Winged Griffin Nibbling on Sacred Tree

Description This Phoenician-style ivory plaque shows a griffin (a creature with a lion's body, falcon's head, and wings) nibbling on a sacred tree. The griffin rests one forepaw on a papyrus blossom and the other on a branch of the tree. The sacred tree may be associated with agricultural abundance and nourishment. This plaque would have adorned the outside of a box.

Provenance British School of Archaeology, Iraq, by excavation [at Fort Shalmanesat, Room S.W. 37, at Nimrud, Excavation No. N.D. 10650]; Walters Art Museum, September 1983, by exchange.

Credit Museum acquisition by exchange with British School of Archaeology in Iraq, 1983