Thursday, February 28, 2013

Assyria's Wrath

Captives being tortured, Lachish, wall relief in the British Museum
Click here (BritishMuseum) to view some of the stark and terrifying stone reliefs depicting the siege and destruction of a major Judahite (southern Israelite) city. These artifacts were excavated from the palace of the mighty Assyrian King Sennacherib (705-681BCE). These calamities are also remembered by the Bible (2 Kings 18-19 and Isaiah 36-37)...

What messages do you think that these reliefs were intended to convey to visitors at the Assyrian palace?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

These are beautifully carved pieces of art. Although they may be a little bit terrifying, the message that could be taken from these would be "don't mess with us!". The Assyrians were a pretty violent culture in the first place so displaying these would be a trophy of their victory, which is in plain sight for everyone els to see so they know who they are up against.

-Taylor E.