The lotus image on this ivory from Samaria was originally an Egyptian symbol of the life-giving power of the god Ra—experienced through the fragrance of the flower—and of the afterlife.
Slingers attacking Lachish, 701 BCE, from Assyrian relief in the Nineveh palace of Sennacherib (reigned 705–681 BCE). Members of the Assyrian army are depicted with slingstones piled at their feet…
My father brought the emigrant bundle
of desperation and worn threads,
that in anxiety as he stumbles
tumble out distractedly;
while I am bedded upon soft green money
that grows like grass.
Thus…