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The reliefs from the palace of King Assurnasirpal II at Nimrud play an important role in portraying the power and importance of the Assyrian king. These reliefs are similar to other Assyrian reliefs in terms of their purpose; however, there is a contrast in the m ....

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.... size, the reliefs "…instill in the beholder a sense of awe and reverence for the king…." (Art History Anthology 28). Moreover, the reliefs overwhelm the viewer by depicting the king's power and god-like divinity through propagandistic iconography and stylization. To portray the king's god-like divinity, the reliefs represent the deities and Assurnasirpal in a similar manner. First of all, hierarchic scale is almost absent since all the figures are closely related in size, with Assurnasirpal being only slightly shorter than the deities. In historical context, this shows that Assyrian kings were closely associated with deities, but were not consi ....