#nimrud

[romegreeceart]

Assyrian reliefs

Nimrud, Central Palace

About 728 BCE

British Museum

Above: Tiglath-pileser III's army is attacking a town, perhaps in Syria.

Below: Assyrian soldiers carry away gods captured from a defeated enemy.

Writing in the middle describes the resettlement of prisoners after the Assyrian campaign of 745 BCE

London, June 2022

[along-the-silkroad]

Relief panel with Ashurnasirpal II and attendant, palace Nimrud (Kalhu), Neo-Assyrian, ca. 883–859 BCE. MET (ID: 32.143.4) This relief, from the palace of the Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II (r. ca. 883-859 BCE), depicts a king, probably Ashurnasirpal himself, and an attendant. The two larger-than-life-sized figures are carved in low relief, and as with other reliefs in the palace featuring the image of the king, the carving is particularly fine and shows special attention to detail. (MET)

[baebeylik]

The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III. Nimrud, modern day Iraq. 9th Century BCE.

The British Museum(it’s always them).

[psikonauti]

Unknown Assyrian

Statuette of a man with an oryx, a monkey, and a leopard skin, ca. 8th century B.C., Mesopotamia, Nimrud (ancient Kalhu)

Ivory

[bronzeageecho]

guardian figure | c. 883 BCE - 859 BCE | kalḫu, assyria (modern day numaniyah, iraq)

in the museum of fine arts, houston collection

[estera-shirin]

Woman's head—Nimrud, Assyria (now Iraq), 8th century BCE

According to the Met: "Carved in the round, this female head was found in the Burnt Palace at Nimrud and was blackened through exposure to fire during the final defeat of Assyria at the end of the seventh century B.C. Originally, it may have been part of a composite statuette made of various materials and overlaid with gold. The fleshy cheeks, full lips, and small, receding chin are combined with stylized features such as the eyebrows and eyes, all characteristic of Syrian style ivories. The pupils are drilled to receive inlays in colored glass or semiprecious stones. The hair, tucked behind the ears, falls in braids. Like other carved ivory female figures from the Neo-Assyrian period in the Metropolitan Museum’s collection (MMA 57.80.11, 57.80.12, 57.80.13, and 61.197.5), this figure is richly adorned with jewelry, including hoop earrings with pendants, and a woven diadem, studded with rosettes and a rectangular forehead ornament with pendant pomegranates. A diadem closely resembling the one depicted here, made of gold and inlaid with lapis lazuli and colored stones, was found in the grave of a royal woman at Nimrud.

Built by the Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II, the palaces and storerooms of Nimrud housed thousands of pieces of carved ivory. Most of the ivories served as furniture inlays or small precious objects such as boxes. While some of them were carved in the same style as the large Assyrian reliefs lining the walls of the Northwest Palace, the majority of the ivories display images and styles related to the arts of North Syria and the Phoenician city-states. Phoenician style ivories are distinguished by their use of imagery related to Egyptian art, such as sphinxes and figures wearing pharaonic crowns, and the use of elaborate carving techniques such as openwork and colored glass inlay. North Syrian style ivories tend to depict stockier figures in more dynamic compositions, carved as solid plaques with fewer added decorative elements. However, some pieces do not fit easily into any of these three styles. Most of the ivories were probably collected by the Assyrian kings as tribute from vassal states, and as booty from conquered enemies, while some may have been manufactured in workshops at Nimrud. The ivory tusks that provided the raw material for these objects were almost certainly from African elephants, imported from lands south of Egypt, although elephants did inhabit several river valleys in Syria until they were hunted to extinction by the end of the eighth century B.C."

[theancientwayoflife]

~ Furniture plaque carved in relief with lion-headed figure.

Period: Neo-Assyrian

Date: ca. 8th–7th century BC.

Place of origin: Mesopotamia, Nimrud (ancient Kalhu)

Culture: Assyrian

Medium: Ivory

[thatshowthingstarted]

"Mona Lisa" of Nimrud, 9th to the 7th centuries BC

Excavated from the Assyrian city of Nimrud (In modern Ninawa in Iraq).

The Mona Lisa of Nimrud depicts a woman's head and the sculpture does not extend much below the chin. It has a band around the top and bottom with peg holes. She is wearing a headdress and her hair is arranged ornately.

The carved ivory piece of art discovered in the city of Nimrud in a campaign of excavation from 1949 to 1963, led by Sir Max Mallowan.

It is one of the most well known of the Nimrud ivories. It has also been known as the “Lady of the Well.” In contrast, another sculpture found with it was named "Ugly Sister."

When excavated, it was cleaned by Mallowan's wife Agatha Christie.