Some thoughts on the Assyrian ivories from the Temple of Nabu at Nimrod

Abstract

• Excavations in a throne room in the Temple of Nabû at Nimrud uncovered ivory plaques carved in an Assyrian-style. These appeared to be part of the temple furniture that had been deliberately burnt at the end of the Assyrian empire. The incised imagery includes processions of foreign tributaries interpreted as Iranians, specifically Medes. Alongside the ivories were found fragments of cuneiform documents containing oaths of loyalty to Assyria sworn by Iranians. This suggested a relationship between ivories and tablets and their symbolic destruction by the Medes. The ivories, which can be dated to the ninth century BC, are better understood as showing Syrian tributaries and a direct connection with the temple throne room and the treaty documents can be discounted. Nevertheless, the objects were probably brought together, perhaps from Iran itself, for their obliteration in a sacred space closely associated with Assyrian kingship.