Fairy Tales and Lion

¶ … product of a virtual exploration about art in Babylonian culture. I chose the Striding Lion of Babylon after carefully sampling the digital pieces of art at Royal Ontario Museum and the Oriental Institute Museum. The artifact I chose was crafted and sculpted on glazed brick-wall as a relief. The lion is a symbolic representation of the iron age of the Neo-Babylonian art. The piece dates back to around the 6th C. BC at the time when Nebuchadnezzar II ruled.

The piece is made out of polychrome that is glazed on top of fire bricks. The dimensions feature a height of 4 feet by a width of 6 feet by a depth of 0.25 feet. A lion is a symbolic representation of courage and strength today and in the past days; including Nebuchadnezzar's time. Similar artifacts were crafted in order to decorate the walls of the King's palace. This was prestigious.

The essence of a lion in prehistoric times to people lives true even to date; this is the reason why this piece of art was considered for analysis (Royal Ontario Museum, 2016). The form and state of such a piece of art is not an occurrence that is rare or common, on the continent of North America. A glazed lion in relief cast on facades of baked brick must certainly originate elsewhere.

The fact we are still fascinated by impressions on baked brick that dates over two thousand five hundred years is proof that our reactions to colored objects, mysterious origin and form is not dissimilar to what our forefathers felt about such. Our predecessors took interest in such artifacts by excavating them including the artifacts of Babylon and Susa. The color of the art pieces is one of the attractions that caught their eye.

Robert Koldeway, a renowned excavator in Babylon, highlights these truths in his publication titled 'The Excavations of Babylon'. He points out that the discovery of the enameled bricks forms a strong case for choosing Babylon as an important excavation point. He details that in June 1987, he spotted brightly colored fragments on the ground on the Eastern side of Kasr. He says he later collected them and took them to Berlin where Richard Schine, the then Director of Royal Museums, noted their significance. The excavation exercise started in March 1899.

There was a transverse drill through the eastern side of Kasr. These fragments were uncovered in large numbers. The discovery of the fragments was followed by the unveiling of the pair of parallel walls, the western wall and the processional wall, which provided the needed orientation to excavate further. While the remarks highlight the procedure that led to the excavation process in the locations that the glazed bricks were discovered, they do not reveal the complex process of actual excavation.

A close observation indicates that the piece consists of numerous uncountable glazed and molded brick incorporated to form a comprehensive whole. The task of reassembling the pieces was, to say the least, arduous (Robert H. Dyson Jr., 1963). The terrace was entered through remarkably high porches. The walls were very thick. Figures of lions were propped at both ends along with other fierce beasts. They were curved in the same stone in relief. These were excellently done pieces that they actually seemed to terrify the onlookers.

The King's likeness was impressed with the life-size on the porches and in other sections. They could not find better intellect type and knowledge than the man's head; the strength therein compared to the lion's body, than the motion rapidity symbolized by a bird's wings. The creatures were not in vain or idle crafts. They bore meaning on them. They came with races that awed them and flourished over three thousand years back. History reveals that Babylonians and Assyrians hunted lions and boasted of the number they captured and slain.

The lion chase was a royal sport and constitutes a major portion of the illustrations in hunting escapades (Robert William Rogers, 1900). Owing to the fact that language is supposed influence and draw the.