To support the ancient history course we are doing with the Teaching Company, we had to go to the City to see some Assyrian stuff close-up.
Interestingly, there were Christian groups going through the ancient rooms with guides making all the relevant references to the Old Testament. Wonderful to overhear them. Ur of the Chaldees. Abraham. Captivity in Babylon.
These pics are actually Neo-Assyrian carvings from the acropolis at Nimrud, palace of Ashurnasipal ll, 880 BC. Note that one of the guardian gods or genies has hooved feet, the other lion's paws. They also have 5 legs, so that from the side they are walking, but from the front, standing firm. Cool.
Readers know my personal Museum Rule: Just go to see one group of things, and leave before becoming a victim of Museum Brain. An hour and 20 minutes is my limit.
More pics below the fold -
From the same palace, another guardian genie. Lots of cuneiform writing on it about how wonderful the king was. I said loudly to Mrs. BD "Look - he has a Rolex on, and a pocketbook. What's up with that?"
I tried to stick with the the Assyrian, but it's tough. This a street decoration from Babylon, reign of Nebuchadnezzar ll, c. 600 BC. Babylon was already a 1000 year-old metropolis then.
I like to take our New York-ophobe readers on my little NYC jaunts.
Note on left one of the handful of grand old houses still left on 5th Avenue -
Prix-fixe lunch at a favorite cozy nook down the street. Those $25. prix-fixe lunches have become a NY fixture for top-ranked restaurants, and always a favorite adventure for us. Giovanni Venti Cenqui, with 5 stars from somebody:
I had the mussel appetizer - perfect, plump, and not overcooked - and the veal spezzatino with a glass of really nice Barbera, but Mrs. BD had the best: the Fegato al Balsamico - seared calves liver, rare, with a Balsamic and onion sauce. "Possibly one of the tastiest meals I've ever had. Better than foie gras."