Neo-Assyrian wall panel
- Gallery: Room 9
- Culture: Neo-Assyrian
- Date: 700BC-692BC
- Object type: wall panel, relief
- Materials: gypsum
- Museum number: 124784
- 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 wall panel dating to 700–692 B.C. The panel is carved from gypsum and shows scenes from a military campaign against the town of Alammu. At the top, soldiers march to the right, part of a larger, damaged register. Below, vines and pomegranate trees frame a detailed landscape: led horses, grooms, soldiers with shields, and a line of slingers and an archer. A river runs along the bottom, filled with fish—an elegant visual element that contrasts the militaristic scenes above.
This artwork comes from the South West Palace in Nineveh and once formed part of an important Assyrian display. The figures and scenes offer a glimpse into the visual storytelling of the Neo-Assyrian period, capturing both the natural and human elements of a battlefield.
See it in person
Neo-Assyrian wall panel is on display in Room 9 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.
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