wall panel; relief

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Object Type: wall panel; relief
Museum number: 124906
Description: Gypsum wall panel relief: showing an assault on Lachish. Siege engines lead way up artificial ramps; inside, men with ladles pour water to prevent them being set alight by torches thrown from walls. A procession of men and women stream out of town, ready for exile.
Authority: Ruler: Sennacherib
Cultures/periods: Neo-Assyrian
Production date: 700BC-692BC
Excavator/field collector: Excavated by: Hormuzd Rassam; Excavated by: Sir Henry Creswicke Rawlinson; Excavated by: William Kennett Loftus; Excavated by: John George Taylor
Findspot: Excavated/Findspot: South West Palace (Nineveh), Room XXXVI (OO) Panel 7
Materials: gypsum
Dimensions: Height: 167.64 centimetres; Thickness: 15 centimetres; Width: 190.50 centimetres
Curator's comments: In set with BM.124904-124915 (all 1856,0909.14). In set with BM.124850-124857 (all 1856,0909.15). The cast is listed as available in the British Museum Facsimile Service 'Catalogue of Replicas from British Museum collections' (n.d.), in the series "Assyrian Bas-Reliefs".
Bibliographic references: Barnett, Bleibtreu & Turner 1998a / Sculptures from the Southwest Palace of Sennacherib at Nineveh (430c); Paterson 1901-11 / Assyrian Sculptures (12 parts) (part 1, pl. LXVIII) (detail); Paterson A 1915a / Assyrian sculptures, palace of Sinacherib [sic] (pl. 70); Barnett 1958a / The Siege of Lachish (pl. 30A) (left); Pritchard 1969a / The Ancient Near East in Pictures Relating to the Old Testament (no. 373); Barnett 1970 / Assyrian Palace Reliefs in the British Museum (pl. VI) (detail); Barnett & Lorenzini 1975 / Assyrian Sculptures in the British Museum (p. 78) (detail); Ussishkin 1982 / The Conquest of Lachish by Sennacherib (pp. 77, 83, 85); Reade 1983b / Assyrian Sculpture (p. 50, fig. 71) (detail); MacGregor 2010 / A History of the World in 100 Objects (21 (part)); Nadali & Verderame 2014a / Experts at War. Masters Behind the Ranks of the Assyrian Army (fig.4)
Location: On display (G10a/sA)
Exhibition history: Exhibited: 2010-2011, London, BM/BBC, 'A History of the World in 100 Objects'
Subjects: siege; war; arms/armour; fire; elements
Associated places: Topographic representation of: Lachish (historic)
Associated events: Associated Event: Siege of Lachish
Acquisition date: 1856
Department: Middle East
BM/Big number: 124906
Registration number: 1856,0909.14
Additional IDs: Miscellaneous number: 23 (ex AS)
Conservation: Treatment: 17 Jun 2001

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