The publication of a 2011 Heidelberg Ph.D. thesis, this study draws on the dual training of K. as an architect at the University of Delft and as a Near Eastern archaeologist at the University of Leiden. K. sees architecture as an expression of the way societies organise and constitute themselves and therefore ultimately conceives his study as a contribution to social history. In that, he certainly succeeds and the volume is as much about bricks and mortar as it is about the people that inhabit the palaces commissioned by generations of Assyrian kings from the ninth to the seventh centuries b.c. K. uses the term ‘Late Assyrian’ to denote that period, understood synonymously to the more commonly used designation ‘Neo-Assyrian’. The monumental structures that form the material basis of his study are among the most prominent remains of the imperial phase of one of the ancient world's longest-lived states. The huge, richly decorated and furnished buildings dominated the urban landscape of the capital cities in the Assyrian heartland in what is today the north of Iraq. Even today as ruins, they are still universally recognisable markers of the claim to dominion and domination. K. argues that while no two palaces were the same, their architecture was organised according to a set of guiding principles that may have emerged as early as the eleventh century b.c.
The first part of the book presents the known buildings in chronological order in chapters named after the king commissioning the buildings (Chapters 2–8, from Ashurnasirpal II to Ashurbanipal). The bulk of the 24 plates of colour illustrations, almost all of them ground plans, refer to this part and effectively support the presentation. It is crucial to stress that most kings used palaces constructed by a predecessor, usually surrounded by the decoration and inscriptions that celebrated the latter's successes (p. 248). There were always several palaces in use, often built by the same king. K. classifies the largest palace within the empire at any given moment as the Primary Palace, whereas he terms an architectural type that combines palatial features with a military use the Military Palace (p. 2). The volume begins with the discussion of the so-called Northwest Palace of Kalhu (modern Nimrud). King Ashurnasirpal II created this building in the mid-ninth century b.c. as the nexus of the newly forged empire. In the spring of 2015, it was subjected to the attentions of the extremist jihadist group known as Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. The online video documenting their destruction with bulldozers, sledgehammers and explosives arguably publicised this palace in a far more effective way than exhibitions and academic publications have been able to do ever since the building captured the attention of Victorian audiences in the mid-1900s through a series of bestselling accounts by its first excavator, Austen Henry Layard. Since then, the focus of presentation and research has always been firmly on the eye-catching monumental stone sculptures adorning the gateways and walls of this palace and those of its successors. K. must be credited for shifting the attention back to the assessment of the buildings as a whole. He focuses on the analysis of their spatial organisation and explores their use in the evolving architectural contexts that he links to the growth of the Assyrian Empire, concentrating on the organisation of access and movement. Its historical dimension makes this part of the study stimulating reading for anyone interested in Assyria's cultural and political history.
The second part of the book takes a diachronic approach to the analysis of certain architectural features. In this way, K. makes an important and often innovative contribution to the understanding of daily life in the palaces and the protocol governing the interactions of the palace community. Chapter 9 discusses the main types of space characterising Assyrian palace architecture, namely reception rooms, bathrooms, spaces of storage and spaces of movement (courtyards and corridors), and their installations. To me, this was the most enjoyable part of the book, as life in the palace becomes concrete and tangible in K.'s discussions of heating and ventilation, light and air, drainage and insulation, movement and activity. The examination of the omnipresent bathrooms – surprisingly spacious and usually without doors – will appeal to anyone with an interest in the history of hygiene and should stimulate the imagination of those working on Assyrian ritual practice, which places great importance on cleansing and cleanliness. Chapter 10 analyses typical room combinations and their usage: the throne room suite, the double-sided reception suite, the dual-core suite and the residential/reception suite. Discussions of key items of furniture round off the chapter: the throne and its dais as well as beds and couches, with an attractive interpretation of Ashurbanipal's Garden Scene which shows the queen seated on a throne and the king reclining on a bed. With the queen hosting the banquet, the king's position may have been chosen to indicate his elevated position without diminishing the queen's prominent role (pp. 226–7). Somewhat unexpectedly, this chapter begins with a discussion of the important and controversial question of whether or not the palaces had second storeys (pp. 205–10). On the basis of the assessment of the preserved staircases, K. argues convincingly for the general absence of second storeys in the palace architecture.
Chapter 11, ‘250 Years of Late Assyrian Palaces’, serves as a conclusion to the volume by taking up some key strands of the overall argument. After a concise discussion of the architectural principles that shaped the palaces and a brief appreciation of the ‘community of palaces’ (with Fig. 11.1 on p. 234 offering a striking illustration of the vastly different dimensions), K. outlines the key decorative schemes and the experience of visiting the palace. He moves to new material when he contextualises the palaces in the larger architectural landscape of the Assyrian Empire, offering residential and temple architecture as comparative material of a far more heterogeneous character (pp. 238–41). The key changes in palace architecture, namely the expansion of the state apartments, the loss of importance of the King's Courtyard, the multiplication of the main reception suites and the increasing distances within the palace, are interpreted as an attempt continuously to expand the palaces’ capacity to accommodate visitors, an objective which is linked to the expansion of the empire (p. 241). K. then turns to a final discussion of the palace community, closing with an attempt to approximate the number of actual inhabitants. Given their immense size, his conclusion that ‘most palaces accommodated no more than fifty people each’ (p. 248) may come as a surprise, but his argument that much of the palace did not serve residential purposes at all and that the suites were intended for individuals rather than as dormitories makes sense. However, whether the workers that populated the palaces in addition to these few privileged residents – chiefly the members of the royal family – had their living quarters outside of the palace or made do with less private and less formal sleeping and living arrangements inside the palace remains tantalisingly unclear.
An appendix detailing the room designations of the Northwest Palace (an unfortunately chaotic system due to its chequered history of exploration; cf. pp. 20–4), a bibliography, a useful general index and an index of text references conclude the volume.
The volume is a fine addition to both OUP's growing portfolio of works on Assyria and empire studies more generally. K. has succeeded admirably in illuminating aspects of the Assyrian state, its kingship and society through close analysis of the palace architecture. K. and the publisher can be congratulated on creating a handsome, accessible and well-presented volume that offers much to specialist audiences but should equally appeal to anyone with a more general interest in the interplay between architecture and society and the material dimension of early empires.
