Height: 98.000 cm Width: 178.000 cm Thickness: 10.000 cm
(extant) The palace was excavated by H. Rassam (from 1853) Room
10a: Assyria: Lion hunts Stone panel from the North Palace of
Ashurbanipal Nineveh, northern Iraq Neo-Assyrian, 645 BC Lions
in a garden This alabaster wall panel was originally set into
the mud brick walls of the palace of the Assyrian king
Ashurbanipal (reigned 669-631 BC). The relief was originally
painted. This is perhaps the most attractive of all Assyrian
sculptures. Despite the scenes of Ashurbanipal hunting and
killing lions which were displayed nearby (for example, 'The
Dying Lion'), this scene suggests some love for nature.
Apparently the Assyrian kings did sometimes keep lions as pets,
though it is likely that the offspring of this pair would have
ended up in the hunting arena. The Mesopotamian lion, brought to
extinction in the nineteenth century by the shotgun, was smaller
than the African lion (one was compared to a 'large St Bernard
dog'). The tree is possibly a cypress with