Lamassu from the citadel of Sargon II, Dur Sharrukin
Neo-Assyria, Iraq.. c. 720-705 B.C.E. Alabaster
The Assyrian lamassu sculptures are partly in the round, but the sculptor nonetheless conceived them as high reliefs on adjacent sides of a corner. The combine the front view of the animal at rest with the side view of it in motion. Seeking to present a complete picture of the lamas from both the front and the side, the sculptor gave the monster five legs- two seen from the front, four seen from the side.
Form:
high relief sculpture from a monolithic stone of gypseous alabaster-13'9" tall
It stands more than 4 meters high by 4 meters wide and is a meter in depth
Human headed winged bulls were very large protective genies called shedu/ lamassu, and were placed as guardians at certain gates/ doorways of the city and the palace.
Carved from a single block
the original position of these winged bulls: This one formed the left jamb of Door K in the palace
Content:
bulls with head of man and wings
- combination of the natural and the supernatural
- v powerful
- two standing static when you look at it from the front
- four moving forewords when you look at it from the side
- High relief was much prized in the time of Sargon II (when modeling became more marked)
- The head, the only human element
- ears are those of a bull
- has a man's bearded face with very precisely modeled features
- The eyes are expressive
- the thick eyebrows
- prominent nose
- soft mouth thin mustache
- A curly beard covers the jaw and chin
- while the hair falls down to the shoulders= framing the face
- This human head wears a starred tiara= flanked by pairs of horns and topped by a row of feathers.
- The body: its anatomy very precisely carved to be is that of a bull
- the beast has five legs (not 4 legs)
- so that it looks as if standing still when seen from the front, and as if walking when seen from the side
- From the shoulders spring the wings of a bird of prey, only one being visible, curving above the back
- broad panels of curls cover the breast, belly, back, and butt
- The tail is very long and curly at the end
Assyrians (1000-500 BCE), Iraq
Mesopotamia - constantly at war, being conquered by different people
Palace of Sargon II
713 BC Sargon II founded his capital, Dur Sharrukin, (present-day Khorsabad)
he enclosed it, together with several palaces, within a great wall of unbaked brick pierced by seven gatesThese bulls are motifs of Syrian inspiration and one of the characteristic features of the decoration of Assyrian palacesThey make their first appearance at Nimrud in the reign of Ashurnasirpal II, and disappear again after the reign of Ashurbanipal.
- height of Assyrian power
- different Assyrian kings made their palaces in different cities.
