Captioned: "Relief from the palace of Ashur-nasir-pal II at Nimrud, 9th century BC. Ashur-nasir-pal II and a protective spirit taking part in the 'cone-smearing' rite before the Tree of Life." Ashur-nasir-pal II was king of Assyria from 883 to 859 BC. The palaces, temples and other buildings raised by Ashurnasirpal II bear witness to a considerable development of wealth and art. He was renowned for his brutality, using enslaved captives to build a new Assyrian capital at Kalhu (Nimrud) in Mesopotamia where he built many impressive monuments. He was also a shrewd administrator who realized that he could gain greater control over his empire by installing Assyrian governors rather than depending on local client rulers paying tribute. He conquered the Hittites and Aramaean states of northern Syria. The Assyrian Tree of Life was represented by a series of nodes and criss-crossing lines. It was apparently an important religious symbol, often attended to by eagle-headed gods and priests, or the King. Assyrilogists have not reached consensus as to the meaning of this symbol. The name "Tree of Life" is not used in the Assyrian sources. In fact, no textual evidence pertaining to the symbol is known to exist.