Assyrian Reliefs at the British Museum Part Three

Dead lioness 645-640 BC
North Palace, Nineveh, Iraq

Dead lion 645-640 BC
North Palace, Nineveh, Iraq

Hunting scene palace of Sargon II
c. 710 BC Khorsabad, Iraq

Sennacherib's archers and slingers attacking Lachish
c. 700 BC Sennacherib's Palace, Nineveh, Iraq

Sennacherib's spearmen and archers attacking Lachish
c. 700 BC Sennacherib's Palace, Nineveh, Iraq

Sennacherib's armoured slingers
c. 700 BC Sennacherib's Palace, Nineveh, Iraq

Sling stones the size of cricket balls

Men returning from the hunt carrying dead lions
645-640 BC North Palace, Nineveh, Iraq

Hounds chase a herd of deer into a net
645-640 BC North Palace, Nineveh, Iraq

Modern reconstruction of gates made
about 845 BC for a royal building at Balawat

The Kurk Stele - Shalmaneser III worshipping symbols of the gods
c. 853 BC Kurkh, near Diyarbakir Turkey

The Kurk Stele - Bactrian camels and hunting lions
c. 853 BC Kurkh, near Diyarbakir Turkey

The Kurk Stele c. 853 BC Kurkh, near Diyarbakir Turkey

The Kurk Stele c. 853 BC Kurkh, near Diyarbakir Turkey

Tiglath-pileser III in his chariot with parasol bearer
730-727 BC South-West Palace, Nimrud, Iraq

Assyrian Reliefs at the British Museum Part Two

An assault on a fortress
c.865 BC Nimrud, Iraq

Ashurnasirpal II shoots at his enemies, the chariot
in the centre displays the standard of the storm god Adad
c.865 BC Nimrud, Iraq

Siege tower with battering ram
c.865 BC Nimrud, Iraq

Ashurnasirpal II shoots a bow at his enemies
c.865 BC Nimrud, Iraq

Ashurnasirpal II shoots a lion from his chariot
c.865 BC Nimrud, Iraq

Ashurnasirpal II shoots a lion from his chariot
c.865 BC Nimrud, Iraq

Mounted attendants Ashurbanipal's Royal Lion Hunt
645-640 BC North Palace, Nineveh, Iraq

Mounted Ashurbanipal drives a spear into a lion's mouth
645-640 BC North Palace, Nineveh, Iraq

Ashurbanipal on foot kills a lion with a sword
645-640 BC North Palace, Nineveh, Iraq

Mounted Ashurbanipal shoots wild asses
645-640 BC North Palace, Nineveh, Iraq

A dying lion, wounded by arrows
645-640 BC North Palace, Nineveh, Iraq

Ashurbanipal shoots lions from his chariot
645-640 BC North Palace, Nineveh, Iraq

Ashurbanipal's attendants repel an attacking lion from his chariot
645-640 BC North Palace, Nineveh, Iraq

Assyrian Reliefs at the British Museum Part One

Glazed terracotta tile of an Assyrian King and attendants
875-850 BC North-West Palace, Nimrud, Iraq 

Protective spirits - an Ugallu and probably the House God
645-640 BC North Palace, Nineveh, Iraq

Protective spirit an Ugallu

In the mail this week I received I am Ashurbanipal, king of the world, king of Assyria edited by Gareth Brereton, a great book of the exhibition currently on at the British Museum from 8 November 2018 until 24 February 2019. This has inspired me to dig out and post photos from our 2011 visit there. Identifying individual reliefs is a bit tricky and time consuming, seven years after the event, so I have only captioned those I'm fairly certain about! I highly recommend the book, if you are at all interested in Assyria, published by Thames & Hudson, the paperback version is 348 pages, lavishly illustrated with colour photos and maps and it has interesting text. I also would recommend the book of the 2017 exhibition, Scythians warriors of ancient Siberia, edited by St John Simpson and Svetlana Pankova, both books are really fascinating.

Human-headed winged bull and attendant genie
 (alad-lammu or lammasu) c.710 BC Khorsabad, Iraq 

Human-headed winged bull and attendant genie
 (alad-lammu or lammasu) c.710 BC Khorsabad, Iraq