Assyrian relief sculpture forms well-known parts of the collections of several major art museums. Lesser known, perhaps, is the fact that many smaller institutions can also boast of collections of these antiquities. Unfortunately, the sculpture at these smaller museums has not often been fully researched or even adequately published. Assyrian Reliefs from the Palace of Ashurnasirpal II: A Cultural Biography goes a considerable way toward remedying this situation with respect to the materials from the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College. In addition to dozens of large, high-quality color photographs of the Hood’s sculpture, Assyrian Reliefs also includes nine stimulating essays on issues concerning Assyrian antiquities.

The first three chapters examine various historical aspects of the archaeology of Iraq, the homeland of the ancient Assyrians. The story of how the Hood’s own collection was assembled is relayed in chapter 1 by co-editors Ada Cohen and Steven E. Kangas, who use this history as a springboard to examine the more general issue of the Western world’s reception of Assyrian art. Similar to other U.S. colleges in the mid-nineteenth century, Dartmouth acquired its reliefs through the efforts of two missionaries who were working in the Middle East. Religion, in fact, played a large role in the acquisition and reception of these objects. But, as Cohen and Kangas argue, there were, from the outset, other motivations, including cultural and aesthetic appreciation (13–17). This interesting chapter concludes with a look at how Assyrian iconography appears in sometimes unexpected ways in the modern world (40–45).

For his part, Julian Reade in chapter 2 examines some of the highlights of the exploration and excavation of the region of Assyria from the sixteenth century until just after World War II, with an emphasis on the mid-nineteenth century. The history of this period is a mix of the comical and the incredible, combining imperialism, religion, archaeology, and other social and historical factors. Reade’s treatment is a little uneven: the essay focuses largely on Austen Henry Layard, the first British excavator of Nimrud, while his French counterpart, Paul-Émile Botta, gets short shrift. This is not surprising, since Nimrud is the source of the Hood’s reliefs, but Botta’s work would certainly fit under the rubric of “early exploration of Assyria.” Nevertheless, Reade’s account provides good general background on the beginning of European (mostly British) excavation in northern Iraq.

Goode’s excellent contribution in chapter 3 follows some of the subsequent history of archaeology in Iraq. The use of the ancient past in the Saddam Hussein period is well known; Goode also covers this period, but more interesting is his discussion of the lesser-known era between the British Mandate and Hussein’s term in office. Goode shows how the Department of Antiquities was impacted by various ideological currents, such as pan-Arabism, in its treatment of Iraq’s past.

The Bible played a role in the Western reception of Assyrian antiquities, as the contributions of Cohen and Kangas and Reade touch upon. Susan Ackerman’s article (chapter 4) focuses on how the remains of the Assyrian empire, notably the reliefs, relate to biblical passages concerning it (125). She looks at how the Bible and the Assyrians report the Israelite/Judean-Assyrian encounters from the ninth through seventh centuries and beyond in both the art and the texts, and the theological response to this disastrous (from the point of view of the biblical writers) relationship. Ackerman’s contribution relies on a standard, but solid enough, view of the relationship of the biblical reports and the evidence we have from Assyrian art and texts. Specialists may find a few areas of disagreement (such as the constant use of the terms “fief” and “fiefdom” when discussing small kingdoms), but non-specialists will have a reliable resource here.

The next four chapters are more directly art historical in focus. Porter’s contribution in chapter 5 tackles some general iconographic issues related to the Assyrian reliefs, including the long-standing question of the so-called “sacred tree,” the function of the supernatural beings shown closely associated with the king, and the meanings of the depiction of the monarch himself. Porter lays out again her idea that the “sacred tree” is to be connected to the date palm and that it by extension served as a symbol of the fertile world that stood under the protection of the Assyrian king (154), a plausible but by no means secure explanation. However, there are also a number of idiosyncratic interpretations. For example, Porter claims that the kings holding bowls in Room G are “piously pouring libations” (156), but in fact they are all holding the bowls level (see Collins’s comments on p. 184). Despite these issues, Porter’s chapter is a useful introduction for the subsequent essays.

Mehmet-Ali Ataç’s contribution in chapter 6 is perhaps the most ambitious in the book. Like Porter, Ataç explores the meaning of the supernatural creatures and the “sacred tree.” He adds the idea that these divine beings, whom he identifies as apkallu, or antediluvian sages, point toward a conception of “sacral time” (162–63). This conception is developed by the appearance of two other motifs, the “sacred tree” and a winged disc, all three of which show up on two important reliefs from the throne room. Based on these objects, Ataç suggests that the “sacred tree” (along with the sages) represents a “linear notion of stability, longevity, and eternity,” while the disc points to a “cyclical understanding of time” (163).

Ataç’s chapter is interesting but problematic. For example, there is a heavy reliance, sometimes without warrant, upon ancient Egyptian thought. Although Egyptian influence on Mesopotamia during certain periods is undeniable, there are also major differences in outlook between the two cultures, such as the afterlife (which naturally raises the issue of how time is conceived). In his discussion, for example, Ataç moves directly from apparent artistic exchange to “shared modes of thinking” between the two cultures (162), but without explaining what these are. Some other statements are simply wrong. He claims (162) that the winged disc and “sacred tree” never appear together apart from the two throne room reliefs, but they do, in fact, as part of the incised decoration on the king’s garment (see plate 3.3). Despite its problems, Ataç’s contribution is thought-provoking, and I agree with his assertion that the Northwest Palace was deliberately designed by Ashurnasirpal II to stand forever (179), as the Assyrian monarch himself states.

Paul Collins takes a seemingly less esoteric topic—the king’s human attendants—for the subject of chapter 7. But even here there is a good case that their depictions were executed with the otherworldly in mind. According to Collins, these beardless courtiers, generally thought to be eunuchs, not only stand in waiting to the king, but also, through gesture and accoutrement, “parallel the action of the supernatural world by providing a ritually charged and purified space . . . for the king” (186). Collins uses the second half of his essay to explore one particular courtier, who always appears with a long cloth, offering readers a close view of the history of a group of characters often relegated to the sidelines in favor of more powerful or divine personages.

In contrast to the focus on the reliefs in the previous three chapters, Allison Karmel Thomason uses chapter 8 to examine the overall sensory environment of the Northwest Palace. Specifically, Thomason looks at smaller items, such as clothing, rugs, furniture, and ivory goods, objects made of wood, like doors, vessels used for the serving of food and drink, and jewelry. Thomason’s essay is a thoughtful contribution that serves to remind readers that ancient palatial environments were shaped by much more than the largest or most obvious artistic components.

Samuel Paley’s report in chapter 9 on his long-term project to reconstruct the Northwest Palace’s plan and architectonic environment makes a good follow-up to Thompson’s article and a fitting conclusion to the book. Prior to passing away in 2010, Paley had extended his investigations into digital reconstructions of the palace and its decoration. Though still at an early stage and not without its own problems (217), this ongoing project has the potential to enrich an understanding of the tactile experience that was a matter of everyday life for people who lived in or visited the palace.

Concerning the book as a whole, the pages are printed on high-quality paper, and the printing is excellent throughout. Assyrian Reliefs also includes an index, which is useful in a work that tackles a variety of topics related to these visual materials. Taking all of this into account, it is somewhat of a pleasant surprise that the book lists at only forty dollars. At this price, Assyrian Reliefs is certain to find a place on the shelves of many libraries and even personal collections. Though we cannot all have first-hand access to Assyrian art, Assyrian Reliefs offers the next best thing—high-quality images accompanied by thought-provoking interpretations.