THIS lion is not from Zion, this lion is from Turkey. The calligraphy is made in that country in the seventeenth century with ink and gold paint. It praises Ali, the first imam of the Shiites. His nickname was Haydar, which stands for lion. The face of the animal consists of the words Ali, once written normal, once written in a mirrored way. I guess the man who made this got the same satisfaction from his work as a graffiti writer gets for making a good tag.