In this beautifully produced book Paul Collins sets out to provide a succinct picture of the art of Assyrian reliefs. This is not an easy task. The subject material is vast, with an accompanying literature to match. Nevertheless it can be said that Collins has succeeded in this task and produced a work which gives a representative survey of the material at hand in terms of both subject range and chronological development, while at the same time paying due attention to the theoretical discussions which underpin it. The text starts with the history of the rediscovery of the sculptures – and indeed of Assyria itself – with the expeditions of Rich, Botta, Layard, Rassam and Loftus in the ruins of Nineveh, Nimrud and Khorsabad. Their discoveries and the installation of the sculptures in the British Museum and the Louvre along with the accompanying press coverage was one of the sensations of the time. These adventurers were household names and the publication of their accounts of their excavations – above all Layard's Nineveh and its Remains – were publishing events. This enthusiasm also found expression in a wave of Assyrian revival jewellery and ceramics as well as in sketches and paintings by numerous artists, Degas and Moreau for example as well as the more celebrated Orientalists.
Collins then turns to the context of the reliefs. As he rightly points out, the sculptures were only one element in the decoration of the palaces – this also included hangings, ceramic plaques and wall paintings – though they were the most enduring. Much research has been done with regard to composition, technique and chronology as well as, more recently, important work on reconstructing the sequence of reliefs in the palaces and analysis of what message they were trying to convey, how they operated within the Assyrian world view, and specifically what criteria led to particular sequences being installed in particular rooms. The topics of the reliefs are varied but may broadly be divided into tribute, hunting, military campaigns and religious/magical themes. Nevertheless, the underlying ideology is remarkably consistent, very well epitomised by Collins as “the glorification of the king as the embodiment of perfect kingship achieved through the benevolence of the gods”. Collins reviews the origins of Assyrian sculpture in terms of the forerunners such as stelae, obelisks, altars, rock reliefs, cylinder seals and so on. He points out how advances in artistic representation went hand in hand with developments in the literary style of royal inscriptions. He also links the developments in reliefs to the political events of the time. He then turns from these theoretical considerations to illustrate chapter by chapter the reliefs from the reigns of the major kings for whom we have evidence – Ashurnasirpal II, Tiglath-Pileser III, Sargon II, Sennacherib and Ashurbanipal.
Ashurnasirpal II was in effect the father of the Assyrian relief. His reign witnessed the invention of the genre as an Assyrian phenomenon, and this in turn has to be seen in the context of an explosion into empire with the founding of cities across the newly revitalised state, the establishment of a new capital at Nimrud (Kalhu) and the acquisition of a massive labour force through deportation. After Ashurnasirpal the next king for whom we have reliefs – and it is a gap of over a hundred years – is Tiglath-Pileser III. Unfortunately the quantity of material recovered from his Central Palace at Nimrud is fairly meagre, partly because the palace was probably never completed and also because many of the reliefs were later taken for re-use by Esarhaddon. Collins makes the interesting point that in some respects the style of these reliefs actually has its roots in the style and approach laid out in the bronze gates of Balawat. The next corpus of reliefs is that of Sargon II at Khorsabad. These, though important, are not well represented by the collections in the British Museum. The same cannot however be said of the sculpture of Sennacherib. The reliefs from his Southwest palace constitute one of the high points of the art, depicting scenes both civil and military with great attention to detail and demonstrating a leap in confidence of composition. A special place among these must be given to the reliefs depicting Sennacherib's siege of Lachish, exceptional as an event documented in the Bible, on the reliefs and through archaeological excavation. The final chapter in the story of Assyrian reliefs belongs to Ashurbanipal, famous most of all for the series depicting the campaigns against Elam and for the celebrated lion hunts.
Collins concludes with a useful guide to further reading. Two entries which could be added to this would be G Roux Ancient Iraq and now Curtis & Tallis, The Balawat Gates of Ashurnasirpal II (see below).
In conclusion, Collins has produced a masterly work which successfully presents this fascinating but huge corpus in a manner which is both erudite and accessible to the public. The elements of theory, background history and stylistic developments are handled well. Very intelligently, Collins opts not to reproduce large numbers of full reliefs but rather to focus on details – Assyrian war engines, soldiers swimming on goatskins, the siege ramp at Lachish, a soldier collecting the hat of Teumman, the finial of Ashurbanipal's bow, a glorious close-up of the king's scabbard. This approach brings the essence of the reliefs to life most effectively. To produce a volume such as this is a difficult task and Collins has achieved it with remarkable success. Scholars and public alike owe him a great debt.
