Images

This terracotta plaque was used to protect households from enemies. 800-500 BCE. From Southern Mesopotamia, modern-day Iraq. (British Museum, London)

This glass vessel was carved out of a solid block and the center was drilled out thereafter. Neo-Assyrian Period, reign of Sargon II, 721-705 BCE. From the North-West Palace at Nimrud, Northern Mesopotamia, modern-day Iraq. (British Museum...

Detail of a much larger gypsum wall relief showing the climax of a royal lion hunt. The lion is shown in his final death throes, blood pouring from his mouth. From the North Palace of Ashurbanipal II at Nineveh, Mesopotamia, modern-day Iraq...

Colossal sandstone statue of Amenhotep IV, known as Akhenaten from the 5th year of his reign. Karnak, Amarna Period, 18th Dynasty.

Painted limestone relief, possibly depicting Akhenaten and Nefertiti, from Amarna, 18th Dynasty, c. 1335 BCE. Neues Museum, Berlin.

This votive stone mace head was polished and incised with four lines of cuneiform inscriptions. It was a dedication to the god Igalim by Gudea, ruler of Lagash. Lagash II period, c. 2150 BCE. From Lagash, Southern Mesopotamia, modern-day...

This clay tablet preserves a copy of a royal inscription of king Hammurabi of Babylon (reigned 1792-1750 BCE; Old Babylonian Period), which had been found in an ancient temple. The writer has attempted to imitate the original script, and...

A close-up image of a red sandstone stela depicting the Assyrian King Ashurbanipal II. The king holds a ritual basket of earth on his head (not shown here) for the rebuilding of E-Zida temple. Neo-Assyrian Period, 668-655 BCE. From the temple...

Detail of a gypsum wall relief showing the Assyrian king Tiglath Pileser III from the South-West palace at Nimrud, Mesopotamia, modern-day Iraq, Neo-Assyrian Empire, 745-727 BCE. The king is recognizable by his long beard, royal head cap...

Detail of a gypsum wall relief showing the Assyrian King Sargon II. Neo-Assyrian Period, 710-705 BCE. From the palace of Sargon II at Khorsabad, Mesopotamia, Modern-day Iraq. (The British Museum, London).