Much the best-known works are the huge lamassu guarding entrance ways, and Assyrian palace reliefs on thin slabs of alabaster, which were originally painted, at least in part, and fixed on the wall all round the main rooms of palaces. Most of these are in museums in Europe or America, following a hectic period of excavations from 1842 to 1855,[1] which took Assyrian art from being almost completely unknown to being the subject of several best-selling books, and imitated in political cartoons.[2]