Week #3

Art of the Ancient Near East

Assurnasirpal II Killing Lions

C. 875-860 B.C.

            In this famous Ancient Near Eastern work of art, many aspects of the time period are easily read and presented here. This image represents the power and bravery of the king and helps to make the king seem more important and otherworldly than everyone else in this image. One example would be the anarchical scale (when the most important figure of an art piece is bigger than everyone else in the picture) of the king in comparison to everyone else in the image. if you look at the two soldiers on the left, they are both the same size, even though one stands farther back than the other. however now if you look at the king on the back of the chariot, he is taller than the man behind him. Since the two soldiers are in the same picture and in a similar position as the king and chariot driver, you can just assume that the artist did it for that particular reason.

            Another aspect that is easily seen in this image is the amount of detail put into the king's clothing and the king's horses harnesses. Such fine details to spend countless hours on carving if it didn't have a specific purpose. Also a side note with the horses, usually from what I've learned about the ancient near east, the average amount of horses used to pull charioteers is two. However, in this image, to flaunt his power and ability he has three fine stallions to pull his chariot. Also as Professor Bowen stated in her lecture for ancient near eastern art, she said that Lions in that area of the world aren't as big as what we think of when we think of African lions. Therefore its odd that the lions in this image are almost as big as the horses around them, and seem to be fiercer than even the African lions. Lions were very substantial in the lives of the Assyrian people which made the image of king Assurnasirpal hunting them even more powerful. Lions were considered wild, uncivilized and bothersome in the lives of the people of that time period, thus having the image of the king killing and rising above them that much more powerful, and almost otherworldly.

            Continuing on the same topic of the lions in this low relief carving, the strength of these lions are also very detailed. They have their teeth fully shown, (both the attacking and the dying lion) long and sharp, baring and threatening the king. It's arm and shoulder muscles rippling, and even though its been shot 4 times by a series of the kings arrows, he still stands strong and angry, seemingly giving everything it has to attack the king one last time. However on the comparison the king has a calm looking expression, so calm that if you were to cover up the image of the lion it would almost seem as if he were target shooting with how calm his demeanor is. Calm in the face of adversity is also another strength the king is trying to portray, as a brave king his subjects can expect him to not cower against resisting countries or forces and instead rise up and attack with the calm means necessary to make wise decisions.

            As far as the fact that these images used to be painted bright colors to emphasize the details and really make the image pop against the stone walls, if you were to imagine the colors they used, they would probably be bright warm colors of the king and the lion, and more neutral or cool colors for the soldiers and possibly even the dying lion. I have no idea what colors were actually used, but if what I have guessed is true on the color spectrum, I would not be surprised.

            Finally and possibly most importantly, is the direction of all the people and even the animals in this image. The king is the only one brave enough to turn and face the charging lion, as the charioteer is racing forward and the soldiers are marching the lion closer and closer to the king, it basically implies that he's alone in his battle, and possibly even putting his life on the line to kill the lion. With his powerful muscles bulging he pulls back his bowstring and arrow for the final blow to the head of the lion, point blank. The hardest possible shot to get, because of how close he is to the lion, as well as the lion's desire to kill the king in one fell bite. But then again everything represented in this image is to make the king look superior to any living creature with his bravery and power. In this image alone he asserted himself by slaying two lions. Could they represent neighboring kingdoms? Or even trials he'd overcome in his lifetime?  Only the king and the artist know for sure, its a shame that they're both dust by now.