lintel
- Museum number
- 118896
- Description
-
Rectangular limestone lintel; carved with relief showing two winged animals with long sinuous bodies, flanking and facing a central two-handled vase with a floral pattern above; remains of hard ancient cement adhering to face and formerly obscuring the de
- Production date
- 1st (circa)
- Dimensions
-
Height: 28 centimetres
-
Length: 1.90 metres
-
Weight: 123.50 kilograms
-
Thickness: 14 centimetres
- Curator's comments
- Assumed by the excavator, George Smith, to be Late Assyrian on the basis of its findspot above the palace of Sennacherib (704-681 BC) on the mound of Kuyunjik at Nineveh, and hence illustrated by him on the front cover of his book, 'Assyrian Discoveries' (London 1875), and described by him the previous year in a paper given to and published by the Society for Biblical Archaeology as being found in a trench near the west side of the great courtyard of Sennacherib's Palace, where "it had fallen on the floor of a court, and was broken into two. This lintel is the first yet found in the Assyrian ruins, and is altogether of a remarkable character. It has not belonged to one of the larger entrances, for its length is only six feet. The ornamentation of the lintel shows two winged dragons looking towards the middle, separated by a vase in the centre of the piece. Over the backs of the dragons there is an ornament of honeysuckles. The figures in this sculpture are lengthened out to suit the shape of the lintel, and boldly and roughly cut, as their position was high above the spectator". It was immediately recognised thereafter to be Parthian by Rassam and others, presumably through their familiarity with the similar iconography on the temple at Hatra (compare F. Safar & M.A. Mustafa 1974: 'Hatra', pp. 367, 381-82, 388). Its discovery has been re-interpreted by S. Dalley as evidence for continuity of Late Assyrian palaces into the Parthian period, but it most probably simply derives from a completely later building and was not found 'in situ'. The presence of ancient cement on the face probably reflects reuse of this lintel in a later (medieval) period.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
2020 7-18 Mar and 1 Sep-1 Nov, Newcastle upon Tyne, Great North Museum: Hancock, Ancient Iraq
2012 Jan-Apr, Hong Kong Museum of Art, 'Fantastic Creatures'.
2011 Jun-Sept, South Korea, Ulsan Museum, 'Fantastic Creatures'.
1958 - BM, Persian Landing
BM, Iranian Room, east wall
1886 BM, Nimrud Central Saloon
- Condition
- Worn surfaces
- Acquisition date
- 1874
- Department
- Middle East
- BM/Big number
- 118896
- Registration number
- SM.2490
