Winged deity by the sacred tree at The State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg

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Relief from the Palace of Ashurnasipal II at Kalhi, Nimrud. Ashur-nasir-pal II, meaning "Ashur is guardian of the heir," was a powerful king of Assyria who ruled from 883 to 859 BC. He succeeded his father, Tukulti-Ninurta II, in 883 BC and embarked on a massive expansion program that first conquered the people of Asia Minor as far as Nairi and extracted tribute from Phrygia. Ashurnasirpal II then invaded Aram (modern Syria) and conquered the Aramaeans and neo-Hittites between the Khabur and Euphrates Rivers, crushing a revolt with decisive force in a two-day battle. According to his monument inscription, while recalling this massacre he boasts of taking prisoners, cutting off their feet and hands, ears noses and lips; making a heap of young men's ears and a minaret of old men's heads. He exposed their heads as a trophy in front of their city, burned male and female children in flames, destroyed the city, and consumed it with fire. Following this victory, he advanced without opposition to the Mediterranean and extracted tribute from Phoenicia. On his return home, he moved his capital to the city of Kalhu (Nimrud). This object is part of "Scan The World," a non-profit initiative introduced by MyMiniFactory that creates a digital archive of fully 3D printable sculptures, artworks, and landmarks for public access. Scan the World is an open-source community effort where anyone with interesting items can contribute by emailing stw@myminifactory.com to find out how. Scanned: Photogrammetry (Processed using Agisoft PhotoScan)