Assyrian lion-hunt reliefs

Arrows pierce a lion’s body as its front legs give way. Elsewhere in the carved sequence, a king rides in a chariot with armed attendants around him. These are parts of the lion-hunt cycle made for Ashurbanipal, who ruled Assyria in the seventh century BC. The gypsum panels came from his North Palace at Nineveh, in modern northern Iraq, and were made around 645–635 BC. Hunting lions expressed the ruler’s ability to protect his people and overcome danger. Their bodies, wounds and movements received close attention from the sculptors. The cycle includes lions released from cages, horsemen driving them towards the royal chariot and the king shooting. You can follow those scenes in Room 10a. The neighbouring Lachish siege and Khorsabad galleries concern different kings and events. The hunt panels belonged to a particular room in Ashurbanipal’s palace, where one scene continued into the next along the walls.