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Although archaeological excavations reveal that
the land of the Assyrians had been inhabited as
early as 5000 B.C., it was not until the reign of
King Sargon of Akkad in 2371 B.C. that the
Assyrians first rose to glory. Under Sargon, the
kingdom rapidly expanded north to the city of
Ashur and as far west as the Mediterranean,
controlled by a central government based in
Akkad. By 1813 B.C., King Shamshi-Adad I
united the cities of Ashur, Nineveh, and Arbel
into one cohesive administrative unit. These
three cities, as well as Arrapkha and Kalhu (later
known as Nimrud), form the historical core of
the Assyrian Kingdom which would remain a
credible force throughout the Mediterranean
world for the next millennium. While various
parts of Assyrian territory were annexed for brief
periods of time by neighboring civilizations, this
core remained firmly intact. The Assyrians
experienced another Golden Age, lasting from
the 9th until the 7th Century B.C. (this period is
referred to as “Neo-Assyrian”). During this
period, the kingdom grew to its largest extent,
encompassing the lands from parts of modern
Iran to the Mediterranean, from Anatolia to
Egypt. However, it proved difficult even for the
powerful Assyrian monarchs to maintain control
over this vast territory for very long. By the end
of the 7th Century, the Assyrian Kingdom began
to collapse under the weight of assaults from the
Babylonians to the south and the newly founded
Medes Kingdom to the east. In 612 B.C., Nimrud
burned for the second time in three years,
followed by the sacking of Ashur and Nineveh,
effectively ending Assyrian control of the ancient
Near East.
This fragment of an Ancient Assyrian limestone
wall panel depicts the head of a man. Judging
from the iconography of similar panels in
museums around the world, it is likely that this
man was either an important member of the
royal entourage, or was a foreign dignitary
visiting Assyria to pay his respects to the king. A
closer analysis of the headdress and hairstyle of
the man would likely indicate his status. If he
was a foreigner, he would surely have been
carrying offerings from his homeland as gifts for
the king. He wears a tall conical headdress with
a wide brim over which his ear sticks out. A
large tuft of hair emerges from underneath the
brim in the rear. His facial features, most
significantly his eye and ear, have been carefully
carved from the stone with great attention to
detail. His long beard has been treated with a
motif of small circular bumps that imitate the
texture of curls.
- (X.0376)
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