Asset number
431082001
Description
Alabaster wall panel relief: on the bottom a scene of hunting gazelle. Herd of gazelle disturbed by huntsmen; one looks round, tries to escape and is led into ambush; Ashurbanipal waits in a pit with a bow and shoots the leader down; also on the bottom row is a scene showing the hunting of wild asses; the king gallops forward, shooting at wild asses; one of the horsemen behind him has a supply of arrows while the other leads a spare mount; the asses are shot or pulled down by hounds; one is lassoed alive, probably for breeding. On the middle row is a lion hunt on horseback; Ashurbanipal drives a spear into one lion's mouth but another, which has been hit by arrows and left for dead, leaps up to maul the king's spare horse; attendants gallop to the rescue from the left; in the next episode, to the right, the king has killed both lions; some attendants admire them and others, kneeling in disgrace, probably allowed their horses to lag too far behind the king. The bottom row shows Ashurbanipal on foot, killing a lion; the lion is released from a cage by a small person, possibly a child, who has his own cage to hide in; the lion advances on the king and is hit by an arrow; finally, on the left, the king dispatches lion with sword.
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