Powerful and terrifying beasts, lions enjoyed elevated status in the ancient world—both natural and cultural. In antiquity, lions (Panthera leo) roamed most of Africa and the wide strip from southeastern Europe in the west to India in the east, which includes all of the ancient Near East. Because of their sheer domination and magnificence, they were assigned royal qualities and were generally associated with kings and mythical heroes. Lion imagery was later appropriated by many European royal families for their coats of arms, and lions appear even in the flags of some modern democratic states.
Hunting was a royal sport in Mesopotamia, and the tradition of portraying Mesopotamian rulers as hunting lions emerged already in the late fourth millennium B.C.E. Beginning with Tiglath-pileser I (r. 1115–1077 B.C.E.), many Assyrian kings maintained game parks, where they would hunt captive animals, including lions. This pastime—and staged royal propaganda—was especially developed under the Neo-Assyrian kings (ninth–seventh centuries B.C.E.) and took place before an audience. Earlier New Kingdom Egyptian pharaohs are similarly depicted on monumental temple reliefs as hunting lions and even being accompanied by tamed lions on their hunting expeditions.
References to lions in the Hebrew Bible are aptly linked with bravery or death. David boasts he killed the lion that ravaged his father’s flock (1 Samuel 17:34-36), and Samson famously destroyed an attacking lion with his bare hands (Judges 14:5-6). Daniel being cast into a lion pit (Daniel 6:7) may refer to a zoo or game reserve in sixth-century B.C.E. Babylon.
In the New Testament, Revelation 5:5 describes the triumphant Christ as the “Lion of the tribe of Judah.” Interestingly, this phrase became part of the official title of later Ethiopian emperors (13th–20th centuries C.E.) who traced their origins to the biblical King Solomon and Queen of Sheba. Today, the Lion of Judah remains a national symbol of Ethiopia. In Christian cultural memory, however, lions are indelibly associated with early martyrs who were thrown “to the wild beasts,” which prominently included big felines.
Ancient representations of lions include such iconic works of art as the Great Sphinx of Giza; the Processional Way and the Ishtar Gate in Babylon (with some 120 lions depicted in polychrome relief tiles); and the Lion Gate at Mycenae in Greece. Perhaps the most stunning images of lions appear on panel reliefs from the North Palace of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh. Dating from the mid-seventh century B.C.E., they portray in minute detail lions being captured, released, and killed by the king. The image above captures Ashurbanipal plunging his dagger into an attacking lion, who has already sustained several arrow shots.
Powerful and terrifying beasts, lions enjoyed elevated status in the ancient world—both natural and cultural. In antiquity, lions (Panthera leo) roamed most of Africa and the wide strip from southeastern Europe in the west to India in the east, which includes all of the ancient Near East. Because of their sheer domination and magnificence, they were assigned royal qualities and were generally associated with kings and mythical heroes. Lion imagery was later appropriated by many European royal families for their coats of arms, and lions appear even in the flags of some modern democratic states. Hunting was a royal […]
You have already read your free article for this month. Please join the BAS Library or become an All Access member of BAS to gain full access to this article and so much more.
