Brief Summary: The Assyrian Culture
The Assyrian
The Assyrian, a relief carving standing eighteen feet tall, encaptures the culture of the ancient Assyrian empire. The figure in the carving is large, muscular, and holding a life-size lion in a single hand. The lion is clawed, with a long and winding tail, scales across his belly and a mane of patterned lines around his head. The lion has one of his bottom legs hiked up against the side of the man, while the other lays on the front of his body; the two upper legs stick out at an upward angle while the figure holds them in a trap. In his other hand, the figure grips the handle of an object with a squiggly, worm shape hanging down. The Assyrian is well-dressed in a patterned dress that ends just above the knees with short sleeves and four tassels hanging down …show more content…
at the bottom of the dress. As well, he wears two identical bands on each wrist. He has a full head of hair that is relatively straight at the top but descends down in large curls. The figure’s beard is large and rectangular, engulfing the bottom portion of his face, with a repeating pattern of circles and squares that ends in the middle of his chest. Based on these observations, the Assyrian relief carving instills fear in the conquered people.
Fear is an initial reaction that overthrown individuals would have in seeing this relief.
First of all, The carving looms eighteen feet above the earth. That is roughly twelve feet taller the average human. The sheer size of the structure is enough to shadow fear across any non-Assyrian’s face. Those conquered could see the size of this Assyrian and shrink away in terror. In addition, the Assyrian is extremely muscular and strong, for it grips a lion, the very top predator the animal kingdom, with a single arm. And the lion does not look too happy about this either. He looks like he is desperately trying to escape the clutch of the man, but failing. The object in his opposite hand is a whip, used to slay the lion, for violence was praised in Assyria; this man would be have been seen as a hero for taking this action. Moreover, if an Assyrian can kill a deadly lion and still be standing straight up without so much as a scratch, it displays the physical hierarchy of the Assyrians over other cultures and the resulting fear of defeated individuals. In sum, the Assyrians were no humble people. They built multiple of these near twenty foot sculptures. They desired to be feared by those they
conquered.
The Assyrian carving displays the Assyrians’ desire to be dreaded by those they have defeated, and therefore promotes fear in conquered people. The Assyrian is large, both in size and might, for the man is eighteen feet tall with enormous muscles.
The Assyrian, a relief carving standing eighteen feet tall, encaptures the culture of the ancient Assyrian empire. The figure in the carving is large, muscular, and holding a life-size lion in a single hand. The lion is clawed, with a long and winding tail, scales across his belly and a mane of patterned lines around his head. The lion has one of his bottom legs hiked up against the side of the man, while the other lays on the front of his body; the two upper legs stick out at an upward angle while the figure holds them in a trap. In his other hand, the figure grips the handle of an object with a squiggly, worm shape hanging down. The Assyrian is well-dressed in a patterned dress that ends just above the knees with short sleeves and four tassels hanging down …show more content…
at the bottom of the dress. As well, he wears two identical bands on each wrist. He has a full head of hair that is relatively straight at the top but descends down in large curls. The figure’s beard is large and rectangular, engulfing the bottom portion of his face, with a repeating pattern of circles and squares that ends in the middle of his chest. Based on these observations, the Assyrian relief carving instills fear in the conquered people.
Fear is an initial reaction that overthrown individuals would have in seeing this relief.
First of all, The carving looms eighteen feet above the earth. That is roughly twelve feet taller the average human. The sheer size of the structure is enough to shadow fear across any non-Assyrian’s face. Those conquered could see the size of this Assyrian and shrink away in terror. In addition, the Assyrian is extremely muscular and strong, for it grips a lion, the very top predator the animal kingdom, with a single arm. And the lion does not look too happy about this either. He looks like he is desperately trying to escape the clutch of the man, but failing. The object in his opposite hand is a whip, used to slay the lion, for violence was praised in Assyria; this man would be have been seen as a hero for taking this action. Moreover, if an Assyrian can kill a deadly lion and still be standing straight up without so much as a scratch, it displays the physical hierarchy of the Assyrians over other cultures and the resulting fear of defeated individuals. In sum, the Assyrians were no humble people. They built multiple of these near twenty foot sculptures. They desired to be feared by those they
conquered.
The Assyrian carving displays the Assyrians’ desire to be dreaded by those they have defeated, and therefore promotes fear in conquered people. The Assyrian is large, both in size and might, for the man is eighteen feet tall with enormous muscles.