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Scene Behind Throne
1

Throne Room
Throne room of Assur-nasir-pal II from NimrudÕ Northwest Palace.

The throne room of the king is decorated with reliefs that display the virtues of kingship. These are the characteristics that enable the king to govern effectively. They are the necessary attributes of kingship.

These kingly virtues are displayed here in artifactual form in the shape of bas reliefs. They may be found enumerated in Assur-nasir-palÕs texts too, in written form. There he recounts his priestly role, his role as a divinely appointed hunter and the military victories he achieved stamping out rebellions against Assur, his god who is the true king of the land of Assyria.

The throne room is at the very heart of the Assyrian Empire. The king is presented again and again is as the Òsole agentÓ through whom divine order and earthly well being can be made available to the state. How the king makes these things available to the state the throne room and the royal inscriptions tell us.

2

Flanking a Sacred Tree
You must turn left 90 degrees from the main entranceway to see the most important person in the room. Here, at the end of the long narrow throne room you will find the king seated upon his throne in front of an immediately familiar image. This bent axis approach to the king - you must turn 90 degrees left to see him in person - is borrowed from the old Sumerian temple. This was the way one approached a god in his temple in the old days. A god was never approached directly. Now such a godly approach is required to draw near or even look upon the king.

Directly behind the throne hangs this bas relief showing Assur-nasir-pal himself, in duplicate, flanking a "sacred tree". Beside him, on either side, are depicted winged gods with horned crowns, buckets and date spathes. Above the tree is the god Assur, shown riding in his winged disk with bird tail and bow and arrow. Here we see the main role of the Assyrian king as he acts as the connecting link between this world and the world of the gods.

It is the god here, hovering in his halo above the holy tree, who is the ultimate source of all good in the land. This image of sacred ritual fixing the relationship between king and god is the first thing we saw upon entering the room. It is the image on the wall directly across from the main entranceway. We see it repeated here behind the throne dias exactly as it appeared across from the maindoorway. One sees this as soon as he has turned left and gazed down the long hall - the throne room is 10 by 45 m long - toward the king. The king upon his throne are situated upon a raised dias directly in front of this image. The king in his ritual role as high priest of Assur hangs above the king and throne like a tapestry. It is the central image for the throne room as the throne room is central to the palace and the palace central to the well being of the entire land.

3

Guardian Genii
To the left and right of the throne wall' s bas relief of the "sacred tree" stand these huge, winged, guardian gods, holding date spathes and buckets. These figures flank the king himself seated upon his throne and the tapestry like image of the ritual of the sacred tree behind the throne. These gods stand with their backs to sacred trees that are carved over each of the four corners of the room. Their gestures, costumes and proximity to the sacred trees are similar to those of the birdmen and winged genii in the Metropolitan Museum.


back to Northwest Palace Overview

Scene Behind Throne 1 Throne Room Throne room of Assur-nasir-pal II from NimrudÕ Northwest Palace. The throne room of the king is decorated with reliefs that display the virtues of kingship. These are the characteristics that enable the king to govern effectively. They are the necessary attributes of kingship. These kingly virtues are displayed here in artifactual form in the shape of bas reliefs. They may be found enumerated in Assur-nasir-palÕs texts too, in written form. There he recounts his priestly role, his role as a divinely appointed hunter and the military victories he achieved stamping out rebellions against Assur, his god who is the true king of the land of Assyria. The throne room is at the very heart of the Assyrian Empire. The king is presented again and again is as the Òsole agentÓ through whom divine order and earthly well being can be made available to the state. How the king makes these things available to the state the throne room and the royal inscriptions tell us. 2 Flanking a Sacred Tree You must turn left 90 degrees from the main entranceway to see the most important person in the room. Here, at the end of the long narrow throne room you will find the king seated upon his throne in front of an immediately familiar image. This bent axis approach to the king - you must turn 90 degrees left to see him in person - is borrowed from the old Sumerian temple. This was the way one approached a god in his temple in the old days. A god was never approached directly. Now such a godly approach is required to draw near or even look upon the king. Directly behind the throne hangs this bas relief showing Assur-nasir-pal himself, in duplicate, flanking a "sacred tree". Beside him, on either side, are depicted winged gods with horned crowns, buckets and date spathes. Above the tree is the god Assur, shown riding in his winged disk with bird tail and bow and arrow. Here we see the main role of the Assyrian king as he acts as the connecting link between this world and the world of the gods. It is the god here, hovering in his halo above the holy tree, who is the ultimate source of all good in the land. This image of sacred ritual fixing the relationship between king and god is the first thing we saw upon entering the room. It is the image on the wall directly across from the main entranceway. We see it repeated here behind the throne dias exactly as it appeared across from the maindoorway. One sees this as soon as he has turned left and gazed down the long hall - the throne room is 10 by 45 m long - toward the king. The king upon his throne are situated upon a raised dias directly in front of this image. The king in his ritual role as high priest of Assur hangs above the king and throne like a tapestry. It is the central image for the throne room as the throne room is central to the palace and the palace central to the well being of the entire land. 3 Guardian Genii To the left and right of the throne wall' s bas relief of the "sacred tree" stand these huge, winged, guardian gods, holding date spathes and buckets. These figures flank the king himself seated upon his throne and the tapestry like image of the ritual of the sacred tree behind the throne. These gods stand with their backs to sacred trees that are carved over each of the four corners of the room. Their gestures, costumes and proximity to the sacred trees are similar to those of the birdmen and winged genii in the Metropolitan Museum.