Ancient Levant, Room 58

Carved images and written messages give rulers different ways to present themselves. The Ancient Levant display shared by Rooms 57, 58 and 59 includes the statue of Idrimi and material from the Amarna correspondence. A royal image and a written appeal preserve different claims to authority. The gallery covers the eastern Mediterranean through 539 BC, including Canaanite, Israelite, Phoenician, Amorite and Aramaean contexts. Begin with a labelled place or period to keep those communities and their changing relationships distinct. Then compare the kinds of evidence that survive from them.