Hunting lions

Hunting animals with a bow and arrow was a symbol of male ferocity, and fighting lions a symbol of kingship.

This image, however, surprisingly combines close range combat with archery. It would be rather impractical, not to say dangerous, to shoot at a lion with a bow-and-arrow from such a close range. Lions were therefore more generally defeated by thrusting daggers.

We can amend the image by assuming that a larger distance was implied and that the composition was shrunk to allow more images to fit onto the shield. There is another image, this one carved into a stone relief onto the clothing of king Ashurnasirpal II of Assyria (around 850 BCE), that shows a somewhat similar scene.

According to some experts, the archer’s dress also requires attention, as it is deemed more comparable to 1940s styles, i.e., more comparable to the time in which the shield might have been forged.