Metal survived after wood disappeared

This embossed and engraved bronze band belonged to the gates associated with Shalmaneser III at Balawat. Decorative rosettes surround the nail positions that once attached it to wood. The upper register shows tribute connected with Tyre and Sidon; the lower register represents the capture of Hazazu. The museum’s record distinguishes the date assigned to the band from the earlier events selected for its imagery. Rm.1041 identifies this particular piece within a much larger gate assemblage.[1][2]

A moving surface with ordered scenes

A gate band was not originally an isolated picture hanging on a museum wall. It was fixed to a door and encountered with the doorway’s height, movement and other bands. The British Museum’s account explains that the ancient wooden supports did not survive. Their disappearance is one reason to distinguish surviving metal from a modern reconstruction of the complete gates. The controlled sequence of tribute and conquest served royal display, rather than recording every view of the campaigns.[2]

Keep rulers and gate groups separate

Balawat yielded material associated with more than one ruler, so a photograph labelled only ‘Balawat gates’ is insufficient for a precise caption. Start with BM 124661 or Rm.1041, then compare its double register with the catalogue description. The date of a represented campaign should not silently replace the date assigned to the metalwork. Equally, the bronze’s present location does not locate the coastal cities depicted upon it. This object is particularly useful for learning how archaeological place, narrated place and modern collection place can all occur in one historical account without being interchangeable.[1]

Sources for this object

  1. The British Museum. Door-fitting, BM 124661 / Rm.1041.

    Exact band, bronze, date, findspot and Tyre/Sidon/Hazazu scenes. Direct automated fetch sometimes returns 403; catalogue text was available through the indexed institutional record.

  2. British Museum, via Google Arts & Culture. Bronze band from the gates of the palace of Shalmaneser III.

    Museum account of wooden gate supports, surviving bands, scene chronology and registration Rm.1041.