Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
• On the opposite wall, a few steps farther along, is an artist's rendering of what the palace
would have looked like.
Plaque of the Northwest Palace and Symbolic Scene Panel
The plaque shows the king at the far end of the throne room, shaded by a parasol and
flanked by winged lions. (In the diagram of the palace's floor plan, the throne room is
Room B.) The 30,000-square-foot palace was built atop a 50-acre artificial mound. The
new palace was inaugurated with a 10-day banquet (according to an inscription), where
the king picked up the tab for 69,574 of his closest friends.
The relief panel (immediately to the right) labeled
Symbolic Scene
stood behind the
throne. It shows the king (and his double) tending the tree of life while reaching up to re-
ceive the ring of kingship from the winged sun god.
