Week 2: Wednesday, January 25
The reliefs and statues above portray a variety of figures who were important to the Assyrians. A protective magical spirit, this apkallu (above left) stood outside the Assyrian king's quarters in Nimrud. He carries both a goat and a huge ear of wheat. Gilgamesh (right), a great and ancient Near Eastern hero (two-thirds god, one-third human) who supposedly ruled Uruk, was the subject of one of the earliest known pieces of literature, The Epic of Gilgamesh (ca. 2600 BC). In his left hand, Gilgamesh holds onto a lion cub, and in his right, a sickle customarily employed to fight monsters. Assyrian reliefs generally represented Gilgamesh fighting wild animals such as bulls. The statue of Ashurnasirpal II ("Ashur is Guardian of the Sun") (r. 883-859 BC) (center) sat in Nimrud's Temple of Ishtar as a symbol of the king's devotion to the goddess. In his left hand, he grips a mace, which represented his authority as regent of the supreme god. He also carries a ceremonial sickle. Inscriptions across his chest describe his family tree, offices, and exploits. What do these figures appear to have in common (aside from the sickle)? What do these similarities suggest about the Assyrians?
This relief from Nimrud represents Ashurnasirpal II on a lion hunt. Evidence from other reliefs suggests that the Assyrian kings either captured lions or bred them in captivity. Released from a cage, the lions would run about as the kings hunted them from a chariot with a bow and arrow. Only royalty or aristocrats used chariots which played a prominent role in Assyrian warfare. The two servants (beaters perhaps?) on the left wear the pointed, iron helmets associated with Assyrian infantry.
Mounted on horseback, Ashurbanipal II (r. 669-626 BC) uses a spear to kill a lion. Below, left, he finishes a lion off with a sword.
(Above, right) Ashurbanipal II commissioned this relief to commemorate his victory over the Elamites at the battle of Til Tuba in 653 BC. In the bottom section, the Ulai River carries away the carnage of battle—dead soldiers, horses, and other debris. In the middle strip, the surviving soldiers of Elam kneel and bow in submission before the Assyrian general. Above, another Assyrian general introduces the defeated and submissive Elamites to their new ruler, Ummanigash. This relief appeared in the Nineveh palace of Sennacherib (r. 704-681) when Ashurbanipal renovated it in the middle of the 7th century BC. The Elamites were lucky. Destruction often became the fate of rebellious cities. In the relief below, Assyrian soldiers break down the walls of Hamaan with pickaxes while the city burns. Below, their comrades carry out loot through the front gate.
1) According to the textbook why were the Assyrians so successful militarily?
2) According to the textbook, what were the strengths of the Persian army? In the end, however, what was it that really held the Persian empire together?
3) From what you have read of the inscriptions, what appears to have been Tiglathpileser's justification for war?
4) Why did Tiglathpileser treat his enemies so badly? Why did he boast about his atrocities? Why did he go into such painstaking detail about his campaigns and the punishments doled out to his opponents?
5) In the second section of the inscriptions, what seems to be the relationship between the gods, king, and people? Why does Tiglathpileser go into the same detail about building a temple as he does over a victorious battle?
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Copyrighted by Hugh Dubrulle, 2006.