How ancient and modern memory shapes the past. A canon of Assyrian memory
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.