2-580-455 - © CM Dixon/Heritage Images

'The Dying Lion', stone panel from Nineveh, northern Iraq, Neo-Assyrian, c645 BC. Wall panel showing a lion struck by one of the king's arrows. It has long been acclaimed as a masterpiece. Lions were regarded as symbolizing everything that was hostile to urban civilization. This panel was part of a series showing a royal hunt, from the North Palace of King Ashurbanipal at Nineveh, northern Iraq. From the British Museum's collection.