164. Assyria and Mesopotamia

2010.06.13

Wall sculpture from the palace of King Tilglath-Pileser III (744-727 BC) at Nimrud.

Assyrian King Ashurnasirpal on a lion hunt circa 860 BC.

Sadly these poor creatures were easy targets for “brave” men in chariots.

This bull looks like it might have come from Andalucia, but it didn't.

The Royal Game of Ur.

The Queen of The Night, Mesopotamian godess circa 1750 BC. Looks like a forerunner of the Scissor Sisters to me.

When I previously did a post of items from the British Museum, my friend Shaparak asked if I could post more from Persian heritage. I hope this fits the bill, although I fear these might be geographically a little further to the West than perhaps Shaparak would have preferred.

Charming bassorilievo shots and royal game... it reminds me of backgammon (I can't play it unfortunately).
(Sorry my so slow wi-fi connection doesn't allow me to see the link - I'll try another again day)
One day I'd like to visit the British Museum.
Shaparak will like this set :-)

????? · 2010-06-13: 11:10

El Museo Británico es espectacular. El año pasado fui a visitarlo y espero volver otra vez.

fermuor · 2010-06-13: 11:21

SPECIAL SET!!

luucha · 2010-06-13: 11:28

is this bas relief? very cool!

urmysunshine · 2010-06-13: 11:53

because of the last pic I remembered immediately my last Thai massage when at the end this tiny ladies are walking on your back
great set btw

GKorts · 2010-06-13: 13:21

Great set Jon! He will like it!

jennye · 2010-06-13: 16:14

They let use use your camera inside the British Museum? How civilised that is!!! Not here, oh no!!
I risk jail time every time I sneek a bad picture in our museums here.
Now, Iraq and Iran do not seem to be on very friendly terms with each other, but these divisions into separate countries nowadays seem to be so haphazardly drawn up, who knows how people really feel about each other. Long wars do not make it easy to like each other, though. To me everything you photographed is a miracle in and by itself, regardless whether the place they come from, now belongs to Iran or some other country.

atszabo · 2010-06-13: 17:05

Wonderful set!

Eiram · 2010-06-13: 17:11

These are some cool items, especially that last one.

dontblink · 2010-06-13: 17:46

Great set Jon :-)
I can understand your empathy with animals hunted, but...
to question the bravery of chariotry divisions during the first milleniae bc seems a little unfair...hunting was merely training for war...both for the charioteers and horses involved. I'm not going to even try to make a case for wars fought or the causes of them...whether Egyptian, Hittite, Assyrian or later Persian or Greek...but I will make a case for the bravery of charioteers and later cavalry divisions...their actions often hugely influenced the outcome of decisive battles on which empires and civilisations either survived or fell...the horse, and particularly the warhorse...2 to 3 years in training...was the most valued commodity of the ancient world...men were expendible...the horse wasn't !!
and for this reason, the modern notion of the mass chariot charge is a myth, with one historical exception...the idea of putting your most valued division and commodity to frontline slaughter makes no sense...particularly when the carnage caused would render the foot artillary useless as a second line...no, the chariotry had a much more important roll or rolls in being mobile archery positions, mobile units to deploy both men and weapons to the front line but just as importantly in protection to armies on the march...usually as shield to the exposed side of armies travelling across open domaine but also to the front and rear...of course later the chariotry was replaced by cavalry as saddlery evolved and improved to incorporate armour technology and weapon technique...this freed armies up to be able to march and ride to battle ever more quickly by being able to cross mountain and marsh terrain that chariotry just couldn't cope with...but either way, the bravery of chariotry and cavalry of ancient times couldn't be called in to question :-)

????? · 2010-06-13: 19:01