Assyrian lion weights

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Assyrian lion weights

The Assyrian lion weights are bronze lion statues found in the area of ancient Assyria, with the best-known group discovered at Nimrud (Kalhu) during Layard’s excavations in 1845–51. The 16 lion weights (plus duck-shaped stone weights) date to the 8th century BCE and carry bilingual inscriptions in cuneiform and Phoenician. The Phoenician texts are among the oldest examples of the Aramaic-style Phoenician script, and the weights are important for showing early Aramaic inscriptions (CIS II 1–14).

Physical details and use
- The weights form a decreasing scale from about 30 cm down to 2 cm in length. Larger weights have handles on the bodies; smaller ones have rings.
- They were used in a weight system based on a heavy mina (about a kilogram), different from the standard mina–sixty shekels system. This heavy-mina system continued into the Persian period and was likely used for weighing metals.

Inscriptions and significance
- Eight of the lions bear inscriptions from the short reign of Shalmaneser V.
- The lion weights are among the first Aramaic inscriptions in the Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum (CIS II 1–14).

Other related finds
- Similar bronze lion weights were found at Abydos in western Turkey and at Susa in Iran (both now in major museums). The Abydos weight measures 35.5 cm long and bears an Aramaic inscription (KAI 263 / CIS II 108; British Museum, E32625).
- A 5th-century BCE bronze lion weight from the Palace of Darius in Susa is in the Louvre (Sb 2718) but is not inscribed.
- Paul-Émile Botta also found a large lion statue at Khorsabad (now in the Louvre, AO 20116). It is 29 cm high by 41 cm long, cast as a single piece with a base and ring, and is not inscribed; it may have been part of a door system rather than a weight.