/, © Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

References

1. Belser C., 1894: 'Babylonische Kudurru-Inschriften', in F. Delitzsch, Paul Haupt (ed.). Beiträge zur Assyriologie, II., J. C. Hinrichs. pp. 187–203. “Grenzstein” no. 103
2. Braun & Schneider, circa 1861 and 1880: The History of Costume, Zur Geschichte der Kostüme, München.
3. Damen M., 2006: The Neo-Assyrians, Three lectures, www.usu.edu/markdamen/ane/lectures/8.1.pdf, www.usu.edu/markdamen/ane/lectures/8.2.pdf, www.usu.edu/markdamen/ane/lectures/8.3.pdf
   ( These lectures are a valuable introduction to Neo-Assyrian history, and are highly recommended - Don )
4. Hutchinson, 1915: Hutchinson's Story of the Nations , London, Hutchinson & Co.
5. King L., 1915: Bronze reliefs from the gates of Shalmaneser, King of Assyria, B.C. 860-825, 80 plates, London.
6. Layard A., 1849: The Monuments of Nineveh from drawings made on the spot, 100 plates, London.
7. Layard A., 1853: A second series of the Monuments of Nineveh including bas-reliefs from the Palace of Sennacherib and Bronzes from the ruins of Nimroud, 71 plates, London.
8. Sanders D., 2015: Advances in Virtual Heritage – Conditions and Caveats, ResearchGate, Conference Paper, October 2015, DOI: 10.1109/DigitalHeritage.2015.7419588
9. Thompson R., 1929: The Excavations on the Temple of Nabû at Nineveh, Archaeologia 77, pp. 103-148.

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