Aside from being huge, the British Museum had a lot of impressive exhibits. I think the Assyrian Gallery was one of them. Who doesn’t like an impressive statue or two?

Or three?

Not having studied ancient history at school, all I know about the Assyrians were that they were an ancient civilisation in what is now northern Iraq, and was mentioned in the Bible a lot.

But when you look closely at the wall above, see the intricate stone carving and inscribed texts, you realise that they must be a civilisation to be reckoned with.

The Ancient Greeks and Egyptians might get more attention, but in many ways, the works by the Assyrians were finer.

One might have reservations about all of these panels being ‘collected’ and shown so far away from home, but these works of art probably would not have survived if they had remained in Iraq, given the number of conflicts in the region over the last 100 years.