The Balawat Gates Of Ashurnasirpal II

"This is a unique record of two major archaeological finds - two sets of elaborate bronze gates of the late Assyrian period from the site of Balawat (ancient Imgur-Enlil) in northern Iraq. These two gates were made during the reign of King Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 b.c.) and were discovered nearly a century apart. One set was found by Hormuzd Rassam in 1878 in a doorway of the king's palace, and the other in the Temple of Mamu by Sir Max Mallowan in 1956." "These bronze gates of Ashurnasirpal complement the previously published and now famous gates of Shalmaneser III (858-824 b.c.). Their thirty-two bronze ornamental bands, with chased and embossed figurative decoration and accompanying epigraphs in cuneiform, provide a wealth of historical and art-historical information for ninth-century Assyria and the surrounding region. Tragically, following the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the Mamu Temple set fell victim to looting and is now lost. This important volume is the only complete record of their appearance, excavation and loss and is therefore a major new source for scholarship of the Ancient Near East." "A wealth of photographs and meticulous drawings, many published here for the first time, reveals all the bands and their inscriptions in detail. Both sets of gates are illustrated: the set discovered in 1878, now on permanent display in the British Museum, and the lost bands from the Mamu Temple gates, which were conserved in the British Museum and subsequently looted from the Mosul Museum in Iraq. The book includes comparisons between the two sets and presents the evidence for their original arrangement as well as a detailed summary of excavations at Balawat."--BOOK JACKET.