Skip to main content

Primary sourceSculpture645-635 BCE

Wall Relief Fragment of Ashurbanipal from Nineveh

645-635 BCE

A carved stone fragment from Ashurbanipal's North Palace at Nineveh, depicting the king, now in a French museum.

A surviving fragment depicting Ashurbanipal from the decoration of his own palace at Nineveh.

Ask Ashurbanipal about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Photograph of a carved stone wall relief fragment, irregular pale limestone slab with a pointed top. Two figures in profile face each other with layered bands of rosette and patterned motifs on tall headdresses and robes, with worn, pitted surface.
Wall relief fragment depicting Ashurbanipal, North Palace, Nineveh. Auguste Grasset Museum, Varzy, VA 138.

About this source

What it is

This is a fragment of a wall bas-relief from the North Palace at Nineveh (Kuyunjik), representing the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal. It was purchased by the Auguste Grasset Museum in Varzy, France, in 1867, and was shown at the Pharaon des Deux Terres exhibition at the Louvre in 2022.

Why it matters

This small surviving piece is part of the larger decorative program of Ashurbanipal's palace, where carved scenes recorded his reign and achievements. Its journey to a provincial French museum also shows how Assyrian artifacts were collected and dispersed across Europe in the 19th century.

Look closer

  • What details can you make out on the figures' headdresses and robes despite the worn surface?
  • Why do you think this fragment ended up far from Iraq, in a small French museum?
  • What does the damage to the stone tell you about its long history?

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.

More Ashurbanipal sources

Meet the AI Ashurbanipal →
A pale yellowish-beige baked brick fragment lies on a white background, with a scale bar and label reading B 1968/12.1 beside it. The brick's surface shows faint, worn markings.Artifact

Primary source

Baked Brick Naming King Ashurbanipal

7th century BCE

Photo of a carved stone relief panel. At left, a bearded man in a robe thrusts a spear into the head of a lion. An attendant with a quiver stands beside him. At right, a figure walks beside a horse, and a rider sits on the horse's back.Sculpture

Primary source

Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal

Assyrian royal sculptors · c. 645–635 BCE

A tall, multi-sided clay prism covered in rows of cuneiform script, lit from the left against a dark background, standing on a grey display base. Its faces show fine wedge-shaped writing.Document

Primary source

Rassam Prism of Ashurbanipal

643 BCE

Pen and brown ink sketch on a cream sketchbook page, numbered 7 in the top right corner. Two bearded figures with long curled hair stand in profile, one playing a large round-bodied harp or lyre with a curved frame, the other playing a stringed instrument. A third figure in a long fringed robe stands at the far right. Pencil construction lines are visible. Handwritten note at bottom.Painting

Secondary source

Relief with Musicians from the Palace of Ashurbanipal in Nineveh

A cuneiform clay tablet, tan and brown with a broken edge, resting on a blue display surface. Rows of wedge-shaped script cover its face. The tablet is tilted toward the viewer in a museum case, with a thin metal support visible.Document

Primary source

Flood Tablet

Scribes of Ashurbanipal's library · 7th century BCE

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Ashurbanipal now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions