Asset number
356952001
Description
Limestone wall-panel depicting the Battle of Til-Tuba (Battle of the River Ulai) in relief: in the lower register, the Assyrians are attacking from the left, where the Elamites have been stationed on a mound. The two armies are clearly distinguished by their equipment. The Assyrian cavalry and some of the infantry have pointed helmets and wear scale-armour above the belt; most of them carry spears and shields, as do other infantrymen in crested helmets, and there are lightly armed archers with headbands. They tend to operate in pairs, with an archer protected by a spearman. The Elamites are nearly all lightly armed archers, with headbands tied at the back; their quivers are decorated with palmettes. Some of them are riding carts drawn by donkeys or mules. It is clear that, once the heavily armed Assyrians have forced their way through the Elamite lines, the Elamites cannot operate effectively at close quarters. They stumble back down the side of the mound, and their retreat turns into a rout, which ends as they are driven into the River Ulai. The growing chaos is graphically reflected in the overall arrangement, with the largely horizontal lines of figures losing coherence as they move right, and the river stopping them dead as it cuts across the scene from top to bottom. Within the battle, critical incidents are picked out, forming an internal sequence of events like a strip-cartoon operating independently of the general progress of the battle. In this scene, the Elamite king Teumman is identified and carried away in a chariot. Two other specific incidents are shown, in the central row below Teumman's chariot. On the right an Elamite noble is cutting his bow in token of surrender, while an Assyrian threatens to kill him, and on the left a wounded Elamite calls to an Assyrian to cut off his head. In the upper register, at the left, men are forced to kneel in front of querns; they are members of the ruling family, and are being forced to grind up the bones of their ancestors. Two small fragments, mounted to the right of the tent, show similar scenes of punishment.
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