The “continuous style” in the narrative scheme of Assurbanipal's reliefs

Abstract

As we walk through the Assyrian galleries in the British Museum, we may observe curious depictions amongst Assurbanipal's reliefs. A scene from the king's lion hunt, for example, shows a lion emerging from a cage, a lion being shot by an arrow in the back and dashing forward in anger, and a lion leaping at the king (Fig. 1). Our eyes follow these images naturally, from right to left, as a series of movements that conclude on the left of the scene. It was E. Unger who first observed this characteristic feature and named it kinematographische Erzählungsform. J. Reade also noted it in his study of narrative composition in Assyrian sculpture, where the style is called the “strip-cartoon effect”. It appeared sporadically throughout the Neo-Assyrian period but became prominent under Assurbanipal. The identification of these animals as the same lion is established by a text on the far left, beyond this scene. This part of the relief only survives in the form of a drawing. It shows the king grasping the lion by the throat and thrusting a sword into the animal's stomach. The epigraph states that a lion was released from a cage in order to be shot with arrows by the king. The lion did not die, however, so he stabbed it with an iron dagger in order to kill it.