This relief comes from the palace of the Assyrian ruler at Kalakh (now Nimrud), the capital of the Assyrian state. It depicts King Ashurnasirpal II accompanied by a deity-guardian. Such magnificent reliefs decorated the walls of the inner secret chambers of the palace. The image of the King holding a bow and arrows embodies an idea of the might of the ruler of this powerful state. The deity-guardian, showing strong muscles like the King, is holding cult objects, a stone-pine cone and a bucket. A cuneiform text, written across the two figures, tells of the victories of the army, crowned by the rounding up the prisoners and the erection of the palace