The Victory Stele of Esarhaddon

This is the victory stele of Esarhaddon.    Esarhaddon was the king of Assyria from 681-669 B.C.  This stele graphically represents the suzerain - vassal relationship.  The large figure is Esarhaddon the suzerain and below him are two vassal kings kneeling before him.  The two kings are Ba'al, the king of Tyre, and Unshunkuru, the crown prince of Egypt.   Until the Assyrians, most covenants were tools of diplomacy meant to prevent war.  The Assyrians were bent on conquest and so most of their covenants were meant to subjugate people they had conquered.  In keeping with this arrangement, the sanction clause of Assyrian covenants contained no blessings and a lot of curses.  You will notice that, Esarhaddon is holding two ropes that hook to rings on the noses of the two crouching kings.