This exhibition of about 200 objects from ancient Mesopotamia has been organised by the British Museum (BM) for Abu Dhabi’s Tourism Development & Investment Company, the first of three planned exhibitions heralding the opening on Saadiyat Island of the Zayed National Museum, due to be completed by 2014.

Nigel Tallis, the curator of later Mesopotamia at the BM, said that it will be the first large archaeological exhibition to be held in the area.

Rare objects, including items from Babylon, and a stone statue of King Ashurnasirpal II from Nimrud would not normally leave the London museum.

Many of the objects excavated in the 19th century were “key to the founding of the study of ancient and near eastern history,” said Tallis.

The exhibition is held at Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, UAE, until June 27, 2011.

Source: The Art Newspaper [June 01, 2011]