Ashurnasirpal II under an umbrella with a drinking bowl and bow
These glazed clay wall tiles, dating from 875-850 BC, depict the Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II under an umbrella with a drinking bowl and a bow, accompanied by military servants. The inscription has been erased, and the tiles show decorative patterns at the bottom and top, with a broken left side and an intact right side. Excavated by A.H. Layard and Hormizd Painter in the northwestern palace of King Ashurnasirpal II in Kalhu, Assyria, currently on display in the British Museum in London.
Ashurnasirpal II (Akkadian: Aššur-nāṣir-apli, meaning "Assyria's guardian of the heir") was king of the Assyrian Empire from 883 to 859 BC. He succeeded his father, Tukulti-Ninurta II, in 883 BC. During his reign he embarked on a major expansionist campaign, first conquering the peoples to the north in Asia Minor and imposing tribute on Phrygia, then conquering Aram (modern Syria) and subjugating the Arameans and Neo-Hittites between the Khabur and the Euphrates River.
Ashurnasirpal II subjugated Mesopotamia, as well as the territory that is now Lebanon, and added them to the growing Assyrian empire. Ashurnasirpal II was famous for his cruelty and enslaved captives to build the new Assyrian capital on the hill of Nimrud Kalah, where he built it and built many palaces. His cruelty prompted a rebellion, which he decisively crushed in a fierce two-day battle. According to the inscription on his monument, he said while remembering this massacre:
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