An Assyrian King Taking A Swim in the Euphrates

This Neo-Assyrian relief from the North-West Palace at Nimrud, dating from c. 865-860 BC, depicts Ashurnasirpal II and his army crossing the Euphrates River.  He is depicted wearing an Assyrian helmet while using an inflated animal skin as a flotation device. Horses swim next to him while his dissembled chariots are being carried across the river in small boats called coracles.

Ashurnasirpal II (reigned 884-859 BC) was the third king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. His father, Tukulti-Ninurta II, led many successful military campaigns and left his son the means to equip a formidable army.  Ashurnasirpal II was known for consolidating the Assyrian Empire through ruthless conquest and the cruel punishment of his enemies. He led his army on successful campaigns across the Euphrates and all the way to the Mediterranean. He was also famous for his magnificent palace at Nimrud (ancient Kalhu) whose wall reliefs depicting his successes, like the one pictured above, are on display in museums around the world. This relief is currently located at the British Museum.

Nimrud Ivory Plaque with Falcon-Headed Figure Wearing Egyptian Double Crown

Syro-Phoenician, Nimrud, 8th–7th century B.C.

[Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, California, USA]

A crown decorated with vine leaves, grapes, and winged female deities.This glittering gold tiara was found in the tomb of Queen Yaba, the wife of Tiglath- Pileser III, who ruled 744 to 727 BC. The tomb chamber was accompanied by a fine curse, but there was a second body buried with the queen. The Iraq Museum - Baghdad.

Female head with rosette diadems, ca. 8th–7th century B.C.

Glass paste depicting a human head from Nimrud

A beautiful alabaster column from Nimrud

[British Museum]

The Royal Tombs of Kalhu (Nimrud).

Nimrud - Ashurnasipal II Palace.

http://www.geolocation.ws/v/P/70537425/nimrud-ashurnasipal-ii-palace-/en

Glazed terracotta tile

Neo-Assyrian, about 883-859 BC From Nimrud (ancient Kalhu), northern Iraq

[British Museum]

Nimrud Ivory of a lion devouring a man  … Does anyone else find this strangely sexual?

Lamassu from Assyria, ca. 883-859 BC. From the MET

- Fred S. Kleiner, Gardner’s Art through the Ages: A Global History

Assyrian female head with rosette diadems. Found in Nimrud.

At the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

“There are many findings that prove the Mesopotamian obliviousness to gender, and reliance on social status in the distribution of privilege, but the tombs of the likes of Atalia and Yaba and even Queen Pu’abi just further provide tangible and demonstrated evidence that the women buried with such extravagance were important during their lives, and their importance would not and did not fade after their deaths.”