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Human-Headed
Winged Lion(lamassu); Neo-Assyrian period, reign
of Ashurnasirpal II (r. 883–859 B.C.)
Mesopotamia;
excavated at Nimrud (ancient Kalhu)
Alabaster (gypsum)
Gift of John D. Rockefeller Jr., 1932 (32.143.1)
"Beasts
of the mountains and the seas, which I had fashioned out of white
limestone and alabaster, I had set up in its gates. I made [the
palace] fittingly imposing" (from the Standard
Inscription of Ashurnasirpal II).
Pairs of lamassi—either human-headed winged bulls or
lions—protected and supported important doorways in Assyrian
palaces. The horned headdress attests to their divinity, and the
belt signifies their power. Assyrian sculptors gave these guardian
figures five legs so that the animal stands firmly in place when
viewed from the front, but appears to stride forward when seen from
the side. The Standard Inscription
of Ashurnasirpal II is incised in the area between the legs of the
figure.
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more about the Standard Inscription.
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