Illustration
Frieze depicting a lion hunt, from the royal palace of Ashurbanipal, Nineveh, modern-day Iraq. Neo-Assyrian Empire, 668-631 BCE.
The king's role was to protect his people from enemies. In ancient Assyria, this was symbolized in the lion hunt, when the king went out to kill lions. Lions were not uncommon in the Ancient Near East. King Ashurbanipal of Assyria noted that the hills abounded with lions who were killing cattle and humans alike. It appears, though that the king had the lions caught for him, and brought to some sort of arena, where he could hunt the lions without having to go out and chase them.
The British Museum, London.
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Cite This Work
APA Style
(Photographer), J. v. d. C. (2012, April 26). Assyrian Lion Hunt Relief. World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.worldhistory.org/image/96/assyrian-lion-hunt-relief/
Chicago Style
(Photographer), Jan van der Crabben. "Assyrian Lion Hunt Relief." World History Encyclopedia. Last modified April 26, 2012. https://www.worldhistory.org/image/96/assyrian-lion-hunt-relief/.
MLA Style
(Photographer), Jan van der Crabben. "Assyrian Lion Hunt Relief." World History Encyclopedia. World History Encyclopedia, 26 Apr 2012, https://www.worldhistory.org/image/96/assyrian-lion-hunt-relief/. Web. 17 May 2025.
