I went to the British Museum this week and found that I was not the only person taking an interest in the sculpture and bas reliefs from Nimrud and Nineveh in the Assyrian rooms. Several school parties were being shown round, which can only be a good thing.
These little girls are examining one of a pair of human headed winged lions (865 – 860 BC) from Nimrud. Specifically the doorway to the throne room of the palace of Ashurnasirpal II. They were meant to be viewed either straight on, or from the side. Viewing from a angle one can see that they were carved with 5 legs so that they looked right from the side, or front. The smaller pair below (and I didn’t make a note of where these are from) show the practice better. I have seen this done on English sculpture in the gate of a west country ‘big house’ as well.
The beautiful beast below is a lion which symbolised Ishtar the Goddess of War. She was one of several pair guarding the temple of Ishtar in Nimrud.
There were also wall panels from inside the temples and palaces. A lot were of various guardian spirits. Most of these were holding a cone and bucket, the significance of which was not explained. But some (didn’t photograph well) were holding conventional weapons.
The scenes depicted in the wall reliefs were very manly, hunting and war, fishing and sailing. If there were domestic scenes or depictions of industry they either didn’t survive or are elsewhere. There is hunting of deer
Hunting with dogs (I liked these dogs – no idea what breed but nice ears.)
on horseback and from a chariot.
Hunting lion was the sport of kings. And it all looked very kingly, and very macho and manly, until you saw the little lad in his very own protective cage letting the pre-trapped lions out of the cage ready for the king and nobles to chase.
From Nineveh there were some reliefs of war, or more accurately the aftermath of battle and conquest.
Sadly some things do not change.
Photographs E Weatherwax
London March 2015
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4 Responses
It is interesting to look at those ferociously warlike statues – though also at the craftsmanship and the observation involved in the depiction of the animals and backgrounds – and reflect on the Biblical stories, not only of Sennacherib and Jerusalem, but of the repentance of Nineveh in the book of Jonah, and the story of Naaman. And then to remember that among the Assyrian/ Syriac Christian community – in Syria, and also in Mesopotamia/ Iraq generally – who have endured over a millennium of the seven hells of dhimmitude under the Muslim yoke, still clinging to language and faith, there may well be the lineal genetic descendants of some of those hunters and fighters who appear in the bas reliefs. Many of them, today, have been martyred rather than renounce their faith in the Jew, Jesus the Messiah. Some, a remnant of brave men, are taking up arms in self-defence against the jihadis of the Islamic State. What a transformation: from cruel and merciless imperialists, making war and taking slaves, to saints, martyrs and confessors, and …a remnant of brave Christian men, massively outnumbered and outgunned, taking up weapons only in extremis and at need, to defend the innocent. Imagine if someone had told the likes of Asshurbanapal or Sennacherib: one day, in your own land, the last living descendants of your nation will choose to die confessing the Name of the God of Israel, rather than bow down to any other god.
ta me they look like human faced bulls, rather than lions. Please look at their hooves.
I have rushed through the Assyrian Rooms many times to get to other parts of the Museum, but, having seen your pictures, I amgoing t spend a lot more time there.
Thanks Esmerelda for taking the time to show us these photos. We can only marvel at the civilization that produced these works. They remind me of the rock carvings of Hattusas, the ancient Hittite capital in central Turkey. The lions are similar as are the pointed hats worn by some of the characters. What an amazing wealth of knowledge can be gleaned from studying these works – and how cruel and insane is the destruction wrought by Islamic State.