Assyrian Art
Assyrian ArtThe reliefs from the palace of King Assurnasirpal II at Nimrud play an important role in portraying the power and importance of the Assyrian king. These reliefs are similar to other Assyrian reliefs in terms of their purpose; however, there is a contrast in the methods used to glorify the king. By examining such factors as style, iconography and historical significance, we find many similarities and differences between the "ceremonial" reliefs and the more common reliefs depicting war and hunting.
The reliefs belonging to the sacred or "ceremonial" category consist of panels depicting a sacred tree, a human headed genius fertilizing a sacred tree, a griffin fertilizing a sacred tree, and a scene of King Assurnasirpal (whose name comes from the god "Assur") followed by a winged genius. Dating to about 870 B.C., these reliefs were originally located in the antechamber to the royal throne hall and in the living room where it would have been viewed by distinguished guests. Because of their location and larger than life size, the reliefs "�instill in the beholder a sense of awe and reverence for the king�." (Art History Anthology 28). Moreover, the reliefs overwhelm the viewer by depicting the king's power and god-like divinity through propagandistic iconography and stylization.
To portray the king's god-like divinity, the reliefs represent the deities and Assurnasirpal in a similar manner. First of all, hierarchic scale is almost absent since all the figures are closely related in size, with Assurnasirpal being only slightly shorter than the deities. In historical context, this shows that Assyrian kings were closely associated with deities, but were not considered gods themselves. This lack of hierarchic scale is also seen in the Lion Hunt of Assurbanipal, where king Assurbanipal is shown slightly larger than his servants.
Secondly, the deities and Assurnasirpal are similar in stance and stylization. All the figures have their head and legs shown in profile, while the torso is shown halfway frontal. In addition, the figures maintain a stiff vertical stance with their arms extended in either straight lines or are stiffly bent into a ninety-degree angle. In the third panel, both a winged deity and Assurnasirpal are depicted facing towards the right with their left feet forward; however, in contrast, the human headed genius and the griffin genius are facing towards the left with their right feet forward. Because of their stiff stance, these figures highly contrast the movement and action shown in the hunting scenes of Assurbanipal and war scenes of Assurnasirpal.
In term of stylization, both the human headed deities and Assurnasirpal have very stylized hair falling in straight locks to the back of their necks; furthermore, they possess highly stylized beards of intricate waves and ringlets which end evenly at the bottom. Because these features are similar to that of Assurbanipal and the mythological bullmen at the palace at Khorsabad, it can be construed that it is "a coiffure characteristic of...
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