Interaction between king and foreigners: visitors at the Assyrian Court of Sargon II

Abstract

The Neo-Assyrian palace was the centre of power and its access was obviously highly regulated, but not impossible. In fact, both material and textual evidence proves that foreigners coming from neighbouring kingdoms were on occasions hosted in the palace. Admittance was not immediate but mediated by procedures and formalities, and presence before the king entailed following a number of rules of conduct, etiquette, decorum, courtesies and good form. This is the so-called ‘royal protocol’, on which iconographic sources, architectural settings, and royal texts shed light. Nonetheless, despite studies on a variety of aspects, there appear to be few or even no specific studies on the ‘royal protocol’ at the Neo-Assyrian court, with special regard to foreigners. This paper fills part of this gap by analysing the evidence coming from Sargon II’s reign: 1) texts and bas-reliefs, which outline rules of access, foreigners’ behaviour and king’s appearance, and 2) architectural hints, which help in reconstructing routes and rooms earmarked for foreigners.