wall panel; relief

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Object Type: wall panel; relief
Museum number: 118912
Description: Gypsum wall relief panel: at the top of this panel are three examples of the 'ugallu', 'Great Lion', with one broken figure who may be the House God. Underneath is an 'urmahlilu', 'Lion-Man'. The Great Lions wear a simple Assyrian kilt, and make threatening gestures with daggers; their maces symbolise authority. They have eagles' claws for feet, and high, alert ears. The Lion-Man makes a more pacific gesture, but its import is the same. The horns on his helmet show that he is a god.
Authority
Cultures/periods
Production date: 645BC-640BC
Excavator/field collector: Excavated by: Hormuzd Rassam; Excavated by: William Kennett Loftus; Excavated by: John George Taylor; Excavated by: Sir Henry Creswicke Rawlinson
Findspot: Excavated/Findspot: North Palace (Nineveh), Room 5 Door B panel 2
Materials
Dimensions: Height: 146 centimetres; Thickness: 11 centimetres (extant); Width: 110 centimetres
Curator's comments: The depicted creatures are all good spirits, whose presence was intended to protect the palace from evil and bad luck, just as Ashurnasirpal's palace had been protected over two centuries previously, though the identity of the spirits has changed.; Casts of the complete relief and the lower section are listed separately 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 1976 / Sculptures from the North Palace of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh (668-627 B.C) (p.53, pl.LV); Curtis & Reade 1994a / Tesoros de asiria en el Museo Britanico: Arte e Imperio (31); Curtis & Reade 1995a / Art and empire: treasures from Assyria in the British Museum (31); Hall H R 1928a / Babylonian and Assyrian Sculpture in the British Museum (pl.XXXVI, 1b); Gadd 1936b / The Stones of Assyria: the surviving remains of Assyrian sculpture, their recovery, and their original positions (p.190)
Location: Not on display
Exhibition history: Exhibited: 2018-2019 8 Nov - 24 Feb, London, BM, I am Ashurbanipal, king of the world, king of Assyria 2012 Jan-Apr, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Fantastic Creatures. 2011 Jun-Sept, South Korea, Ulsan Museum, Fantastic Creatures 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'
Subjects: mammal; spirit; bird; mythical figure/creature; arms/armour
Associated names: Representation of: Ugallu; Representation of: Urmahlilu; Representation of: House God
Acquisition date: 1856
Department: Middle East
BM/Big number: 118912
Registration number: 1856,0909.25
Additional IDs: Miscellaneous number: 79 (Old Gallery No.)
Conservation: Treatment: 20 Dec 2000; Treatment: 08 Apr 2011

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