Decorative Plaque: Man; and Griffin in Combat
Unknown Artist
900–800 BCE
Medium
ivory
Dimensions
6.5 × 3.9 cm
Classification
Ivory
Department
Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Accession Number
1968.45
About this artwork
This small plaque was executed in the Phoenician style with symmetrical compositions, elongated figural proportions, and Egyptian subjects and motifs. Examples have been found throughout the Middle East, but thousands come from Nimrud where most were excavated in the storerooms of a military arsenal built by King Shalmaneser II (858-824 bc). When the Nimrud palace was sacked in the 7th century bc, these ivories were thrown into a well, where Sir Max Mallowan (the husband of Agatha Christie) disc...