The Political Influence of Assyrian Art.

The Assyrian authority ridiculed all aspects of life, including art, to serve the political side that led to the adoption of the military character of the Assyrian state in all its eras.

The works of the Assyrian artist emphasized the political nature of the Assyrians, and the Assyrians focused their work on highlighting the positive results of their military operations by showing the greatest losses among the enemy. The Assyrians used the works of art as a means to implement their foreign policy. Assyrian kings and many artistic means were used to liberate their political message by showing their exaggerated superiority through their artistic works. Assyrians also used art as a means of psychological warfare to influence adversaries by instilling fear, intimidation and defamation of the enemy. The art became “ideological” after the domination of the Assyrian state and the expansion of its power and became dominant in all aspects of life, so that Assyrian art became one of the most important sources of our knowledge of the reality (political – military), which became a reflection of reality, And the power of the military state, for example, the art of sculpture Assyrian record of the activities of various kings in peace and war, and Assyrian art on the forms of dealing between the ruling and sentenced, and expressed how to deal with prisoners, has recorded Assyrian art sculptures abundant information about official interviews Diplomacy and concerts Tiles and fishing campaigns and the war and the performance of religious rites

And that the most important features of the themes drawn on the artistic sculptures of the Assyrian kings, especially those related to the political aspect are:

The element of exaggeration in the use of force against their enemies and the extreme power in the treatment of prisoners, and exaggerating the numbers of casualties for the hostile side of the dead and prisoners, and did not address their losses, and exaggerated in the narrative of the titles of kings and the extent of courage and greatness and dominated by non-openness, The victory of themselves in all the battles they fought, and it seems that they were throwing from behind the publication of media propaganda intended to strengthen the pillars of their power by planting the spirit of fear and fear in the ranks of their enemies to quell the fire of revolution and disobedience against the Assyrian authority, Places used to welcome kings and Ambassadors from the territories belonging to the Assyrian State Sultan

The psychological warfare used by the Assyrians against their enemies, which was evident through their warlike caricatures, was a kind of political propaganda, in which they intended to change the general behavior of their enemies because of the great aura they used to describe their political and military strength. What they thought of the aggression against them or when they thought the people under their authority to separate from their central control,

Therefore, the Assyrians rushed towards the excesses in the use of force and rigidity that were evident in their artistic drawings of political content which emerged during their modern era (911-612 BC), as the political developments in the modern Assyrian era influenced art especially that Assyrian art Was the idea of ​​seeking to build the ideals of masculinity. These ideals were represented by the victorious king, the legendary king, the omnipotent King, the powerful husband. In all artistic formations, whether sculpted or not, the Assyrian artist expressed his unusual expression of brutality and power. Clear in the appearance of muscles and long hair and many

The Assyrian art was influenced by the important changes that took place in the ancient Near East because of the political and military fluctuations and changes that were reflected in this art, especially in the modern Assyrian era.

And that the most important features of modern Assyrian arts are summarized as follows:
1 .  its worldly formulation, as it was not represented by the religious rituals and did not make them a mockery of the gods, but they generally focused on the greatness of the works of the Assyrian Kings.
2 . The tyranny of the ideals of war, hunting and other royal affairs, such as the siege of cities and the fortresses and the displacement of the population and the market prisoners and representation.
3.  Sculpture statues of kings with the characteristics of rigor and intensity that reflect the personality of the political ruler – the military stripped of the human feelings, which reflects the will of the Royal role in the activation of the firm authority that grips things with an iron hand, And the transcendent view of the character of the war heroism of the king’s personality, which was accompanied by symbols of authority such as the scepter and the often swastika.
4 . exaggeration in the muscular anatomy of the forearms to demonstrate the greatness of the character of the king as a wise political ruler and a strong warrior and a proud conqueror.
5.  The Assyrians used religious propaganda for political gain. A prominent carving of the king (Ashur Panipal), representing the king’s drawing, was found in his royal garb. He carried a basket filled with soil to make the first pouring of the first temple, , And it seems through this sculpture that the Assyrian king has used religious propaganda lined with political intentions
In summary, Assyrian art in the modern era was not cut off from the artistic traditions of Mesopotamia, but was the result of several factors that contributed to its crystallization, the most important of which is the political reality of Assyria.
The importance of Assyrian art is not limited to its aesthetic value but to its important historical information that we can not obtain from other sources.
The general character of Assyrian art was also subject to the domination of the state, which made its main function to serve the court through the propaganda, documenting and promotion of the activities of the kings and their acts, whether political, military or civil, in peace.

By
Dr. Hussein Alawi