Search highlight objects from the collection

Stone lamp in the shape of a shell

This lamp probably dates to a period just before southern Me…

Stone mace head

This elaborate marble mace head was discovered in the remain…

Stone mould

This mould could be used for casting figures of a bearded go…

Stone panel from the Central Palace of Tiglath-pileser III

This alabaster panel decorated the mud-brick walls of the Ce…

Stone prism of Esarhaddon

This small stone monument records the restoration of the wal…

Stone statue of a woman

This broken figure was originally set up in a temple to pray…

The Blau monuments

The two stone tablets seem to form a pair, though it is not …

Silver Abbasi coin of the Safavid Dynasty

Shah 'Abbas I of Iran (1571–1629) dramatically increased the…

Dinar of Abdallah al-Musta'sim

Abdallah al-Musta'sim (reigned 1242-58) was the last c Abbas…

Silver medallion

Medallions were sometimes struck to commemorate particular p…

Boundary stone (kudurru)

The cuneiform text records an extensive royal gift of farmla…

Boundary stone (kudurru)

The cuneiform text of this kudurru describes the military se…

Brick of Nebuchadnezzar II

Following the defeat of the Assyrian Empire by the Medes and…

Bronze band from the gates of the palace of Shalmaneser III

Tablets inform us that the gates at Balawat (one days march …

Bronze head of Pazuzu

Pazuzu was an Assyrian and Babylonian demonic god of the fir…

Bronze weight in the form of a lion

Carnelian cylinder seal of Mushezib-Ninurta

The owner of this seal can be identified from the cuneiform …

Carnelian stamp seal

This pyramidal stamp seal was discovered at Babylon in the n…

Chalcedony cylinder seal

This grey-blue chalcedony seal, purchased in 1843, shows the…

Chalcedony cylinder seal

During the first millennium BC alphabetic scripts, written o…

Clay coffin

This is one of three complete coffins excavated at Uruk by W…

Clay model of a sheep's liver

The Babylonians believed that the world was controlled by go…

Clay plaque with inscription

This plaque shows a man wearing the typical Parthian dress o…

Clay plaque

This figure wears the typical Parthian costume of tunic and …

Colossal statue of a lion

This gigantic standing lion, roaring angrily, formed one of …

Colossal statue of a winged lion from the North-West Palace of Ashurnasirpal II (Room B)

This is one of a pair of guardian figures that flanked one o…

Colossal winged bull from the Palace of Sargon II

This is one of a pair of colossal human-headed winged bulls,…

Copper figure holding basket

The figure holds a basket of soil on his head. This is the t…

Crushed skull and head-dress

The excavator Leonard Woolley discovered this skull in the '…

Crushed skull of a soldier with a copper helmet

This skull comes from the 'King's Grave' in the Royal Cemete…

Cuneiform tablet telling the legend of Ishtar's descent to the Underworld

The legend, written in Akkadian, describes how Ishtar, godde…

Cuneiform tablet with observations of Venus

Thanks to Assyrian records, the chronology of Mesopotamia is…

Cuneiform tablet with omens

This tablet is the third of a series of twenty-four called s…

Cylinder of Nabonidus

This clay cuneiform cylinder was discovered in the Temple of…

Cylinder seal of Pu-abi

This cylinder seal was discovered in the 'Queen's Grave' in …

Foundation figure of Ur-Nammu

This bronze figure represents Ur-Nammu, the ruler of Ur (abo…

Fragment of pottery vessel with snake decoration

Very little is known of the early stages of the occupation a…

Fragments of a carved stone box

These fragments of carved chlorite were found at Ur by the e…

Fragments of wall-paintings from the harem baths at Jawsaq al-Khaqani

These fragments of wall-paintings from the harem baths at Ja…

Glazed terracotta tile

This glazed tile was found by the excavator Henry Layard at …

Gold and lapis lazuli beads

This collection of jewellery was discovered overlying a skul…

Gold bowl

This gold bowl comes from the Queen's Grave in the Royal Cem…

Green sparry calcite seal

During the first half of the third millennium BC a new range…

Grey and white marble jar

This marble jar was discovered in the burial of 'Queen' Pu-a…

Head of Pazuzu

The face of the ancient Mesopotamian god Pazuzu was said to …

Jar with stamped decoration

Although this vessel was discovered at ancient Borsippa in s…

Lapis lazuli cylinder seal-1

This cylinder seal comes from the grave of 'Queen' Pu-abi, o…

Limestone statue from the shrine of Hendursag

Leonard Woolley discovered this statue in a niche facing the…

Page from a manuscript of Dioscorides' De Materia Medica

The scene takes place in a beautiful house. Two doctors sit …

Painted pottery bowl and plate

Around 5500 BC a distinctive style of pottery spread across …

Pair of earrings

These earrings come from graves on the site of the former La…