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Description
This detail photograph of the Black Obelisk of the Assyrian King Shalmaneser III (858-824 BCE) shows an inscription (at the top, in cuneiform script) that reads, in part, 'The tribute of Jehu (Iaua), son of Omri (Humri); I received from him silver, gold, a golden saplu bowl, a golden vase with pointed bottom, golden tumblers, golden buckets, tin, a staff for a king, and wooden [meaning unknown].' The people below the inscription are servants bringing these precious objects to the king. Though we cannot know if their attire was representative of Israelite dress, it is noteworthy that they, like Jehu, are dressed differently than other people on the obelisk and that their dress was meant to mark them as being Levantines. (Compare them with depictions of Shalmaneser and his court.)