Throne Dais of Shalmaneser III [North Face, East End]

Illustration

Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin
by
published on 10 May 2019
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Throne Dais of Shalmaneser III [North Face, East End]

This scene is part of a long tributary one where the king receives tribute from Qalparunda of the Land of Unqi (a Luwian Syri-Hittite state, also known as Pattin). Here, the Assyrian king, Shalmaneser III (r. 858-824 BCE), stands below a parasol. His left hand rests on the tip of his bow while the right hand (grasping a pair of arrows) is raised in salute.

The king is surrounded by his attendants. The most striking feature is that the sculptor did not adopt the convention which made the king stand a head taller than his subjects, and his technique, particularly in attention to detail, was markedly superior. On the counterpart scene of the West End of the South Face, the king was depicted as noticeably taller than his companions.

This dais was found in the eastern end of the throne room (T1) at Fort Shalmaneser in the city of Nimrud (in modern-day Nineveh Governorate, Iraq) in 1962 CE. The front and sides of the dais were carved in relief depicting various tributary scenes. The dais was completed around 846-845 BCE (and that would be the king's 13th year of reign). During the ransacking of the Iraq Museum in April 2003 CE, this object was not vandalized and remained intact. It is on display at the Assyrian Gallery of the Iraq Museum in Baghdad, Republic of Iraq.

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About the Author

Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin
Associate Professor of Neurology and lover of the Cradle of Civilization, Mesopotamia. I'm very interested in Mesopotamian history and always try to take photos of archaeological sites and artifacts in museums, both in Iraq and around the world.

Cite This Work

APA Style

Amin, O. S. M. (2019, May 10). Throne Dais of Shalmaneser III [North Face, East End]. World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.worldhistory.org/image/10523/throne-dais-of-shalmaneser-iii-north-face-east-end/

Chicago Style

Amin, Osama Shukir Muhammed. "Throne Dais of Shalmaneser III [North Face, East End]." World History Encyclopedia. Last modified May 10, 2019. https://www.worldhistory.org/image/10523/throne-dais-of-shalmaneser-iii-north-face-east-end/.

MLA Style

Amin, Osama Shukir Muhammed. "Throne Dais of Shalmaneser III [North Face, East End]." World History Encyclopedia. World History Encyclopedia, 10 May 2019. Web. 23 Oct 2021.