Assyrians

I thought it was interesting how the one of the reasons for the gruesome depictions of war could have been used as propaganda. It makes sense and could explain the success of the Assyrians as this could have scared others and it helped with them fighting and taking over. Though uring the reading of the introduction Bahrani made a point of how it was only the Assyrians that made such detailed depictions of the wars. I understand the points. What I find interesting is that it was only the Assyrians and they were the most successful kingdom in the Middle East. This raises the question of whether there is a link between the art and the success of the kingdom.

My question is why the Assyrians and only the Assyrians depicted war in such detail in their art compared to others such as the Babylonians and the Elamites. Was there something that the Assyrians realized that the others didn’t? If propaganda was the reason for their style of art then it seemed to serve its purpose. So much to that for others to see their work it would affect the mentality of them. The enemies would have this image of the Assyrians as this undefeatable group and so they go into war without full confidence. Which then they lose the battle. But it seems like this is something that the other groups could have realized and so why didn’t they? What did the Assyrians have that the others didin’t? There is a possibility that propaganda was the sole reason and so what was it then? Was their view on war different? Details such as the placing the head of a king hanging from a tree is sign not of just defeat on the enemy’s part but of victory for the other king as the Bahrani said “To be precise, it is not the battle or even the act of decapitation,…a body part that becomes the terrorizing sign of violence and victory at the same time.” There is meaning beyond what is just displayed the focus of the picture is not necessarily the largest image in this case. The way the Assyrians depict themselves and how they demean their enemies shows a bit of their attitude toward war and their enemies. They made themselves seem larger than life just like Hammurabi had done with his stelas and with Hammurabi he was a successful with a long reign and lasting legacy it is possible that the Assyrians wanted just that.