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Cedar Tree in Assyrian Reliefs

Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This study examines the representation of cedar and timber acquisition in Assyrian royal discourse and visual culture, with particular attention to the Neo-Assyrian period. It considers how a valuable building material could become a sign of royal provision, access to distant landscapes, and participation in imperial networks. The method is an interpretive comparison of published royal inscriptions, museum catalogue records, and scholarship on Assyrian narrative art. Earlier Assyrian references and the cedar-forest episode in the Epic of Gilgamesh provide historical and literary context, but are distinguished from Neo-Assyrian visual evidence. The principal case studies are the bronze bands from the gates of Shalmaneser III at Balawat and the timber-transport reliefs from Sargon II’s palace at Khorsabad. The analysis separates depictions of tribute from scenes explicitly identified as timber transport and distinguishes physical cedar construction from the representation of trees or wooden cargo. It also corrects the identification of the Louvre timber-transport series as AO 19889–AO 19891 rather than AO 19885. The evidence supports interpreting timber procurement as part of the visual presentation of royal accomplishment, while not establishing that every depicted tree is cedar, every shipment originated in Lebanon, or every coastal polity was under continuous direct administration. Texts concerning Sennacherib and Esarhaddon further contextualise the relationship between construction, tribute, and coercion without supplying a secure identification for every proposed relief scene. Six illustration positions are retained, but the image files were not supplied and require verification before publication. The study concludes that cedar’s political significance arose through the interaction of material value, architectural use, royal narrative, and the selective visual organisation of movement and labour.
DOI: 10.70517/revcc2624185
Institution: University of Mosul
Language: English
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7225175897
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