'Some of the most appalling images ever created' - I Am Ashurbanipal review

British Museum, LondonWhether wrestling lions or skinning prisoners alive, the Assyrian king ran a murderously efficient empire. This is the art of war - and it's terrifying You have to hand it to the ancient Assyrians - they were honest. Their artistic propaganda relishes every detail of torture, massacre, battlefield executions and human displacement that made Assyria the dominant power of the Middle East from about 900 to 612BC. Assyrian art contains some of the most appalling images ever cre...