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Facing Central Doorway
1

Flanking a Sacred Tree
Throne Room
The throne room is the heart of the palace as the palace is the heart of the city and this newly founded city the heart of the Empire. Here in the throne room we see the story of the Assyrian king as he wished himself to be seen, both by men and by gods. The throne room speaks in images of the activities considered essential for an effective Assyrian monarch.

The throne room is decorated with reliefs that display the virtues of kingship as the Assyrians perceived them. These are the actions that enable the king to govern well and to maintain order both in the heavens and on earth. These virtues are the necessary attributes of kingship. They are displayed here in image form and may be found in Assur-nasir-palÕs texts in written form. In both places the king recounts first his priestly role, then his role as divinely chosen and therefore legitimate ruler, and finally his role as hunter and warrior at his godÕs command

One enters throne room B from the courtyard through the central door of a group of three. To the left and right, as one passes through the door-ways he would have seen enormous winged creatures, lions and bulls, similar to those we have seen at the Metropolitan Museum.

Upon entering the throne room proper through the main doorway one was immediately confronted with limestone slabs set into the south wall, cut into a huge bas relief, elevated above the level of all the others, depicting the king engaged in a religious ritual in front of a stylized, abstract, conventionally rendered ÒtreeÓ.

The entire image is bilaterally symmetrical. The tree stands at the center. It is flanked by two images of the king, one on either side of the tree. Each image of the king is followed by a winged god with date spathe and bucket. At the very center of this balanced composition, above the stylized tree, hovers the god Assur, the chief god of Assyria. All movement in the composition is inward and upward from the king, repeatedly, - he is shown twice - with the winged godÕs help or blessing, towards the tree and to the god Assur above it.

The king is shown twice, once on either side of the tree, pointing and raising his fist toward the god in greeting. His sceptre, a simple mace that is symbolic of legitimate power, is held in his left hand. Behind the king are winged gods holding date spathes and buckets. While they appear to point at the king and sprinkle him with pollen, the artist probably intended that we imagine both the king and the gods walking around the stylized tree and sprinkling it as the divine bird-men do repeatedly in room F.

In the very center of this scene, above the tree, hovers the god Assur. He holds his bow and arrow and is seen inside a disk shaped halo that has bird-like wings and tail. Here is the god from whom all blessings flow, only here the blesssings upon the kingdom of Assyria flow through the king in his role as Òhigh priest of AssurÓ (the Assyrians hailed the god Assur as king, shouting "Assur is king" once a year at every New YearÕs festival; the person we think of as king was seen by them only as AssurÕs high priest)

Here Assur-nasir-pal is the protector of the power for fertility in the date palm. The decorative tree in the center of this image is, in fact, a stylized date palm. This is peculiar, indeed, because date palm trees do not grow in Assyria where it is too cold for them to thrive. Surely, what we have here is a borrowing by the Assyrians of a motif at home in Babylonia where the date palm and its fruit provided an eminently storable staple food for mankind from its first domestication.

Directly to the right of the king with bow and eunuch we see the image of the king engaged in sacred ritual around the sacred tree. This is the bas relief directly across from the central entrance-way to the throne room. It is a repeat of the bas relief that we saw hanging like a tapestry behind the throne of the king. It is here to show the visitor that the religious functions of the king are predominant.

As we have seen this is the first relief that any visitor will see when he enters the throne room.

2

King with Bow
On either scene of the ritual scene with the sacred tree are images of the king holding his bow followed by one of his eunuchs (not shown).


back to Northwest Palace Overview

Facing Central Doorway 1 Flanking a Sacred Tree Throne Room The throne room is the heart of the palace as the palace is the heart of the city and this newly founded city the heart of the Empire. Here in the throne room we see the story of the Assyrian king as he wished himself to be seen, both by men and by gods. The throne room speaks in images of the activities considered essential for an effective Assyrian monarch. The throne room is decorated with reliefs that display the virtues of kingship as the Assyrians perceived them. These are the actions that enable the king to govern well and to maintain order both in the heavens and on earth. These virtues are the necessary attributes of kingship. They are displayed here in image form and may be found in Assur-nasir-palÕs texts in written form. In both places the king recounts first his priestly role, then his role as divinely chosen and therefore legitimate ruler, and finally his role as hunter and warrior at his godÕs command One enters throne room B from the courtyard through the central door of a group of three. To the left and right, as one passes through the door-ways he would have seen enormous winged creatures, lions and bulls, similar to those we have seen at the Metropolitan Museum. Upon entering the throne room proper through the main doorway one was immediately confronted with limestone slabs set into the south wall, cut into a huge bas relief, elevated above the level of all the others, depicting the king engaged in a religious ritual in front of a stylized, abstract, conventionally rendered ÒtreeÓ. The entire image is bilaterally symmetrical. The tree stands at the center. It is flanked by two images of the king, one on either side of the tree. Each image of the king is followed by a winged god with date spathe and bucket. At the very center of this balanced composition, above the stylized tree, hovers the god Assur, the chief god of Assyria. All movement in the composition is inward and upward from the king, repeatedly, - he is shown twice - with the winged godÕs help or blessing, towards the tree and to the god Assur above it. The king is shown twice, once on either side of the tree, pointing and raising his fist toward the god in greeting. His sceptre, a simple mace that is symbolic of legitimate power, is held in his left hand. Behind the king are winged gods holding date spathes and buckets. While they appear to point at the king and sprinkle him with pollen, the artist probably intended that we imagine both the king and the gods walking around the stylized tree and sprinkling it as the divine bird-men do repeatedly in room F. In the very center of this scene, above the tree, hovers the god Assur. He holds his bow and arrow and is seen inside a disk shaped halo that has bird-like wings and tail. Here is the god from whom all blessings flow, only here the blesssings upon the kingdom of Assyria flow through the king in his role as Òhigh priest of AssurÓ (the Assyrians hailed the god Assur as king, shouting "Assur is king" once a year at every New YearÕs festival; the person we think of as king was seen by them only as AssurÕs high priest) Here Assur-nasir-pal is the protector of the power for fertility in the date palm. The decorative tree in the center of this image is, in fact, a stylized date palm. This is peculiar, indeed, because date palm trees do not grow in Assyria where it is too cold for them to thrive. Surely, what we have here is a borrowing by the Assyrians of a motif at home in Babylonia where the date palm and its fruit provided an eminently storable staple food for mankind from its first domestication. Directly to the right of the king with bow and eunuch we see the image of the king engaged in sacred ritual around the sacred tree. This is the bas relief directly across from the central entrance-way to the throne room. It is a repeat of the bas relief that we saw hanging like a tapestry behind the throne of the king. It is here to show the visitor that the religious functions of the king are predominant. As we have seen this is the first relief that any visitor will see when he enters the throne room. 2 King with Bow On either scene of the ritual scene with the sacred tree are images of the king holding his bow followed by one of his eunuchs (not shown).