wall panel;
relief
- Museum number
- 124826
- Description
-
Gypsum wall panel relief: depicting the protective spirit, the Ugallu or 'great lion' with a dagger. Formed of two fragments joined.
- Production date
- 700BC-692BC
- Dimensions
-
Height: 182 centimetres
-
Width: 17 centimetres
- Curator's comments
-
The occurrence of lion-headed men in a scene showing the bringing in of captives and the counting of heads, Budge, 'Assyrian Sculptures. Reign of Ashurnasirpal', Plate XVI, 1, suggests that prisoners in this dress were made to carry out a ritual which entailed death. If so, this figure may be from a frieze depicting actions in the ritual of the New Year Festival. Or alternately this may be one of the seven demons depicted on bronze amulets which illustrate ritual carried out for the treatment of the sick. In any case the figure was prophylactic and acted as a guardian of the gate.
-
Layard's description of the scenes depicted in Room XLIX (O):
'The slabs on one side of this gallery had been entirely destroyed, except at the eastern end; and from the few which still remained, every trace of sculpture had been carefully removed by some sharp instrument. Along the opposite wall (that to the right on leaving the great hall) only eight bas-reliefs still stood in their original position, and even of these only the lower part was preserved. Detached fragments of others were found in the rubbish, and from them I ascertained that the whole gallery had been occupied by one continuous series, representing the different processes adopted by the Assyrians in moving and placing various objects used in their buildings, and especially the human-headed bulls, from the first transport of the huge stone in the rough from the quarry, to the raising of these gigantic sculptures in the gateways of the palace-temples. On these fragments were seen the king in his chariot, superintending the operations, and workmen carrying cables, or dragging carts loaded with coils of ropes, and various implements for moving the colossi. Enough, however, did not remain to restore any one series of bas-reliefs, but fortunately, on the slabs still standing, was represented the first process, that of bringing the stone from the quarry, whilst those on the northern walls of the great hall furnished many of the subjects which were here wanting. Amongst the scattered fragments was the figure of a lion-headed man raising a sword which does not appear to have belonged to this gallery, unless it had been used to break the monotony of one long line of elaborate bas-reliefs representing nearly the same subject. Similar figures only occur at entrances in the ruins of Kouyunjik'. (Layard, 1853, p. 104)
- Bibliographic references
-
Barnett, Bleibtreu & Turner 1998a / Sculptures from the Southwest Palace of Sennacherib at Nineveh (531c)
-
Smith 1938d / Assyrian Sculptures in the British Museum from Shalmaneser III to Sennacherib (pl. XXXVI)
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Birch 1883 / Guide to the Kouyunjik Gallery (pp. 111-112, no. 60)
-
Paterson A 1915a / Assyrian sculptures, palace of Sinacherib [sic] (pl. 86)
-
Gadd 1936b / The Stones of Assyria: the surviving remains of Assyrian sculpture, their recovery, and their original positions (p. 172)
-
Green A R 1986a / The lion-demon in the art of Mesopotamia and neighbouring regions (p. 198, pl. 19, no. 82)
-
Budge 1914 / Assyrian Sculptures in the British Museum, Reign of Ashur-nasir-pal, 885-890 B.C (pl. XVI:1)
-
Layard A H 1853a / Discoveries in the ruins of Nineveh and Babylon, with travels in Armenia, Kurdistan and the desert (p. 104)
- Location
- On display (G9)
- Acquisition date
- 1851
- Department
- Middle East
- BM/Big number
- 124826
- Registration number
- 1851,0902.31
- Additional IDs
-
Miscellaneous number: 60 (ex NG)
