The Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal

Carved in gypsum for the North Palace at Nineveh, capital of Assyria, these reliefs show King Ashurbanipal killing lions released into an arena, a staged royal ritual meant to prove the king's power to protect his people. Here he seizes a lion by the throat and drives home his sword. Across the wider series the dying beasts, pierced with arrows, sink down with a tenderness unmatched in ancient art. The hunt is propaganda in stone; its wounded lions are its unexpected heart.