Davide Nadali, 2026, Face to Face: The Portrait of the Assyrian King(ship) Davide Nadali

https://www.academia.edu/180351404/Davide_Nadali_2026_Face_to_Face_The_Portrait_of_the_Assyrian_King_ship_ This article examines royal portraiture in the reliefs of Sargon II’s palace at Dur Sharrukin, exploring how images express individual identity, court hierarchy, and the continuity of Assyrian kingship. Through contextual and iconographic analysis, it argues that royal representations embody an enduring institution whose authority is manifested through successive rulers. Compared with Assurnasirpal II’s palace at Nimrud, Sargon’s decorative programme gives greater prominence to court members, addressing the elite whose support sustained his reign. The article questions the routine identification of diadem-wearing figures facing the king as the crown prince Sennacherib. Differences in gestures, royal attributes, and accompanying processions may distinguish Sennacherib from Sargon’s brother and high official Sin-aḫu-uṣur, although these identifications remain hypothetical. Finally, the face-to-face representation of Sargon and Sennacherib is interpreted as a portrait of kingship itself: their closely corresponding appearances express the crown prince’s fitness to rule and unite the present and future of Assyrian sovereignty.