What kinds of art decorated Ashurbanipalâs palace at Nineveh?
The palaces of the 7th-century BCE Assyrian kings at Nineveh, including that of Ashurbanipal, were primarily decorated with relief carving. These decorations consisted of pictorial narratives carved onto upright stone slabs known as orthostats, which lined the interior walls of the palace chambers.12
The reliefs in the palaces of Sennacherib and Ashurbanipal were characterized by a return to narrative and violent activity, featuring complex battle scenes that depicted the progress of fighting through episodic repetition. In addition to military conquests and the suppression of revolts, these carvings frequently depicted hunting scenes, such as the pursuit of lions from light chariots or the hunting of wild asses and gazelles, which served as a popular subject for Assyrian artists.1
While these descriptive stone reliefs were the most prominent form of ornament, the palace architecture also incorporated colossal portal sculptures, typically in the form of human-headed bulls or lions, to guard the arched gateways. These figures were often carved from single blocks of stone.12