What kinds of sculptures decorated the doorways of Sennacherib’s palace?
The doorways of Sennacherib’s palace at Nineveh were decorated with colossal portal sculptures known as lamassu, which typically took the form of human-headed bulls.123
These impressive guardian figures were not statues in the round but "double-aspect" reliefs, designed to be viewed from either the front or the side. When viewed from the front, the figures appear to be standing still, while from a profile perspective, they appear to be striding forward. These sculptures were carved from single blocks of stone and served to guard the palace while exuding the power of the king. In addition to these portal guardians, the interior chambers of the palace were extensively decorated with pictorial reliefs carved on upright stone slabs, or orthostats, which depicted narrative scenes such as military campaigns and hunting expeditions.4523