ISIS Bulldozes Nimrud

Figure 1 - Nimrud Ivory - now in the Metropolitan Museum

     ISIS has apparently bulldozed the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud. It is not yet clear how much damage has been done.

     Nimrud was once the capital of Assyria (founded by Shalmaeser I) and a number of Assyrian royal tombs were found there in 1989. The city is the site of palaces of several Assyrian kings, including Ashurnasirpal II.

Figure 2 - Nimrud Ivory - now in the Metropolitan Museum

    The city is also where the famous Nimrud ivories were found. These ivories often have imitations of Egyptian art. In figure 1 you can see one of these ivories with  a human headed sphinx with a solar disk and uraeus on its head. In figure 2,  a woman holds an Egyptian lily in her right hand and has a winged solar disk above her head with a uraeus on each side of the sun disk.





Copyright (c) 2015 by John Freed