Exhibition exposes modern tragedy of Babylon

A fascinating exhibition exploring the history, legends and art of Babylon is now in Paris and will be moving on to Berlin and London.
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The three exhibitions are not uniformly the same. Berlin will have the most exhibits (about 800) and London the fewest (104); Paris has 466. The British Museum does not currently have space for a big travelling show (it had to seek special permission from English Heritage to use the old Reading Room for the recent exhibition from China). Irving Finkel, assistant keeper in the museum's Near East Department, says the London show is designed to convince the audience that Babylon was a real place, a "most lavish and grandiose affair".

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For more than 2,000 years the city of Babylon has been a byword for depravity and hubris. The Old Testament depicts it as an evil city and the legend of the Tower of Babel, a symbol of human arrogance, began there.
Now, the British Museum is to give new currency to Babylon's legends with a major exhibition including details of how American and coalition troops have wrecked priceless archaeological remains in the ancient city during the occupation of Iraq.