We’re exploring themes from the current Getty Villa exhibition “Mesopotamia: Civilization Begins” and today’s theme is palace art! In the ancient Assyrian Empire, one of the responsibilities of the king was to receive tribute from representatives of his conquered territories. Scenes of visiting delegations decorated the walls of Assyrian palaces. This relief panel, on view in the Villa exhibition “Assyria: Palace Art of Ancient Iraq,” shows a head that once belonged to a standing figure of a man from the western part of the empire, perhaps present-day Syria or Turkey. It comes from the palace of King Sargon II at Dur-Sharrukin (Khorsabad, Iraq). Assyrian palaces in northern Iraq were filled with such stone relief panels. But a palace at Til Barsib in Syria shows that similar decorative programs were also created as wall paintings. Swipe to see a fragmentary painting from Til Barsib, on view in “Mesopotamia.” The man portrayed here seems to be initiating a procession of dignitar...