Lions and ladders?
This lion was used in a very old board game called the serpent game. We don’t know what the rules were, but the lion moved around a board shaped like a big snake.
Ivory gaming piece from Abydos, Egypt, around 3000 BC
A sweet-smelling lion
Would you like to smell like a lion? Luckily this lion-shaped bottle had perfume in it which smelled much nicer. It would have been made for someone very rich.
Terracotta perfume flask, probably from Lazio, Italy, 340-300 BC
Purr-fect jewellery
Grrrr - this gold necklace has a lion head at each end. It won’t bite you but it looks a bit scary! It was found two thousand years ago but nobody knows who owned it.
Gold necklace, probably from Taranto, Italy, around 300 BC
A very big cat
If you visit the British Museum you can see this giant lion in the Great Court. It is made of marble and weighs six tons (that’s more than 250 of you!).
Marble lion from Knidos (in modern Turkey), about 350-200 BC
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An iron lion? Or a lion-iron?
Does this lion look heavy to you? It’s shaped like an iron, but it’s not for ironing your clothes! There is writing on the lion that tells us it was used to weigh metal.
Lion weight from Abydos (in modern Turkey), 5th century BC
Your Royal Growliness
Imagine sitting on a throne with a fierce lion like this one on it. You would feel very important! This lion was probably part of a throne, but this piece is all that is left.
Bronze lion furniture fitting, Toprakkale (in modern Turkey)
Rooooaaaarrr!
This statue is of a huge, angry, roaring lion. It used to be part of a very big doorway. Look carefully – the lion has five legs! How many sharp teeth can you see?
Temple lion from Nimrud, northern Iraq, about 883-859 BC
The British Museum lion
Meet the British Museum’s very own lion! 25 lions just like this one used to sit on the Museum gates. They are gone now but you can still see this one in the Museum today.
British Museum lion from England, UK, 1852
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