Archaeologists uncover monumental relief of King Ashurbanipal in ancient city of Nineveh

Amazing stuff!

"A team ... excavating in Iraq made a spectacular find: In the throne room of the North Palace of King Ashurbanipal in the ancient city of Nineveh, the archeologists discovered large portions of a monumental relief that depicts the ruler of the Assyrian empire from the seventh century BC along with two important deities and other figures. The relief was carved on a massive stone slab 5.5 meters long and three meters high and weighing approximately 12 tons.

The find is extraordinary for the researchers not only for its size, but also for the scenes depicted. “Among the many relief images of Assyrian palaces we know of, there are no depictions of major deities,” ..."

Archaeologists uncover monumental relief of King Ashurbanipal in ancient city of Nineveh

Spectacular Find in the Ancient City of Nineveh (original news release) "Archeologists From Heidelberg University Discover Major Portions Of A Large-Scale Relief With Depictions Of Assyrian Deities"

Fragment of the discovered relief

3D model of the relief: The finds are marked in dark gray, the light gray part represents a reconstruction based on the finds. King Ashurbanipal is depicted in the center.