Lamassu from the citadel of Sargon II

(piano music)

-Ancient Mesopotamia is
often credited as the

cradle of civilization,
that is, the place where

farming and cities began.

It makes it seem so peaceful, but this was

anything but the case.

In fact, it was really a
series of civilizations

that conquered each other.

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

sculpture from the
Assyrians, who controlled

the ancient Near East from about 1000 BCE

to around 500 BCE.

-And these sculptures
in particular come from

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

at the height of Assyrian civilization in

the 8th century BCE.

-So this is modern day Khorsabad.

-In Iraq.

-And various Assyrian
kings established palaces

at different cities.

So there were palaces at Nimrid and Assur

before this, and after there'll be

a palace at Nineveh, but
these sculptures come

from an excavation from
modern day Khorsabad.

-The most impressive
sculptures that survive

are the guardian figures
that protected the city's

gates, and protected the
gates of the citadel itself.

That is, the area within
which were both the temple

and the royal palace.

-So at each of these
various gates, there were

guardian figures that
were winged bulls with

the heads of men.

-We think they were called Lamassu.

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

They're fearsome, they look powerful.

They could also be an
expression of the power

of the Assyrian king.

-They are enormous, but
even they would have

been dwarfed by the architecture.

They would have stood between huge arches.

In fact, they had some structural purpose.

It's interesting to
note that each of these

Lamassu are actually
carved out of a monolithic

stone, that is, there are no cuts here.

These are single pieces
of stone, and in the

ancient world, it was no
small task to get these

stones in place.

-Well, and apparently,
there were relief carvings

in the palace that depicted
moving these massive

Lamassu into place.

So it's important to
remember that the Lamassu

were the gateway figures,
but the walls of the

palace were decorated
with relief sculpture

showing hunting scenes and other scenes

indicating royal power.

-This is a Lamassu that
was actually a guardian

for the exterior gate of the city.

It's in awfully good condition.

-Well my favorite part is the crown.

It's decorated with
rosettes, and then double

horns that come around
toward the top center,

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

-It's really delicate for such a massive

and powerful creature.

The faces are extraordinary.

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

you can see kind of incised
wavy hair that comes

just below the crown, and then you have

a connected eyebrow.

-And then the ears are the ears of a bull

that wear earrings.

-Actually quite elaborate earrings.

-Well the whole form is so decorative.

-And then there's that marvelous, complex

representation of the beard.

You see little ringlets
on the cheeks of the face,

but then as the beard comes down, you see

these spirals that turn downward, and then

are interrupted by a
series of horizontal bands.

-And then the wings too
form this lovely decorative

pattern up the side of
the animal, and then

across it's back.

-In fact across the body
itself there are ringlets

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

And then under the creature,
and around the legs,

you can see inscriptions in cuneiform.

-Some of which declare
the power of the king.

-And damnation for those
that would threaten

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

-What's interesting too
is that these were meant

to be seen both from a frontal view and

a profile view.

-Well if you count up the number of legs,

there's one too many.

There are five.

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

but of course, one of
the front legs overlaps,

and so there are five legs.

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

creature from the side,
you actually see that

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

from the front, those two legs are static

so the beast is stationary.

And think about what
this means for a guardian

figure at a gate.

As we approach, we see
it still, watching us

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

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

through it, we see the animal itself move.

-And then we have this
combination of these

decorative forms that
we've been talking about

with a sensitivity to the anatomy of this

composite animal.

His abdomen swells, and
his hindquarters move

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

and bones in his leg.

-So there really is
this funny relationship

between the naturalistic
and the imagination

of the sculpture.

-And the decorative,
but all speaking to the

power, the authority of the
king and the fortifications

of this palace, and this city.

-They are incredibly impressive.

It would be impossible
to broach the citadel

without being awestruck by the power

of this civilization.

(piano music)