Northwest Palace Relief with Winged Deity (Apkallu)

This carved relief, originally enhanced with red, blue, white, and black paint, comes from Room S of the Northwest Palace in Nimrud, built for Ashurnasirpal II, a Neo-Assyrian king who ruled from 883 to 859 BCE. He is known for expanding the Assyrian Empire through military campaigns into the Levant and Babylonia, as well as for his brutal treatment of conquered peoples, which secured his authority through fear.

Lines of gods, some with eagle heads, decorated this room, believed to have been used for ritual bathing. The elaborate jewelry and hair of the deity reflect court fashions; the horned helmet indicates divinity. The god raises a spathe (the leaf-like sheath covering date palm flowers) to fertilize a palm tree, a symbol of fertility and abundance.

The Northwest Palace was excavated by Austen Henry Layard beginning in 1845. This relief was acquired by William Frederick Williams (1818–1871), an American Presbyterian missionary and collector based in nearby Mosul. Active near Nimrud during the height of Assyrian excavations, he acquired and donated artifacts to several Western collections.