Neo-Assyrian relief
- Gallery: Room 10a
- Culture: Neo-Assyrian
- Date: 700BC-692BC
- Object type: relief
- Materials: gypsum
- Museum number: 124911
- Museum: The British Museum
- Collection record: British Museum website
- Image © The Trustees of the British Museum, shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.
Listen to the free audio guide
About this object
Before you is a Neo-Assyrian relief carved from gypsum, depicting King Sennacherib in a powerful moment of conquest. He sits on a throne, observing the capture of Lachish, a historic city. Around him, prisoners are brought before him and punished. Behind him stands a large tent, and in the foreground a chariot is shown, with bodyguards positioned nearby.
The scene gives a vivid glimpse into the grandeur and brutality of Assyrian warfare. Notably, the king's face is damaged—intentionally so in ancient times. Two cuneiform inscriptions in Akkadian run alongside the image. One reads: "Sennacherib, king of the world, king of Assyria, set up a throne and the booty of Lachish passed before him."
This relief was crafted between 700 and 692 BCE in the Southwest Palace in Nineveh, now part of modern-day Iraq.
See it in person
Neo-Assyrian relief is on display in Room 10a at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London — free to enter. Choose British Museum on audioguide.london and take a photo of it to hear this free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
New, in beta. British Museum support has just launched and is still improving: over 1,000 objects so far, with more added all the time.
