Your walk from the European painting galleries to this extraordinary room has carried you 2,500 years back in time, and thousands of miles eastward. The reliefs here were carved for a royal palace at Nimrud, in what is now Iraq. In the ninth century BCE, when the palace was constructed, Nimrud became the capital of the formidable Assyrian empire. This decoration is intended to reflect the majesty and divine right of the king, Ashurnasirpal the Second. Here you see the co-mingling of the supernatural and the natural and in this way the king appeased the gods and protected his people.

On either side of the arched doorway, there are especially impressive creatures: each has a human’s head, and a divinity’s horned cap. The body integrates parts of a bird of prey, with a bull, or a lion. Let’s look at the reliefs on the wall. The king is shown with signs of his authority: distinctive headgear, ritual vessel, and weapons. He is depicted with members of his entourage; the beardless human figures are eunuchs in the king’s service. And you also see divine protectors; they are the figures with wings and other animal features.

The band of text cutting across the images repeats again and again the titles of the king and his accomplishments—as a builder of palaces and a conqueror of peoples. The system of writing is called cuneiform; it was invented more than five thousand years ago here in Mesopotamia, the land between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Beyond the arched doorway is a map you may find helpful. It shows you where Assyria is within the greater region. Mesopotamia is sometimes called the cradle of civilization. To hear why, press play.