Relief of the Lion hunt of Ashurbanipal, British MuseumRelief with Ashurbanipal killing a lion, c. 645–635 BCThe king shoots arrows from his chariot, while huntsmen fend off a lion behind
The royal Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal is shown on a famous group of Assyrian palace reliefs from the North Palace of Nineveh that are now displayed in room 10a of the British Museum. They are widely regarded as "the supreme masterpieces of Assyrian art".[1]
They show a formalized ritual "hunt" by King Ashurbanipal (reigned 669–631 BC) in an arena, where captured Asian lions were released from cages for the king to slaughter with arrows, spears, or his sword.[2] They were made about 645–635 BC, and originally formed different sequences placed around the palace. They would probably originally have been painted, and formed part of a brightly coloured overall decor.[3]
The slabs or orthostats from the North Palace were excavated by Hormuzd Rassam in 1852–1854, and William Loftus in 1854–1855 and most were sent to the British Museum,[4] where they have been favourites with the general public and art historians alike ever since. The realism of the lions has always been praised, although the pathos modern viewers tend to feel was perhaps not part of the Assyrian response. The human figures are mostly seen in formal poses in profile, especially the king in his several appearances, but the lions are in a great variety of poses, alive, dying, and dead.[5]
The carvings come from late in the period of some 250 years over which Assyrian palace reliefs were made, and show the style at its most developed and finest,[6] before decline set in. Ashurbanipal was the last great Assyrian king, and after his reign ended the Neo-Assyrian Empire descended into a period of poorly-recorded civil war between his descendants, generals and rebelling parts of the empire. By 612, perhaps as little as 25 years after these were made, the empire had fallen apart and Nineveh been sacked and burnt.[7]
The royal LionHuntofAshurbanipal is shown on a famous group of Assyrian palace reliefs from the North Palace of Nineveh that are now displayed in room...
motif appearing in several ofAshurbanipal's art pieces, for instance the LionHuntofAshurbanipal, is the king killing lions, a propaganda image illustrating...
(2.1 m) high. The LionHuntofAshurbanipal and military Lachish reliefs, both 7th century and in the British Museum, are some of the best known. Gypsum...
observed that none of the many casualties ever come from the Assyrian side. Another famous sequence there shows the LionHuntofAshurbanipal, in fact the staged...
The Asiatic lion is a lion population of the subspecies Panthera leo leo. Since the turn of the 20th century, its range has been restricted to Gir National...
during the reign of Amenhotep III LionHuntofAshurbanipal, appears on a famous group of Assyrian palace reliefs from the North Palace of Nineveh that are...
emperor Ashurbanipal had one of his lionhunts depicted on a sequence of Assyrian palace reliefs c. 640 BC, known as the LionHuntofAshurbanipal. Lions were...
London show King Ashurbanipal hunting lions. In fact the "royal lionhunt", was the staged and ritualized killing by the king oflions already captured...
the bas-reliefs depicting the LionHuntofAshurbanipal from the North Palace of Nineveh is a clear and detailed image of two mules loaded with nets for...
was 12 metres (39 ft) wide and 5.10 metres (16.7 ft) long. The LionHuntofAshurbanipal sequence was found in the same palace. The reliefs were discovered...
mid 19th century. Several reliefs feature lions, including the LionHuntofAshurbanipal, a famous group of Assyrian palace reliefs with numerous small...
discover the North Palace ofAshurbanipal at Nineveh with many magnificent reliefs, including the famous LionHuntofAshurbanipal and Lachish reliefs. He...
Hama, 8th century BC Giant lamassu, 8th century BC Portion of the LionHuntofAshurbanipal, 7th century BC The ivory tusks that provided the raw material...
high One of 18 Statues of Gudea, a ruler around 2090 BCE The Burney Relief, Old Babylonian, around 1800 BCE Part of the LionHuntofAshurbanipal, c. 640...
Earth) and lion (personifying the Sun) are equal. Assyrian low relief, LionHuntofAshurbanipal, North Palace, Nineveh Atropos cutting the thread of life....
ensured a peaceful transition of power to his two sons and heirs Ashurbanipal as ruler of the empire and Šamaš-šuma-ukin as king of Babylonia after his death...
Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal. Though the Sargonid dynasty only encompasses the reigns of a few kings, their rule saw the borders of the empire grow to...
in Akkadian, catalogued the Library ofAshurbanipal. Robert D. Biggs (American, born 1934), editor of the Journal of Near Eastern Studies. Riekele Borger...
'Maintenance and Transformation of Ethnic Identity: the Assyrian Case', The Assyrian Australian Academic Journal Thrown to the Lions Archived 2013-08-08 at the...
Beuningen, Rotterdam – Expressionism Albert Gleizes, 1911, La Chasse (The Hunt), oil on canvas, 123.2 x 99 cm. Exhibited at the 1911 Salon d'Automne and...
triumphal scenes of sieges, battles, and individual combat. Among the best known Assyrian reliefs are the famous LionHuntofAshurbanipal scenes in alabaster...
The David Vases are a pair of blue-and-white temple vases from the Yuan dynasty. The vases have been described as the "best-known porcelain vases in the...
designated as papyrus British Museum 10057 and pBM 10058) is one of the best known examples of ancient Egyptian mathematics. It is named after Alexander Henry...
Monuments are a pair of inscribed stone objects from Mesopotamia now in the British Museum. They are commonly thought to be a form of ancient kudurru. The...
of the Prophet Jonah and a palace of Esarhaddon/Ashurbanipal below it are located. South of the street Al-'Asady (made by Daesh destroying swaths of the...
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