In the Ancient Egypt exhibit, I saw the “Eagle-Headed Genie Between Two Sacred Trees”. The first thing that caught my eye was the eagle’s head. As discussed in class, this relief reminded me of the “Lamassu”. We were told that in that time period, animals were portrayed a lot in paintings and sculptures. The relief has the head of an eagle and the body of a human where as the “Lamassu” has the head of a human, body of a lion/bull, and wings. In Near Eastern art, animals heads were a sign of divinity (the figure of being a god with qualities somehow related to the animal they are associated with). In Assyrian reliefs, the wings identified this figures as being supernatural. Both the human- and eagle-headed winged figures are genies, they were considered to be supernatural attendants to the king. The ones with eagle heads are considered to take more of a protector role, with their fierce qualities thought to frighten away evil forces.

The relief had many intricate lines to enhance the wings or the trees. Metal tools like chisels were certainly used to carve the initial shapes. Fine details are created with abrasives. The artist uses scale to emphasize the genie more than the trees.

In both of the  genie’s hands, he has a cone in one hand and a basket in the other. The eagle-headed genie was tending to a stylized palm tree which was a symbol of the fertility and prosperity of the king and his kingdom. By his arm, there are two daggers tucked underneath his garment. These daggers served more of a decorative purpose. In these reliefs, you can only see the handles which would have been inlaid with colorful stones. Some of these figures also carry whetstones, used to sharpen blades. These whetstones are carved with animal heads.  The first object from the left tucked into the genies clothing near his chest is a whetstone, the head of a calf poking out at the top.