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The Neo-Assyrian

Artefacts from the Neo-Assyrian

The Neo-Assyrian Empire was a powerful state that existed in the ancient Near East from 911 BC to 609 BC. It was the largest empire in the world at the time and covered much of modern-day Iraq, Syria, and parts of Iran, Turkey, and Egypt. The Neo-Assyrians were known for their military might, efficient administration, and innovative use of technology, including the development of siege warfare and the use of iron weapons. They also had a well-organised system of government, with a king who had absolute power and a bureaucracy that helped him govern.

One of the most notable achievements of the Neo-Assyrians was their expansion of the empire through military conquest. They employed a standing army, which was one of the largest and most well-trained in the ancient world. The army was divided into specialised units, such as archers, infantry, and charioteers, and was equipped with advanced weapons and tactics. The Neo-Assyrians also developed a reputation for their brutal treatment of conquered peoples, often employing mass deportations and massacres to ensure obedience.

Despite their military might, the Neo-Assyrians were also known for their cultural achievements, particularly in the fields of art, literature, and science. They were great patrons of the arts and architecture, and built impressive structures such as the palace of King Sargon II at Dur-Sharrukin. They also produced great works of literature, including the epic of Gilgamesh, and made significant advances in science and medicine, with scholars producing important works on astronomy, mathematics, and the human body.

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	Clickable 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 II		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 680, 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.

Table of Neo-Assyrian Kings, adapted from various sources, including cdli.ox.ac.uk and Wikipedia.

King Ashur-dan II

Map of Assyria 1392 CC - 934 BC

This map shows the extent of the Assyrian Empire when King Ashur-dan II came to the throne. He began the process of greatly extending the Empire.

Photo: Nel Weggelaar and Jan Kort, Amsterdam, repositorio.uca.edu.ar/bitstream/123456789/16108/1/assyrian-king-list.pdf

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.

King Adad-nirari II

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

King Tukulti-Ninurta II

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

King Ashurnasirpal II

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

( I have rounded all the dimensions on this page to the nearest whole unit - Don )

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

The Standard Inscription of Ahurnasirpal

The so-called Standard Inscription of Ashurnasirpal was carved across the centre of every wall panel in the North-West Palace, forming a decorative band around each room. Occasionally, on narrow panels, part of the text was omitted. Otherwise there was no significant variation and the catalogue of royal titles, claims and achievements was simply repeated over and over again.

Palace of Ashurnasirpal, priest of Ashur, favourite of Enlil and Ninurtya, beloved of Anu and Dagan, the weapon of the great gods, the mighty king, king of the world, king of Assyria; son of Tukulti-Ninurta, the great king, the mighty king, king of the world, king of Assyria; the valiant man, who acts with the support of Ashur, his lord, and has no equal among the princes of the four quarters of the world; the wonderful shepherd who is not afraid of battle; the great flood which none can oppose; the king who makes those who makes those who are not subject to him submissive; who has subjugated all mankind; the mighty warrior who treads on the neck of his enemies, tramples down all foes, and shatters the forces of the proud; the king who acts with the support of the great gods, and whose hand has conquered all lands, who has subjugated all the mountains and received their tribute, taking hostages and establishing his power over all countries.

When Ashur, the lord who called me by name and has made my kingdom great, entrusted his merciless weapon to my lordly arms, I overthrew the widespread troops of the land of Lullume in battle. With the assistance of Shamash and Adad, the gods who help me, I thundered like Adad the destroyer over troops of the Nairi lands, Habhi, Shubaru, and Nirib. I am the king who has brought into submission at his feet the lands from beyond the Tigris to Mount Lebanon and the Great Sea (the Mediterranean), the whole of the land of Laqe, the land of Suhi as far as Rapiqu, and whose hand has conquered from the source of the river Subnat to the land of Urartu.

The area from the mountain passes of Kirruri to the land of Gilzanu, from beyond the Lower Zab to the city of Til-sha-Zabdani, Hirimu and Harutu, fortresses of the land of Karduniash (Babylonia), I have restored to the borders of my land. From the mountain passes of Babite to the land of Hashmar I have counted the inhabitants of my land. Over the lands which I have subjugated I have appointed my governors, and they do obeisance.

I am Ashurnasirpal, the celebrated prince, who reveres the great gods, the fierce dragon, conqueror of the cities and mountains to their furthest extent, king of rulers who has tamed the stiff-necked peoples, who is crowned with splendour, who is not afraid of battle, the merciless champion who shakes resistance, the glorious king, the shepherd, the protection of the whole world, the king, the word of whose mouth destroys mountains and seas, who by his lordly attack has forced fierce and merciless kings from the rising to the setting sun to acknowledge one rule.

The former city of Kalhu (Nimrud) which Shalmaneser king of Assyria, a prince who preceded me, had built, that city had fallen into ruins and lay deserted. That city I built anew. I took the peoples from whom my hand had conquered from the lands which I had subjugated, from the land of Suhi, from the whole of the land of Laqe, from the city of Sirqu on the other side of the Euphrates, from the furthest extent of the land of Zamua, from teh Bit-Adini and the land of Hatte, and from Lubarna, king of the island of Patina, and made them settle there.

I removed the ancient mound and dug down to the water level. I sank the foundations 120 brick courses deep. A palace with walls of cedar, cypress, juniper, box-wood, meskannu-wood (Dalbergia sissoo, terbinth (Pistacia terebinthus) and tamarisk, I founded my royal residence for my lordly pleasure forever.

Creatures of the mountains and seas I fashioned in white limestone and alabaster, and set them up at its gates. I adorned it, and made it glorious, and set ornamental knobs of bronze around it. I fixed doors of cedar, cypress, juniper and meskannu-wood in its gates. I took in great quantities, and placed there, silver, gold, tin, bronze and iron, booty taken by my hands from the lands which I had conquered.

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

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

Text below from 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