Overview

This important volume publishes in full for the first time two sets of highly elaborate Neo-Assyrian bronze gate decorations from the site of Balawat (ancient Imgur-Enlil) in northern Iraq. One set, discovered by Hormuzd Rassam on a British Museum expedition in 1878, is now on permanent display in London. The other set, found by Sir Max Mallowan in 1956, was on display in the Mosul Museum in Iraq after conservation and mounting at the British Museum. The Mosul gates were largely looted and lost following the invasion of Iraq in 2003.This book includes an account of their loss and provides the only complete record of their appearance and excavation. The Balawat gates were made in the reign of King Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BC). The figurative scenes on the 32 bands of chased and embossed bronze, sometimes supported by cuneiform inscriptions, provide a wealth of historical and art-historical information. All this material is now made publicly available in the form of a final excavation report and catalogue.

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9780714111667

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Author Information

John Curtis is Keeper of the Department of the Middle East at the British Museum. He has written extensively on Iran, Mesopotamia (Iraq) and the Ancient Near East. Nigel Tallis is a curator in the same department and specialises in ancient transport and warfare. They previously co-edited Forgotten Empire: The World of Ancient Persia.

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