Openwork Plaque with a Sphinx at a Tree; Neo-Assyrian period, late 9th–8th century B.C.; Syrian style
Mesopotamia; excavated at Nimrud (ancient Kalhu),
Northwest Palace, Room EA
Expedition of the British School of Archaeology in Iraq
Ivory
Rogers Fund, 1952 (52.23.1)

Syrian-style ivories often represent human-headed sphinxes that owe their origins to Egypt but are distinguishable by features such as their volute-like locks of hair.