Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal

The royal Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal is shown on a famous group of Assyrian palace reliefs from the North Palace of Nineveh. They are widely regarded as "the supreme masterpieces of Assyrian art". They show a formalized ritual "hunt" by King Ashurbanipal. They were made about 645–635 BC.

By 612, perhaps as little as 25 years after they were made, the empire had fallen apart and Nineveh was sacked. There are some two dozen sets of scenes of lion hunting in recorded Assyrian palace reliefs.