The cultures of the Ancient Near East maintained a strict social hierarchy. The rules and conditions of everyday life, politics, and commerce changed based on your position in society. Discuss examples of this and how the visual record of Mesopotamia helps us understand the lives of its inhabitants.
ASSURBANIPAL AND HIS QUEEN IN THE GARDEN was a great example of the strict social hierarchy. Just as we have seen in history the Gods came first. Right under the gods were the king and queen, they had the most power throughout their culture. The Priest were almost equal to kings because religion was such a big part of their culture. The upper class was next and they often had more leisure time and often had slaves of their own. Slaves were at the bottom and receive very little leisure time. The ASSURBANIPAL AND HIS QUEEN IN THE GARDEN depicted the perfect image of how the king and queen lived. I thought it was interesting that it even depicted how men’s power was greater than women’s. It showed how slaves brought food and fanned the royalty. Also below the King’s throne was he necklace. This implied that only Royalty and Priest were able to afford jewelry and nice clothing. This showed who royalty was. Throughout history these social classes continue to pop up as we can see through visual art and jewelry.