Assurnasirpal II has conquered Mesopotamia and the…

Assurnasirpal II has conquered Mesopotamia and the territory of what is now the Lebanon, adding these to the growing Assyrian empire.

Thousands of men have worked to build a five-mile (8.0 km) long wall surrounding Ashurnasirpal II’s new capital, Kalhu (Nimrud), and a grand palace.

Elegant bas-reliefs in hard stone express the glories of the expanding Assyrian Empire.

He builds a massive gateway at Nimrud, flanked by human-headed winged lions (lamassu).

There are many inscriptions carved into limestone including one that states, "The palace of cedar, cypress, juniper, boxwood, mulberry, pistachio wood, and tamarisk, for my royal dwelling and for my lordly pleasure for all time, I founded therein. Beasts of the mountains and of the seas, of white limestone and alabaster I fashioned and set them up on its gates."

The inscriptions also described plunder stored at the palace.

"Silver, gold, lead, copper and iron, the spoil of my hand from the lands which I had brought under my sway, in great quantities I took and placed therein."

The inscriptions also describe great feasts he had to celebrate his conquests.

The text also states, "Many of the captives I have taken and burned in a fire.

Many I took alive; from some I cut off their hands to the wrists, from others I cut off their noses, ears and fingers; I put out the eyes of many of the soldiers.

I burned their young men, women, and children to death."

About a conquest in another vanquished city he wrote "I flayed the nobles as many as rebelled and spread their skins out on the piles."

These shock tactics had brought success in 877 BCE, when after a march to the Mediterranean he had announced "I cleaned my weapons in the deep sea and performed sheep-offerings to the gods.”