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Ashurnasirpal II
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ashur-nasir-pal II (transliteration Aššur-nâṣir-apli, meaning "Ashur is guardian of the heir"[1]) was king of Assyria from 884 BC-859 BC.
Ashur-nasir-pal II succeeded his father, Tukulti-Ninurta II, in 884 BC. He conquered Mesopotamia and the territory of what is now the Lebanon, adding them to the growing Assyrian empire. He also viciously ended a rebellion in the city of Suru in Bit-Halupe. He was renowned for his brutality, using enslaved captives to build a new Assyrian capital at Kalhu (Nimrud) in Mesopotamia, where he refounded the city and built many impressive monuments. He was also a shrewd administrator who realised that he could gain greater control over his empire by installing Assyrian governors rather than by depending on local client rulers paying tribute.
He was succeeded by his son Shalmaneser III.
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For more details on this topic, see Ashurnasirpal II's campaigns in Lebanon
Ashur-nasir-pal II's palace was built and completed in 879 BC in Kalhu, which is in modern-day Iraq slightly north of Baghdad. The palace walls were lined with reliefs carved in alabaster. These reliefs bore elaborate carvings, many portraying the king surrounded by winged protective spirits, or engaged in hunting or on campaign. Each also had text inscribed in it. This text was the same or very similar on each relief and is therefore called the Standard Inscription. The Standard Inscription begins by tracing Ashur-nasir-pal II's lineage back three generations and recounts his military victories, defines the boundaries of his empire, tells how he founded Kalhu, and built the palace.
The British archaeologist, A.H. Layard excavated Kalhu in the 1840s, uncovering the North-West Palace of Ashurnasirpal II. Today, many of the reliefs from the excavations in Nimrud, adorn the galleries of the British Museum, London, with a few other reliefs on display in museums across Europe and the USA.
| Preceded by Tukulti-Ninurta II |
King of Assyria 884–859 BC |
Succeeded by Shalmaneser III |
- ^ Roux, Georges. Ancient Iraq, page 288. Third edition. Penguin Books, 1992 (paperback, ISBN 014012523X).