# @gettymuseum on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/CQRtZeFn9e_
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/34229208-gettymuseum-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/d3a16532c4.jpg
- **Posted:** 2021-06-18T21:31:33.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Getty (@gettymuseum) — https://gondola.cc/gettymuseum

## Caption

We’re exploring themes from the current Getty Villa exhibition “Mesopotamia: Civilization Begins,” and today’s theme is kingship! ⁠⁠
⁠⁠
In their images and inscriptions, different Mesopotamian kings emphasized different personal qualities. The Assyrian king Ashurbanipal (668-632/27 BC) portrayed himself as a powerful warrior but also a highly educated and literate man.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
The relief panel pictured here, which once decorated Ashurbanipal’s palace in the city of Nineveh, can be seen in the Villa’s other current exhibition “Assyria: Palace Art of Ancient Iraq.” This scene of opulent feasting in the king’s gardens shows Ashurbanipal and his queen drinking wine as the head of a vanquished enemy hangs from a nearby tree (at left). Behind Ashurbanipal’s banqueting couch, his sword, bow, and quiver of arrows lie on a table as a reminder of his military prowess.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
Ashurbanipal is also known for his library at Nineveh, where thousands of cuneiform tablets have been found, covering all genres of scholarship and literature. The tablet in the second image, on view in “Mesopotamia: Civilization Begins,” is from this library. It contains a bilingual dictionary of Sumerian and Akkadian words. ⁠⁠
⁠⁠
Ashurbanipal boasted that he could read and write the Sumerian and Akkadian languages (quite an accomplishment in a time when literacy was very limited). And, as any good king would, he thanked the gods for this ability—specifically Nabu, the god of writing.⁠⁠
.⁠⁠
.⁠⁠
.⁠⁠
🏷#ancient #assyria #assyrian #ancientworld #ancientmesopotamia #mesopotamia #mesopotamianart #mesopotamianhistory #gettyvilla⁠⁠⁠
#cuneiform⁠⁠

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 3,687
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 62

## Tags

mesopotamianart, cuneiform, gettyvilla, ancientworld, assyria, ancient, mesopotamianhistory, mesopotamia, assyrian, ancientmesopotamia

---
Copyright (c) Gondola