Furniture plaque carved in relief with a male figure grasping a tree; winged sun disc above ca. 8th century B.C. Assyrian In contrast to the grand, stylized reliefs that flanked the walls of the palace of Ashurnasirpal II at Nimrud are the delicate ornamental ivories that once adorned royal furniture. Ivory, prized throughout the ancient world, was used extensively at the time of the Assyrian Empire (ca. 883-612 B.C.). The material was valued by craftsmen because it could be carved in such detail. Although modern tastes appreciate the beauty of an ivory surface, these carvings were often covered with gold foil. Many of the ivories found at Nimrud were brought as booty or tribute from the vassal states to the west of Assyria, where elephants were native and ivory carving was a long-established craft. Others were undoubtedly carved in Assyria by craftsmen brought as captives to the capital cities. Contemporary inscriptions record that Ashurnasirpal took "couches of ivory overlaid with go