Ancient Replicas - Sargon and Tartan (High Ranking Official)

Walls and Towers
Decorative Items

Assyria

Alabaster lion from entrance to temple of Ninurta at Nimrud, reign of Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BC)
Assyrian Lion

Winged bull with human head, from the palace of Sargon II at Khorsabad
Winged Bull Guardian

Tiglath-Pileser III Fragment of a gypsum tablet from the palace of Nimrud.
Tiglath-Pileser III

Sargon II in Royal Fashion Limestone Sculpture
Sargon II

Relief of Siege Scene with Battering-Ram and Impaled Bodies, gypsum, Palace of Tiglath-pileser III
Battering Ram

Relief depicting the siege of a fortified city
Siege Relief

Detail of Hebrew captives playing music, from Lachish, wandering through a mountain forest, accompanied by an Assyrian warrior carrying a club
Hebrew Captives

Relief of Ashurbanipal Stabbing Lion With Sword
King Stabbing Lion

Relief of King Ashurbanipal Reposing with His Queen in the Royal Garden
Ashurbanipal Feasting

Relief of Tiglath-Pileser III in Chariot
Tiglath-Pileser in Chariot 

Relief of Slaves in a Quarry
Forced Quarry Labor

Stone Sculpture of a Winged Lamassu, from Khorsabad
Winged Lamassu

Winged human-headed bull colossus from Khorsabad
Human Headed Bull

Stone Sculpture of Hero Grasping Lion, from Khorsabad
Hero Grasping Lion

Sargon II and a high official
Sargon and High Official

Sargon II and his Tartan
Sargon II and Tartan

Relief from Ashurnasirpal II's palace at Nimrud of a winged genius with an eagle's head
Eagle-Headed Deity

Assyrian Archers
Assyrian Archers

Assyrian King Blinding Prisoners
Blinding Prisoners

Impaled Prisoners
Impaled Prisoners

King Jehu Relief
Jehu Relief

Assyrian King Hunting
King Hunting

Lachish Captives
Lachish Captives

Assyrian Slinger (Stonethrower)
Assyrian Slinger

Trodden Under Foot
Trodden Under Foot


Ashurbanipal Hunting

The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III
The Black Obelisk

Sennacherib's Hexagonal Prism of Baked Clay also know as the Taylor Prism
Sennacherib's Prism

Assyrian Soldier Holding Shield
Assyrian Soldier 1

Assyrian Soldier Holding Spear
Assyrian Soldier 2


Babylon

The Striding Lion on the Ishtar Gate of Babylon
The Striding Lion

The Weld-Blundell Prism
Weld-Blundell Prism

 

 

Sculpture of Sargon II with Vizier, gypsum, Khorsabad, Neo-Assyrian, 721-705 BCE
From the Neo-Assyrian Period, 1000 BCE - 612 BCE
Found in Khorsabad
The palace of Sargon at Khorsabad (Dur-Sharrukin) was decorated with carved orthostats depicting various subjects including tribute, processions, mythical beasts and even the procurement of timber by sea. The above detail depicts Sargon II (at left) wearing the Assyrian royal cone crown and carrying the staff of kingship. He greets his vizier (to right) who raises his hand in a gesture of respect. Details of dress are apparent, such as the fringed garments and jewelled bracelets worn by those of the Assyrian court.

Here standing face to face, are Sargon, conqueror of Samaria and Israel, and the Tartan, his commander-in-chief, who is making his report in the audience chamber. With staff in one hand and sword in the other, the king embodies a power that brooks neither opposition nor contradiction. Submission alone is permitted. None dared counter his inexorable will.

"In the year that Tartan came unto Ashdod, (when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him,) and fought against Ashdod, and took it;" - Isaiah 20:1

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Sargon II and his Tartan (Assyrian tartanu), the title given to the commander-in-chief of the Assyrian army (II Kings 18:17).  Detail from a relief in the Palace of Sargon II at Khorsabad, 8th century B.C. (British Museum).