Reclining calf: lid attachment ca. 9th-8th century B.C. Assyrian This small ivory figurine depicting a resting calf was probably blackened through exposure to fire when the palace complexes at Nimrud were sacked during the final defeat of Assyria at the end of the seventh century B.C. The bottom of the figurine is flattened and has a rectangular hole, into which a peg could be inserted as a means to attach the calf to another object. It was likely attached to the lid of a pyxis, a small round box used for precious goods including luxurious commodities such as spices, incense, cosmetics, perfumes or ointments. A fragment of such a lid, decorated with attached ivory calves and flower buds, was found in the Burnt Palace, where this calf was excavated, along with several additional calves with markings similar to this one. Another ivory lid from the Burnt Palace, which is carved with a rosette in relief and drilled with dowel holes used to attach elements, is in the collection of the Metro