Relief panel ca. 883–859 Assyrian This panel from the Northwest Palace at Nimrud (ancient Kalhu) depicts a winged supernatural figure. Such figures appear throughout the palace, sometimes flanking either the figure of the Assyrian king or a stylized "sacred tree." The reliefs were painted, but today almost none of the original pigment survives. However, the reliefs themselves retain incredible detail, including intricate incised designs on many of the figures’ protective figure on this panel originally stood back to back with another on one side of a doorway, with parallel fi

Relief panel ca. 883–859 Assyrian This panel from the Northwest Palace at Nimrud (ancient Kalhu) depicts a winged supernatural figure. Such figures appear throughout the palace, sometimes flanking either the figure of the Assyrian king or a stylized "sacred tree." The reliefs were painted, but today almost none of the original pigment survives. However, the reliefs themselves retain incredible detail, including intricate incised designs on many of the figures’ protective figure on this panel originally stood back to back with another on one side of a doorway, with parallel figures on the other side, so that one pair of figures faced out toward a courtyard and the other into the room. The Museum collection includes fragments of all four figures. The figure is human-headed and faces right, holding in his left hand a plant and raising his open right hand in a beneficent gesture. The figure wears a horned cap, indicating divinity, and jewelry: visible are a large pendant earring, a collar consisting of two bands of beads and spacers, armlets with animal-head terminals, and bracelets, on one of which can be seen a large central rosette symbol, associated with divinity and perhaps particularly with the goddess Ishtar. Although we cannot know how these elements were originally painted, excavated parallels include elaborate jewelry in gold, inlaid with semi-precious stones. A collar or necklace such as that shown here might have been made up of semi-precious stones separated by gold spacer beads. The figure carries three knives, tucked into a belt with their handles visible at chest level, and one of these is also figures are supernatural but do not represent any of the great gods. Rather, they are part of the vast supernatural population that for ancient Mesopotamians animated every aspect of the world. They appear as either eagle-headed or human-headed and wear a horned crown to indicate divinity. Both types of figure usually have w

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