Image Details

Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY

A BANQUET AFTER BATTLE. This 13th–12th-century B.C.E. incised ivory panel from Megiddo features the ruler seated on a sphinx throne, raising a cup and holding a flower, typical icons of Near Eastern tradition that represent the king’s return from battle and celebration at the victory banquet. The princess before the seated king touches the stem of the lotus blossom. On the right the king returns from battle in his horse-drawn chariot. Two naked, bound captives precede the king’s horses.