Relations of Power in Early Neo-Assyrian State Ideology

Description

This volume examines the state ideology of Assyria in the Early Neo-Assyrian period (934-745 BCE) focusing on how power relations between the Mesopotamian deities, the Assyrian king, and foreign lands are described and depicted.  It undertakes a close reading of delimited royal inscriptions and iconography making use of postcolonial and gender theory, and addresses such topics as royal deification, “religious imperialism”, ethnicity and empire, and gendered imagery. The important contribution of this study lies especially in its identification of patterns of ideological continuity and variation within the reigns of individual rulers, between various localities, and between the different rulers of this period, and in its discussion of the place of Early Neo-Assyrian state ideology in the overall development of Assyrian propaganda. It includes several indexed appendices, which list all primary sources, present all divine and royal epithets, and provide all of the “royal visual representations,” and incorporates numerous illustrations, such as maps, plans, and royal iconography. Contents Preface List of figures Abbreviations Bibliographical abbreviations Symbols and other abbreviations 1. Introduction 1.1 Topic and background of the study 1.2 Aims of the study 1.3 Earlier research 1.4 General notes on the primary sources 1.4.1 Assyrian royal inscriptions and iconography 1.4.2 State ideology and propaganda 1.5 Method 1.6 Theory 1.7 Relations of power “in real life” 1.7.1 The geopolitical setting 1.7.2 The socio-economic setting 2. The primary sources of the study 2.1 The major primary sources 2.2 The minor primary sources 3. The relationship between the great gods and the foreign lands 3.1 Owners and masters of the world 3.2 Conquerors of the foreign lands 3.3 Summary 4. The relationship between the great gods and the king of Assyria 4.1 Representative of the great gods 4.2 Priest and servant of the great gods 4.3 Master builder of the great gods 4.4 Warrior of the great gods 4.5 Summary 5. The relationship between the king of Assyria and the foreign lands 5.1 Overcoming the foreign landscapes 5.2 Pacifying the foreign animals 5.3 Respecting the foreign deities 5.4 Confronting the foreign elites and people 5.4.1 Status and hierarchy 5.4.2 Function and reciprocity 5.4.3 Realized reciprocity: tribute 5.4.4 Realized reciprocity: paternalism 5.4.5 Differentiation of the foreign people and lands 5.4.6 Alleged roles of ethnicity and nationalism 5.4.7 Emphasis on the king and the ruling class 5.4.8 Self versus Other: identity and alterity 5.4.9 Gendered roles and relations 5.5 Summary 6. Ideological development within the reigns 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Ideology and regnal phases of Ashurnasirpal II 6.3 Ideology and regnal phases of Shalmaneser III 6.4 Ideology and regnal phases of the other kings 6.5 Summary and reflections 7. Local propaganda and regional politics 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Ashurnasirpal II and local propaganda 7.3 Shalmaneser III and local propaganda 7.4 The other kings and local propaganda 7.5 Summary and reflections 8. Ideological comparison between the reigns 8.1 Introduction 8.2 General comparison Ashurnasirpal II–Shalmaneser III 8.3 Strategic comparison Ashurnasirpal II–Shalmaneser III 8.4 The other kings and strategic comparisons 8.5 Summary and reflections 9. The development of Assyrian state ideology 9.1 Introduction 9.2 Early Neo-Assyrian propaganda in history: royal iconography and titulary 9.3 Early Neo-Assyrian propaganda in history: textual narrative 9.4 Summary and reflections 10. Conclusion of the study 10.1 Final conclusions and reflections 10.2 Further research Bibliography Figures Appendices and indices 1. List of the inscriptions 2. List of the iconography 3. Spatial distribution of the major primary sources 4. Deity hierarchy in the texts 5. Divine titles and epithets in the texts of Ashurnasirpal II 6. Divine titles and epithets in the texts of Shalmaneser III 7. Divine titles and epithets in the texts of the other kings 8. Royal titles and epithets of Ashurnasirpal II 9. Royal titles and epithets of Shalmaneser III 10. Royal titles and epithets of the other kings 11. List of the most common royal titles and epithets I 12. List of the most common royal titles and epithets II 13. Visual representations of Ashurnasirpal II 14. Visual representations of Shalmaneser III and the other kings 15. List of the most common royal visual representations 16. Early Neo-Assyrian state ideology in history