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Primary sourceSculpture

Tongue Extraction and Flaying Relief

A palace relief from Ashurbanipal's reign showing captives being brutally punished, exhibited at the British Museum.

A palace relief from Ashurbanipal's reign showing the brutal punishment of captives, used to project royal power.

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Carved stone relief from an Assyrian palace showing a violent scene. Figures with beards and headbands grip and strike captives, some lying on the ground; one captive is being pulled by the head. Carved stone detail, with a figure at the right edge.
Tongue extraction and flaying relief, Assyrian palace relief. Exhibited in "I am Ashurbanipal, king of the world, king of Assyria," British Museum. Photo by Carole Raddato, 2018.

About this source

What it is

This photograph shows a detail of a carved stone relief from an Assyrian palace, dating from the reign of Ashurbanipal. It depicts bearded, headband-wearing figures gripping and striking captives, including scenes described as tongue extraction and flaying. The relief was shown in the British Museum exhibition "I am Ashurbanipal, king of the world, king of Assyria."

Why it matters

Assyrian palace reliefs often showed harsh punishments of enemies and prisoners, intended to display royal power and warn against rebellion. This scene, created for or during Ashurbanipal's reign, gives historians direct evidence of how Assyrian kings used violent imagery as propaganda and how they treated defeated peoples.

Look closer

  • Why might a king want scenes like this carved on his palace walls, where visitors could see them?
  • What does this relief suggest about how Assyria treated conquered or rebellious peoples?
  • Whose point of view does this carving represent, and whose is missing?

This sculpture is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Ashurbanipal on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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