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This paper approaches the ideological content of the seated posture in the ideological constructs of the Mycenaean palatial period (1400–1200 BCE). It approaches the function and “emic” perception of seats, categorized as ‘thrones’ and ‘footstools’ or ‘stools’, through an integrated textual, iconographic and archaeological analysis. We argue that such furniture types were not semantically independent, but parts of a broader apparatus aiming to integrate them with figural imagery placed on them (e.g. certain stools/footstools) or decorating their architectural setting (e.g. the seats in the ‘throne rooms’ of the ceremonial/administrative complexes of Knossos and Pylos). The dynamic, transformative role of the human participants using such furniture is argued to be critical in the formation of a powerful visual message. This approach might illuminate subtle yet highly important facets of the phenomenology and physical embodiment of specific items of palatial furniture.