Images, Power, and Politics: Figurative Aspects of "Esarhaddon's Babylonian Policy (681-669 B.C.)", Memoirs, American Philosophical Society (vol. 208)

The Assyrians have usually been charcterized as the strongmen of the ancient Near East, controlling their empire largely through military force, terror, and intimidatin. The new interpretation of Esarhaddon’s reign offered here, hwever, suggests that his success in dealing with conquered Babylonia lay in his masterful use of non—violent tools of government: public works programs, royal public appearnces, and especially the use of documents which presented different images of the king and hi...