Assyrian soldier diving under the river breathing from an inflatable goatskin bag (ca. 865–860 BC)
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Another possible explanation for the above scene is that the soldier is helping himself to float by blowing into the goatskin, which is therefore a sort of floating device.
The relief below seems to confirm the second hypothesis
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I've always thought that Assyrian reliefs were really well done, photo I took at the Munich museum of egyptian art of some reliefs of King Ashurnasirpal II
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Also interestingly most of the King's reliefs were carved with the same standard inscription telling of his great victories, lineage, etc.
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The Assyrian Empire was awesome in many ways. Philip Matyszak has written a great book in which he tells about it: Forgotten People of the Ancient World. Very nice book
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How did they solve the counterweight required for airbag buoyancy? The picture shows that they are almost naked, so it is impossible to dive to the bottom of the river with sheepskin airbags.
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Could be a stylized depiction of some sort, in which case they'd be wearing armor in reality.
That said, the floatation hypothesis does seem more likely.
Good thinking either way :)
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