Neo-Assyrian wall panel
- Gallery: Room 10a
- Culture: Neo-Assyrian
- Date: 700BC-692BC
- Object type: wall panel, relief
- Materials: gypsum
- Museum number: 124914
- 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 relief, carved from gypsum, and dating to between 700 and 692 BCE. This panel depicts an Assyrian military camp, complete with a central road and tents where servants are at work. In the foreground, two priests are shown performing a ceremony in front of chariots bearing the gods' standards. The carved scenes offer a rare look into the organization of an Assyrian camp, showing how religion and military life were closely intertwined. The relief was originally part of the South West Palace in Nineveh. While the piece itself is delicate and worn, it belongs to a larger set of reliefs and has a replica available through the British Museum’s Facsimile Service. Pay close attention to the detailed carvings of figures and standards—they highlight the sophistication of Assyrian artistry and their cultural emphasis on both religious and military authority.
See it in person
Neo-Assyrian wall panel 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.
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