Bas-Relief of the Lion Hunt from the palace of the Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II in Nimrud, Neo-Assyrian empire, ca. 883–859 BCE. They show the ritual “hunt” in an arena where captured Asian lions were released from cages for the king to kill with arrows… [1920×786] (Original photo by Gary Todd)

…spears, or sword. They were made during his reign and were originally placed around the palace. The Assyrian royal lion hunt ritual symbolized the king’s role as the divinely appointed protector of his people, demonstrating his ability to control the forces of chaos and maintain order in his kingdom. By symbolically defeating the lion, a creature from the wild, the king showed he could extend his control over the untamed world and protect his realm from both natural and human threats.. Along with the Lion Hunt scenes of King Ashurbanipal at his palace in Nineveh, these bas-reliefs are considered masterpieces of Assyrian sculpture due to their naturalistic and dramatic style. They were probably painted.

As usual, my apologies for inaccuracies and mistakes.