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(piano music)

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-Ancient Mesopotamia is
often credited as the

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cradle of civilization,
that is, the place where

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farming and cities began.

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It makes it seem so peaceful, but this was

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anything but the case.

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In fact, it was really a
series of civilizations

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that conquered each other.

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-We're in a room in the Louvre filled with

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sculpture from the
Assyrians, who controlled

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the ancient Near East from about 1000 BCE

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to around 500 BCE.

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-And these sculptures
in particular come from

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the palace of Sargon the
2nd, and we're carved

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at the height of Assyrian civilization in

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the 8th century BCE.

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-So this is modern day Khorsabad.

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-In Iraq.

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-And various Assyrian
kings established palaces

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at different cities.

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So there were palaces at Nimrid and Assur

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before this, and after there'll be

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a palace at Nineveh, but
these sculptures come

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from an excavation from
modern day Khorsabad.

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-The most impressive
sculptures that survive

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are the guardian figures
that protected the city's

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gates, and protected the
gates of the citadel itself.

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That is, the area within
which were both the temple

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and the royal palace.

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-So at each of these
various gates, there were

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guardian figures that
were winged bulls with

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the heads of men.

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-We think they were called Lamassu.

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-As figures that stood at
gateways, they make sense.

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They're fearsome, they look powerful.

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They could also be an
expression of the power

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of the Assyrian king.

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-They are enormous, but
even they would have

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been dwarfed by the architecture.

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They would have stood between huge arches.

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In fact, they had some structural purpose.

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It's interesting to
note that each of these

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Lamassu are actually
carved out of a monolithic

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stone, that is, there are no cuts here.

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These are single pieces
of stone, and in the

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ancient world, it was no
small task to get these

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stones in place.

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-Well, and apparently,
there were relief carvings

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in the palace that depicted
moving these massive

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Lamassu into place.

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So it's important to
remember that the Lamassu

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were the gateway figures,
but the walls of the

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palace were decorated
with relief sculpture

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showing hunting scenes and other scenes

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indicating royal power.

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-This is a Lamassu that
was actually a guardian

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for the exterior gate of the city.

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It's in awfully good condition.

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-Well my favorite part is the crown.

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It's decorated with
rosettes, and then double

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horns that come around
toward the top center,

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and then on top of that,
a ring of feathers.

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-It's really delicate for such a massive

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and powerful creature.

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The faces are extraordinary.

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First of all, just at
the top of the forehead,

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you can see kind of incised
wavy hair that comes

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just below the crown, and then you have

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a connected eyebrow.

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-And then the ears are the ears of a bull

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that wear earrings.

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-Actually quite elaborate earrings.

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-Well the whole form is so decorative.

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-And then there's that marvelous, complex

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representation of the beard.

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You see little ringlets
on the cheeks of the face,

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but then as the beard comes down, you see

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these spirals that turn downward, and then

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are interrupted by a
series of horizontal bands.

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-And then the wings too
form this lovely decorative

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pattern up the side of
the animal, and then

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across it's back.

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-In fact across the body
itself there are ringlets

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as well, so we get a sense
of the fur of the beast.

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And then under the creature,
and around the legs,

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you can see inscriptions in cuneiform.

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-Some of which declare
the power of the king.

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-And damnation for those
that would threaten

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the king's work, that is, the citadel.

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-What's interesting too
is that these were meant

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to be seen both from a frontal view and

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a profile view.

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-Well if you count up the number of legs,

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there's one too many.

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There are five.

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-Right, two from the front,
and four from the side,

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but of course, one of
the front legs overlaps,

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and so there are five legs.

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-What's interesting is
that when you look at the

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creature from the side,
you actually see that

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it's moving forward,
but when you look at it

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from the front, those two legs are static

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so the beast is stationary.

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And think about what
this means for a guardian

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figure at a gate.

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As we approach, we see
it still, watching us

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as we move, but if we
belong, if we're friendly,

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and we're allowed to pass
this gate, as we move

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through it, we see the animal itself move.

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-And then we have this
combination of these

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decorative forms that
we've been talking about

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with a sensitivity to the anatomy of this

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composite animal.

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His abdomen swells, and
his hindquarters move

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back, and then we can see
the veins, and muscles,

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and bones in his leg.

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-So there really is
this funny relationship

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between the naturalistic
and the imagination

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of the sculpture.

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-And the decorative,
but all speaking to the

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power, the authority of the
king and the fortifications

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of this palace, and this city.

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-They are incredibly impressive.

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It would be impossible
to broach the citadel

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without being awestruck by the power

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of this civilization.

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(piano music)