YEREVAN (Armenpress) — The “I Am Ashurbanipal, King Of The World, King Of Assyria” exhibition will open at London’s British Museum November 8 and will run through February 24, 2019.
The Culture Ministry of Armenia announced that the exhibition will feature 200 exhibits: 120 from the British Museum collection and 80 from the history museums of Armenia, France, Germany, St. Petersburg, Vatican and Italy.
The History Museum of Armenia will be represented at the exhibition will 10 unique Urartu-era artifacts, which, according to British Museum experts and curator of the exhibition Garret Brereton, have exclusive importance for the exhibition in terms of the arts and culture of Assyria, Western Iran and Hittite states.
Ashurbanipal was king of the Neo-Assyrian empire. At the time of his reign (669–c. 631 BC) it was the largest empire in the world, stretching from Cyprus in the west to Iran in the east, and at one point it even included Egypt. Its capital Nineveh (in modern-day Iraq) was the world’s largest city. This is at a time when the Greek city-states (like Athens and Sparta) were still in their infancy and Rome was just a small settlement.
Ashurbanipal wasn’t modest about being the king of the Assyrian empire – he called himself the “king of the world.”
