Assyrian

Leveraging their enormous wealth, the Assyrians built great temples and palaces full of art, all paid for by conquest.

Assyrian Sculpture

Lion Hunts of Ashurbanipal (ruled 669-630 B.C.E.), c. 645 B.C.E., gypsum,Neo-Assyrian, hall reliefs from Palace at Ninevah across the Tigris from present day Mosul, Iraq; excavated by H. Rassam beginning in 1853 (British Museum)
Only the king was permitted to kill lions—and doing so signified his power and ability to keep nature at bay.

Ashurbanipal Hunting Lions

Ashurbanipal taking aim at a lion (detail), Lion Hunts of Ashurbanipal (ruled 669-630 B.C.E.), c. 645 B.C.E., gypsum,Neo-Assyrian, hall reliefs from Palace at Ninevah across the Tigris from present day Mosul, Iraq (British Museum)
Led by aggressive warrior kings, Assyria dominated the fertile crescent for half a millennia, amassing vast wealth.

Assyria, an introduction