Heidelberg Team Finds Rare Assyrian Relief in Nineveh

Archaeologists from Heidelberg University have discovered a monumental 2,600-year-old stone relief in the throne room of King Ashurbanipal's North Palace in Nineveh, Iraq. The 5.5-meter-long, 3-meter-high, 12-ton slab, dating to the 7th century BCE, uniquely portrays Ashurbanipal with the deities Ashur and Ishtar, as well as a fish deity and a scorpion-man—figures rarely seen in Assyrian palace art. The relief was found buried in fragments within a pit, likely during the Hellenistic period, which contributed to its preservation and explains why it was missed by 19th-century explorers. Researchers are investigating the reasons for its burial and its ceremonial significance, as it originally stood in a prominent throne room niche. This discovery provides new insights into Assyrian royal iconography and the depiction of major gods in palace art. The find underscores Nineveh's status as a pivotal center of the Neo-Assyrian Empire and advances understanding of Mesopotamian religious and political symbolism.