Ricerc@Sapienza

Many recent studies have dealt with the nature of the Assyrian imperial frontiers, demonstrating how diversified they have been through time and space, with cases such as Khabur and Upper Tigris regions. On the other hand, the Assyrian periphery along the Iraqi middle Euphrates – ancient region of Suḫu – is archaeologically less known. The archaeological investigations before the construction of the Haditha Dam revealed many sites datable to the Iron Age, some of which seemed to have a marked military nature. The region was therefore seen as a seat for fortresses of the Assyrian Empire.

A few images of queens are preserved from the Neo-Assyrian period, and they all wear a peculiar crown, apparently reproducing a town wall, with square towers. In my contribution, I will take the evidence from relief and glyptics into account, and I will propose some interpretations for this peculiar ornament: what it represented, and why was it adopted by Assyrian queens. I will also try to verify the frequently-proposed hypothesis that the mural crown has a Syrian or Anatolian origin.

Analysis of the pictorial representation of the battle of Til-Tuba in the South-West palace of Sennacherib at Nineveh.

The value and meaning of the visual representation of the Neo-Assyrian kings are discussed in this contribution. The author examines two different words when used in association with the Assyrian kingship.

Bas-reliefs are undoubtedly an important source for the reconstruction and evaluation of the Neo-Assyrian culture, including art-historical perspectives, political considerations, and all kinds of indirect information that can be gathered from the images in Assyrian palaces and open air spaces.

Analysis of the symmetrical representation of slabs B 13 and B 23 in the throne room of Assurnasirpal II at Nimrud. The contribution takes into account the context and content of the representation in relation to the meaning expressed by the official image of the Assyrian kingship.

From the 9th to the 7th century BC, Assyrian kings launched a programme of visualization of their military deeds and achievements on wall panels in the rooms of the royal residences in the main capital cities of the empire, Nimrud, Dur Sharrukin and Nineveh.

Ancient Near Eastern state agencies that produced monumental art and architecture and crafted rare works out of luxury materials were essentially materializing their own interpretations of reality and thereby producing memories. Because elite memories were rendered into concrete forms and images, they dominated and endured. Thus, ruling bodies curated their particular memories through a range of canonical sites, monuments, and artworks, which they would have viewed as most representative of their power and legitimacy.

The paper analyses the representations of the walls of Nineveh as they have been depicted in the Assyrian bas-reliefs of Sennacherib and Ashurbanipal in the 7th century BC.

Neo-Assyrian letters are a broad and interesting corpus of data to investigate how ancient Assyrians dealt with the manufacture of statues, the shaping of royal and divine effigies, and the final arrangement of sculptures. This paper aims to analyse the ritual and practical aspects of the making of images in the Neo- Assyrian period with reference to this corpus of letters, which reveals how Assyrian kings, officials and sculptors worked together for this purpose. It explores the role of the personnel involved, the process of the creation, and the final display of statues.