Block X was found in 1835 during excavation campaigns conducted on the Acropolis, in the northwestern corner of the Parthenon. The block was removed from its original position in antiquity during the conversion of the Parthenon into a Christian church and a window was opened in its place.

The frieze on the north side of the Parthenon depicts part of the procession formed by the people of Athens during the Panathenaic festival in honor of the city's protector, Athena. The destination of the procession was the Temple of Athena Polias on the Acropolis. Its purpose was to transport the Panathenaic peplos intended to adorn the goddess's ancient xoanon and to offer a great animal sacrifice to the Great Altar outside the temple.

The Metopes of the Parthenon are a series of marble panels, originally 92 in number, on the outside walls of the Parthenon in Athens, Greece, forming part of the Doric frieze. The metopes of each side of the building (14 each on the eastern and western walls, 32 each on the northern and southern walls) had a different subject, and together with the pediments, Ionic frieze, and the statue of Athena Parthenos contained within the Parthenon, formed an elaborate program of sculptural decoration. Fifteen of the metopes from the south wall were removed and are now part of the Parthenon Marbles in the British Museum, and others have been destroyed. They are famous examples of the Classical Greek high-relief.