Striding Lion of Babylon: Neo-Babylonian Art Analysis

Introduction to the Striding Lion of Babylon

This paper is the product of a virtual exploration of art in Babylonian culture. The artifact selected for analysis is the Striding Lion of Babylon, chosen after carefully examining digital pieces of art held at a university collection and the Oriental Institute Museum. The artifact was crafted and sculpted on a glazed brick wall as a relief. The lion is a symbolic representation of the Iron Age of Neo-Babylonian art. The piece dates to around the 6th century BC, during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II. It is made out of polychrome material glazed on top of fire bricks, with dimensions of approximately 4 feet in height, 6 feet in width, and 0.25 feet in depth.

Symbolism and Cultural Significance of the Lion

A lion is a symbolic representation of courage and strength — both today and in the past, including the time of Nebuchadnezzar. Similar artifacts were crafted to decorate the walls of the king's palace, a practice considered highly prestigious. The enduring significance of the lion as a symbol in prehistoric times remains relevant to this day, which is one of the reasons this piece of art was selected for analysis (Oriental Institute Museum, 2016).

The form and character of such a piece of art is not a common occurrence on the continent of North America. A glazed lion in relief, cast on the facades of baked brick, must certainly have originated elsewhere. The fact that we are still fascinated by impressions on baked brick dating back over two thousand five hundred years is proof that our reactions to colored objects, mysterious origins, and unfamiliar forms are not so different from what our forebears felt. Our predecessors demonstrated great interest in such artifacts by excavating them — including those from Babylon and Susa — and the color of these art pieces was among the qualities that first caught their eye.

Excavation History and Discovery

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 enameled bricks forms a strong case for choosing Babylon as an important excavation site. He details that in June 1887, he spotted brightly colored fragments on the ground on the eastern side of Kasr. He later collected them and took them to Berlin, where Richard Schöne, then Director of the Royal Museums, recognized their significance. The excavation exercise formally began in March 1899, with a transverse drill through the eastern side of Kasr. These fragments were uncovered in large numbers. Their discovery was followed by the unveiling of a pair of parallel walls — the western wall and the processional wall — which provided the orientation needed to excavate further.

While these remarks highlight the procedure that led to the excavation process at the locations where the glazed bricks were discovered, they do not fully reveal the complex process of actual excavation. A close observation of the artifact indicates that it consists of numerous glazed and molded bricks incorporated together to form a comprehensive whole. The task of reassembling the pieces was, to say the least, arduous (Robert H. Dyson Jr., 1963).

References

Oriental Institute Museum. (2016, August 9). Retrieved from Oriental Institute Museum:

Robert H. Dyson Jr. (1963). A Babylonian Lion in Toronto. Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

Robert William Rogers. (1900). A History of Babylonia and Assyria — Volume 1. Assyrian International News Agency.

(2012). The Cultural Evolution of Storytelling and Fairy Tales: Human Communication and Memetics. Princeton University Press.