Gold Plaque Representing a Hero and Lion in Combat
Ziwiyeh, western Iran; Neo-Assyrian, 700–600 BC
Gold
H. 14cm; W. 10.3cm
This gold plaque shows six scenes of a bearded figure slaying a lion with a sword, an image widely found on Assyrian reliefs and cylinder seals. It is related to fragments now in the Louvre Museum, British Museum and The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where this example was exhibited in 1955.