ENDURING ART

ASSUR-NASIR-PAL II was the terror of the civilized world. When he completed his palace in 879 B.C. in present-day Nimrud, northern Iraq, "the Great King, the Mighty King, King of the Universe, King of Assyria" celebrated with a palace-warming that included a ten-day banquet for the royal city's entire population--more than 69,000--as well as for visiting VIPs. Assur-nasir-pal II had populated his city with conquered peoples, rebuilt it from ruins, crowned it with his palace and adorned the palace with the magnificence of the day. And in history it was only a day: the monuments to the might of Assur-nasir-pal II fell before a Babylonian revolt, a Median invasion, and the scouring sands of the desert.

When a curious Englishman dug into a promising mound by the Tigris 111 years ago, the ruins of the great King's palace came to light. Little remained of the pomp and magnificence, the power and the glory but some artful slabs of stone that tapestried the walls of the great palace. A dozen of the slabs, presented to the Brooklyn Museum by Art Collector and Philanthropist Hagop Kevorkian, now make their contribution to the thesis that though civilizations crumble, art endures.

The slabs of limestone and alabaster that were still partly white when they were excavated are now, almost three millenniums after their original installation, the color of old ivory. Permitting fleeting glimpses of a completely vanished civilization, the sculptured stones show the King and his attendants at religious ceremonies. On one 58 1/4-by-53 7/8-in. slab (opposite) a formalized, warriorlike Assur-nasir-pal II grasps his bow in his left hand as he balances a chalice on the fingers of his right hand. Behind him stands a personal attendant dressed in knee-length tunic, broad waistband, fringed mantle to the ankles, shawl flaring over the left shoulder. In another slab, the figures performing the priestly task of lustrating the sacred tree have the heads of strong-beaked birds of prey. The stylized, forthright carvings testify to the power and skill of an ancient art.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.