Palace Reliefs from Kalhu (Nimrud)

The Assyrian relief sculptures in this exhibition are some of the most extraordinary pieces in the Bowdoin collection. Carved at the behest of the Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II in the ninth century B.C.E., these stone panels once decorated the walls of the royal palace in the king’s new capital at ancient Kalhu, located along the upper reaches of the Tigris River, in present-day northern Iraq.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.