The Assyrian Empire

The Assyrians were centered around the Tigris river in Mesopotamia (Iraq) At its height from 900 BC to 600 BC it ruled Egypt before becoming part of the Persian Empire

These reliefs are from the city of Nineveh a capital city of the Empire This depicts the Assyrian God Nisroch who is mentioned in the Bible multiple times as an 'idol'. Regardless the quality of artistry is exteremely high

Besides the high quality of carving there is also a high quality of writing carved into the reliefs. This is a type of cuniform of the Akkadian language.

Another classic Assyrian relief, horses often figure prominently

This appears to be a battle at sea

Slaves having a very hard climb

Slaves having a very hard pull

I was unable to determine the name of the god on the left The Assyrians had quite a few to choose from

Here is a battle scene on top with archers and fortifications

This is an interesting scene as it shows a form of hunting Game such as deer would be driven into large nets and caught This method was used even in the Roman times