Map of the Assyrian empire up to the reign of Sargon II (721–705 BC)

Neo-Assyrian period 934–612 BC

The history of the ancient Middle East during the first millennium BC is dominated by the expansion of the Assyrian state and its rivalry with Babylonia. At its height in the seventh century BC, the Assyrian empire was the largest and most powerful that the world had ever known; it included all of Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt, as well as parts of Anatolia and Iran. Ceramics with very thin, pale fabric, referred to as Palace Ware, were the luxury ware of the Assyrians. Glazed ceramics are also characteristically Neo-Assyrian in form and decoration.

The Black Obelisk

Excavated by Austin Henry Lanyard in 1845 at Nimrud (ancient Kalhu), the black limestone sculpture known as the Black Obelisk commemorates the achievements of the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III (858–824 BC); a cast of the monument stands today in the Dr. Norman Solhkhah Family Assyrian Empire Gallery (C224–227) at the OI Museum. Twenty relief panels, distributed in five rows on the four sides of the obelisk, show the delivery of tribute from subject peoples and vassal kings (a king that owes loyalty to another ruler). A line of cuneiform script below each identifies the tribute and source.

The Assyrian king is shown in two panels at the top, first depicted as a warrior with a bow and arrow, receiving Sua, king of Gilzanu (northwestern Iran); and second, as a worshiper with a libation bowl in hand, receiving Jehu, king of the House of Omri (ancient northern Israel). The following three sources of tribute shown on the obelisk are Musri (probably Egypt), Suhu on the middle Euphrates, and Patina in southeastern Turkey.

The depiction of luxury products and exotic animals, including camels, monkeys, and rhinoceroses, emphasizes the wealth that flowed into the Assyrian empire. The long inscription on the stepped top and below the relief panels summarizes Shalmaneser’s military campaigns in the first 31 years of his reign—the means by which the empire’s wealth was obtained. Both the Black Obelisk and a broken basalt obelisk of king Ashurnasirpal II (883–859 BC), now known as the Rassam Obelisk, were discovered in the center of the citadel mount at Nimrud, an area that may have once served as a courtyard for the display of royal monuments.

(Top left) Drawing of the obelisk (from Layard, Monuments of Ninive, 1849). (Bottom left) Layard’s plan of his excavations at Nimrud denoting Trench J, where he excavated the obelisk (from Layard, Nineveh and Its Remains, 1849).