6.5: Assyria

Assyria, an introduction

by Dr. Senta German

Led by aggressive warrior kings, Assyria dominated the fertile crescent for half a millennium, amassing vast wealth.

Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Map of the Neo-Assyrian Empire and its expansions. (Map via Smarthistory)

A military culture

The Assyrian empire dominated Mesopotamia and all of the Near East for the first half of the first millennium BCE, led by a series of highly ambitious and aggressive warrior kings. Assyrian society was entirely military, with men obliged to fight in the army at any time. State offices were also under the purview of the military.

Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\): Ashurbanipal slitting the throat of a lion from his chariot (detail), Ashurbanipal Hunting Lions, gypsum hall relief from the North Palace, Ninevah, c. 645-635 BCE, excavated by H. Rassam beginning in 1853. British Museum. (Photo: Steven Zucker, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Indeed, the culture of the Assyrians was brutal, the army seldom marching on the battlefield but rather terrorizing opponents into submission who, once conquered, were tortured, raped, beheaded, and flayed with their corpses publicly displayed. The Assyrians torched enemies’ houses, salted their fields, and cut down their orchards.

Luxurious palaces

As a result of these fierce and successful military campaigns, the Assyrians acquired massive resources from all over the Near East which made the Assyrian kings very rich. The palaces were on an entirely new scale of size and glamour; one contemporary text describes the inauguration of the palace of Kalhu, built by Assurnasirpal II (who reigned in the early 9th century), to which almost 70,000 people were invited to banquet.

Figure \(\PageIndex{3}\): Lion pierced with arrows (detail), Lion Hunts of Ashurbanipal, c. 645 BCE, gypsum hall reliefs from Palace at Ninevah (across the Tigris from present day Mosul, Iraq). British Museum. (Photo: Steven Zucker, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Some of this wealth was spent on the construction of several gigantic and luxurious palaces spread throughout the region. The interior public reception rooms of Assyrian palaces were lined with large scale carved limestone reliefs which offer beautiful and terrifying images of the power and wealth of the Assyrian kings and some of the most beautiful and captivating images in all of ancient Near Eastern art.

Feats of bravery

Figure \(\PageIndex{4}\): Ashurbanipal taking aim at a lion (detail), Lion Hunts of Ashurbanipal. (Photo via Smarthistory)

Like all Assyrian kings, Ashurbanipal decorated the public walls of his palace with images of himself performing great feats of bravery, strength and skill. Among these he included a lion hunt in which we see him coolly taking aim at a lion in front of his charging chariot, while his assistants fend off another lion attacking at the rear.

The destruction of Susa

Figure \(\PageIndex{5}\): Sacking of Susa by Ashurbanipal, North Palace, Nineveh, 647 BCE. (Photo via Smarthistory)

One of the accomplishments Ashurbanipal was most proud of was the total destruction of the city of Susa. In the relief in Figure \(\PageIndex{5}\), we see Ashurbanipal’s troops destroying the walls of Susa with picks and hammers while fire rages within the walls of the city.

Military victories & exploits

In the Central Palace at Nimrud, the Neo-Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser III illustrates his military victories and exploits, including the siege of a city in great detail.

Figure \(\PageIndex{6}\): Wall relief from Nimrud, the sieging of a city, likely in Mesopotamia, c. 728 BCE. British Museum. (Photo via Smarthistory)

In Figure \(\PageIndex{6}\) we see one soldier holding a large screen to protect two archers who are taking aim. The topography includes three different trees and a roaring river, most likely setting the scene in and around the Tigris or Euphrates rivers.

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Lamassu from the citadel of Sargon II: A Conversation

Dr. Senta German

 

Figure \(\PageIndex{7}\): Winged human-headed bull (lamassu or shedu), Neo-Assyrian Period, reign of Sargon II (721-705 BCE) Khorsabad, ancient Dur Sharrukin, Assyria, Iraq, excavated by P.-E. Boea 1843-44. Gypseous alabaster, 4.20 x 4.36 x 0.97 m. Musee du Louvre (Photo: Steven Zucker, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

The architecture and sculptural decorations of Neo-Assyrian palaces dating to the first half of the 1st millennium B.C.E. are not only unique in the Ancient Near East but exceptionally powerful and beautiful. Huge courtyards and halls led the visitor deeper and deeper into the king’s realm, revealing more and more complex sculptural programs along the progression. Images depicted the brutal destruction of enemy cities, the ruthless extraction of natural resources, the king hunting lions with a bow and arrow, and sacred spirits (winged men call genii) tending a tree of life.

Between these courtyards and halls, punctuating these scenes of power and prestige are massive pairs of doorway sculptures called Lamassu. The Lamassu are distinctive to Neo-Assyrian architectural sculpture (although the creatures which they represent have a long history in the Ancient Near East, dating to the Early Dynastic period) and several pairs of them survive to this day. The remains of more than 100 Lamassu have been identified at Neo-Assyrian palace sites. Because of their massive size and formidable form, since the discovery of Neo-Assyrian palaces in the 19th century, they have been a source of awe and fascination, even living on in art deco architecture of the 20th century.

A hybrid monster

A lamassu (also called a šedu, aladlammû or genii) is an apotropaic or protective hybrid monster with the bearded head of a mature mane, crown of a god, and the winged body of either a bull or lion. They are massive, up to 20 feet tall and weigh as much as 30–50 tons. Remarkably, each is carved from a single slab of limestone, gypsum alabaster, or breccia.This pair at the Louvre is from the Palace of Sargon II at Khorsabad and dates from 720–705 B.C.E. and represents a winged bull with the bearded head of a man wearing a double horned crown. The face of the Lamassu is broad, with a strong nose and thick eyebrows which are double arched across his whole forehead. The massive beard is represented as thickly curled and braided, nearly doubling the size of the Lamassu’s face. His wide eyes look straight out over the head of the viewer, as if engaged in matters beyond the human realm. His crown, feather-topped, is decorated with rows of rosettes (a motif associated with divinity and possibly the goddess Ishtar) and set with a double-horned crown, marking the Lamassu as divine. His pointed bovine ears, ringed with gold hoops suspending beads, emerge from beneath the crown as well as long flowing locks which end in rows of tight curls giving a sense of buoyancy. The fur of the bull’s body is also richly curled, although in very organized straight rows which run along its breast, back, side and rear flank. Even the Lamassu’s tail is curled and braided.

Figure \(\PageIndex{8}\): Winged human-headed bull (detail of head and beard). (Photo: Steven Zucker, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Huge cloven feet

The huge cloven feet of the Lamassu show him both standing and walking, courtesy of the carving having five legs instead of four. This is to present a kind of split view: when one approaches the Lamassu from the front, they look as if they are standing still guarding the door, but when you pass between them, you see all four of their legs walking forward. This odd detail, which is not common to all Lamassu, is done for two reasons. Firstly, because as much of the bulk of the stone must be left intact as possible to help support the weight of arch of the doorway. To carve out the space around the legs of the Lamassu, which would make the fourth front leg visible while passing between them, would weaken the arched doorway. The other reason is to ensure that no matter from what angle one sees the Lamassu, it looks formidable. The legs of the Lamassu are not only massive but very muscular, giving a clear sense of the power of this hybrid creature. Added to this complex sculptural representation, we must recall, was color. Several examples of Neo-Assyrian sculpture have been examined for the remains of their pigment and have been found to still hold microscopic traces of white calcium carbonate and calcium sulfate, bone black and charcoal, hematite red, cinnabar red, and cobalt blue. 

On two panels between the hind legs of the Lamassu is a long inscription in cuneiform called the standard inscription. This is a statement listing the victories and virtues of King Sargon, his piety and the ways in which the gods have favored him. It also threatens a curse on whomever should seek to harm his palace. This kind of standard inscription is common on many Neo-Assyrian wall reliefs and Lamassu and can be seen as a scriptural representation of the images they are layered upon. 

Figure \(\PageIndex{9}\): Winged human-headed bull (detail of right profile). (Photo: Steven Zucker, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Awe-inspiring

What is so awe-inspiring about these sculptures is not only their size but the powerful clarity with which they are sculpted and the terrifyingly precise repetition of forms. Curls and horns are incised with deep, powerful cuts in high relief and smoothed into sharp readability. The strict linear, mathematical arrangement of feathers, curls, and rosettes gives the Lamassu a perfected restraint, humanizing the frightening and chaotic hybridity. Possibly the most terrifying and impressive aspect of the carving of the Lamassu, however, is the precision of its sculptural repetition. Dating to an era much before “cut and paste” or any sort of mechanical reproductive methods in sculpture, we find the craftsmen of the Lamassu were masters of scrupulous and endlessly repetitive imitation.

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Articles in this section:

• Dr. Senta German, "Assyria, an introduction," in Smarthistory, May 14, 2019 (CC BY-NC-SA)
• Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker, "Lamassu from the citadel of Sargon II," in Smarthistory, December 15, 2015 (CC BY-NC-SA)