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Kneeling and Standing Apkallu-figures Fertilize the Sacred Tree

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: Ancient Middle Eastern Art, The Hagop Kevorkian Gallery, 3rd Floor
Assyrian artists favored symmetrical compositions, the exact correspondence of figures on opposite sides of a real or imaginary dividing line. On both the upper and lower registers of this slab, winged genies strike similar poses on either side of a sacred tree, forming near-mirror images of each other. These scenes were repeated along the walls of the room where the relief once stood.
MEDIUM Gypsum stone
GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATIONS
DATES ca. 883–859 B.C.E.
PERIOD Neo-Assyrian Period
DIMENSIONS 89 11/16 x 79 15/16 in. (227.8 x 203 cm) Approximate weight: 4060 lb. (1841.6kg)  (show scale)
ACCESSION NUMBER 55.146
CREDIT LINE Purchased with funds given by Hagop Kevorkian and the Kevorkian Foundation
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Alabaster relief with two registers of decoration separated by "standard inscription." Upper register, two winged, human-headed genie wearing horned caps, kneeling and fertilizing a miniature sacred palm; to the left, another conventionalized palm. Lower register, two standing, winged and bird-headed genie, each with cone and bucket fertilizing a sacred palm; to the left another sacred palm tree. Condition: Cut through center. Both sections now broken into even smaller pieces. Various small gaps, particularly along breaks.
CAPTION Assyrian. Kneeling and Standing Apkallu-figures Fertilize the Sacred Tree, ca. 883–859 B.C.E. Gypsum stone, 89 11/16 x 79 15/16 in. (227.8 x 203 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Purchased with funds given by Hagop Kevorkian and the Kevorkian Foundation, 55.146. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 55.146_at_PS11.jpg)
IMAGE overall, after treatment, 55.146_at_PS11.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2021
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RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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