wall panel;
relief
- Museum number
- 124893
- Description
-
Gypsum wall relief panel with large dogs; carved; the man or eunuch holding the lead is beardless, but his hair ends in a row of plaits, in a simpler style than that of his companion; men leading mules in this procession have similar plaits, which may have been worn by people of lower status at the Assyrian court. The Assyrian eunuch in front is carrying a net and stakes, and there is another bundle of stakes over the shoulder of the figure in front.
- Production date
- 645BC-640BC
- Dimensions
-
Height: 157 centimetres
-
Thickness: 10 centimetres (extant)
-
Width: 118 centimetres
- Curator's comments
- This wall-panel comes from a series along a corridor which led to a postern gate out of the palace; possibly the king passed this way as he went out to hunt, and the panels showed him and his attendants, with their animals and equipment. The dogs have been previously compared to the sort of large shepherds' dogs one sometimes sees today in places like rural Turkey and have been popularly referred to as mastiffs although they do not necessarily have a direct relation to the modern breed of that name; the massive jaws and structure of the legs resemble fighting dogs.
In set with BM.124894-124899 (all 1856,0909.21).
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
2018-2019, 8 Nov - 24 Feb, London, BM, I am Ashurbanipal, king of the world, king of Assyria
2013 - 2014 22 June - 6 Jan, Toronto, Royal Ontario Museum, 'Mesopotamia, Inventing Our World'
2013: 30 Jan-13 May, Museum of History, Hong Kong, 'The Wonders of Ancient Mesopotamia'
2012: 4 May-7 Oct, Melbourne Museum, 'The Wonders of Ancient Mesopotamia'
2011 28 March-26 June, Abu Dhabi, Manarat Al Saadiyat, 'Splendours of Mesopotamia'
2008-2009 21 Sept-4 Jan, Boston, MFA, 'Art and Empire'
2007 2 Apr-30 Sept, Alicante, MARQ Museum, 'Art and Empire'
2006 1 Jul-7 Oct, Shanghai Museum, 'Art and Empire'
- Acquisition date
- 1856
- Department
- Middle East
- BM/Big number
- 124893
- Registration number
- 1856,0909.21
- Additional IDs
-
Miscellaneous number: 68 (Old Gallery No.)
