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Source Description
This small plaque was executed in the Phoenician style with symmetrical compositions, elongated figural proportions, and Egyptian subjects and motifs. Examples have been found throughout the Middle East, but thousands come from Nimrud where most were excavated in the storerooms of a military arsenal built by King Shalmaneser II (858-824 bc). When the Nimrud palace was sacked in the 7th century bc, these ivories were thrown into a well, where Sir Max Mallowan (the husband of Agatha Christie) discovered them in 1951. The monumental wall relief (1943.246) was found at the same Assyrian palace at Nimrud.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
144148
label
Decorative Plaque: Ram-Headed Sphinxes Flanking a Sacred Tree
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
144148
contentType
object
title
Decorative Plaque: Ram-Headed Sphinxes Flanking a Sacred Tree
description
This small plaque was executed in the Phoenician style with symmetrical compositions, elongated figural proportions, and Egyptian subjects and motifs. Examples have been found throughout the Middle East, but thousands come from Nimrud where most were excavated in the storerooms of a military arsenal built by King Shalmaneser II (858-824 bc). When the Nimrud palace was sacked in the 7th century bc, these ivories were thrown into a well, where Sir Max Mallowan (the husband of Agatha Christie) discovered them in 1951. The monumental wall relief (1943.246) was found at the same Assyrian palace at Nimrud.
date
900–800 BCE
citation
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q60757025
genreSpecific
Ivory
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 15.1 x 9 x 1.1 cm (5 15/16 x 3 9/16 x 7/16 in.)
cul
Phoenicia, Iraq, Nimrud
accession
1968.47
Source extras
tec
ivory
tombstone
Decorative Plaque: Ram-Headed Sphinxes Flanking a Sacred Tree, 900–800 BCE. Phoenicia, Iraq, Nimrud. Ivory; overall: 15.1 x 9 x 1.1 cm (5 15/16 x 3 9/16 x 7/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund, 1968.47
collection
Near Eastern Art
citations
citation
Lee, Sherman E. "The Year in Review for 1968." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 56, no. 1 (1969)
page_number
p. 5
citation
Kozloff, Arielle P. “A Toast to the Gods.” <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 60, no. 2 (February 1973): 44–51.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: p. 48-49, fig. 11
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 7
citation
Herrmann, Georgina. <em>Ancient Ivory: Masterpieces of the Assyrian Empire</em>. London: Thames & Hudson, 2017.
page_number
Reproduced: P. 2; p. 74, fig. 79
creditline
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 07:23:53.667000
sourceId
144148
dept
Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern Art
coll
Near Eastern Art
med
ivory
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
2e4f722f5695f588