Click here (YouTube) to view a brief collage of ancient Assyrian stone reliefs, which decorated the palaces of the mighty kings during the days of Israel's 'writing' prophets...
What kind of societal values would such artwork have projected, both to fellow Assyrians and to other nations/peoples in the Ancient Near East?
7 comments:
It seems that the commonality between the reliefs is that they all depict power, wealth and dominance in some way. These would be exactly the values and images that the Assyrians would aim to cultivate, as they were one of, if not THE, most militaristically advanced societies of their time. Their goal was to strike fear into the hearts of "lesser" societies and to cultivate a sense of solidarity and invincibility in their own civilians.
Sophie
The figures looked very commanding.
Large in charge. They looked very formable. There would not be many people who would go against them.
Lisa
I thought these images were great. Obviously the Assyrians were a powerful culture with many great atrisans. the time it would have taken to create these stoneworks is incredible. The ones I really liked were the ones that depicted war machines resembling modern tanks. Obviously these were powerful and awe inspiring peoples.
Bob
The stone reliefs all depict very powerful images, signifying their superiority and dominance over other cultures in that era. Aside from the power over other peoples that may have been valued, I also feel that power over nature may have been valued (the relief at 2:14 in the video shoes an arrow through an animal's head.)
Lauren Cavanagh
I agree with all the above mentioned comments. The only real response I had to viewing the stone reliefs that they displayed great dominance, and in every form. It appeared to me that there were reliefs of dominance over people, creatures, and the modern war technology of the time.
-- Sydney
Many of these stone reliefs were placed along the public hallways and chambers of the Assyrian palaces, to demonstrate to their allies & vassals the dire consequences of rebellion. A hallmark case study in the aesthetics of terror!
pdk
From looking at all of these it is amazing that nations still use the same kind of propaganda. Showing the people who is in charge and why they are in charge is still used in many countries today. Those that oppose are always depicted in dire straights or dead showing that any that oppose will be dealt with.
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