February 24, 2010
The Art of Ancient Assyria
Assyrians controlled the lands from the border of Egypt to the Persian gulf during the 9th century BC. The Assyrians identified themselves through warfare and a divine belief in their duty to enforce their gods on the territories they had vanquished. The Assyrians were the first culture to use iron weapons. They were cunning military minds who mastered the art of war.
Their army was well-trained and relentless, so many foes simply surrendered to the Assyrians without a struggle. The opponents who resisted faced an advanced military force with battering rams, charioteers and rolling seige towers that were a huge tactical advantage.
The Assyrian art found in the world's museums demonstrates that hunting was an important and symbolic activity. In Assyria this was definitely the case as there are dozens of stone art works from Assyria that depict the Royal Hunt. Hunting and in particular the "Royal Hunt" were important rituals that established the courage of the king and his dominance over beast and nature. The king added to his own leged and reputation as a warrior by participating in the Royal Hunt. There is certainly exageration in the depiction of these activities, but the reliefs suggest that the kings were generally worthy rulers.
Ancient Assyrian art also offered a glimpse into the cermenonial aspect of the Royal Hunt. In many of the reliefs discovered by archaeologists, the king is shown offering up animals as a sacrifice to the sun God Nergal. This Mesopotamian god ruled the underworld and was known as the deity of war and pestilence.
Of all the prey sought out by the King and his royal party, the most prestigious was the lion. Armed with a spear and bow and riding in a chariot, the king would chase the lion and bring him down. Once the lion was injured the king would dismount his chariot and finish off the lion with his sword. It's unclear just how much assistance he might have had in dispatching his prey, given glorification of the king in this art.
On display at the British Museum is a relief of Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, who is shown riding a horse with a bow and arrow raised and ready to fire. He is hunting wild donkeys which at the time were considered a nuisance. It was thought to be a very noble and worthy activity for the king to hunt the herd of wild asses and thin the population. Ashurbanipal was the last of the great Assyrian kings. While he ruled a time of cultural and military dominance, the empire fell into oblivion only a few decades after his death.
The Assyrian wall reliefs we see today in museums suggest that hunting lions was wildly popular and the lion population was severely impacted. Lions were transported from other regions to provide an entertaining and challenging hunt. This conclusion can be drawn from some Assyrian wall reliefs that show a lion being released from the cage.
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