A neo-Assyrian relief in the Weingreen Museum of Biblical Antiquities, Trinity College Dublin—a case study in artefact acquisition

Abstract

The focus of this paper is a neo-Assyrian relief discovered in the Weingreen Museum of Biblical Antiquities at Trinity College Dublin (hereafter the Weingreen Museum). The shallow relief depicts a pictorial vignette of a kneeling genie, rendered in profile, facing a tree of life, on a horizon formed by a cuneiform border (WM 1189). Details surrounding the relief's acquisition were completely unknown to Trinity College Dublin staff during 2008–9. This investigation follows a paper trail which illuminates the circumstances behind its procurement and subsequent journey from Iraq to Dublin in the Victorian period. The results establish the relief as the uncontested prize piece of the Weingreen Museum.