Neo-Assyrian wall panel
- Gallery: Room 8
- Culture: Neo-Assyrian
- Date: 728BC
- Object type: wall panel, relief
- Materials: gypsum
- Museum number: 1848,1104.5
- 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.
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About this object
This is a Neo-Assyrian wall panel carved from gypsum. It shows a scene of recorded history from around 728 BC. At the center is a beardless officer, dressed in a long garment and fringed wrap, holding a short stick in one hand and resting his other on his sword. Two scribes stand before him—one with a clay tablet, the other writing on a leather roll. Behind them, rows of fat-tailed sheep and goats are arranged, likely as spoils of war.
To the right, a figure with raised arm seems to be driving these animals away. Alongside them, the start of a line of prisoners can be seen, continuing the story of a captured city's deportation.
This relief is part of a larger scene that includes a siege scene and Assyrian clerks recording the campaign’s details. It once adorned the walls of a palace, telling the story through carved stone with remarkable detail.
See it in person
Neo-Assyrian wall panel is on display in Room 8 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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