Assyrian Culture Exhibition

"The King of Assyria: Ashurbanipal" special exhibition is now open at the West Gallery of the Suzhou Museum. This special exhibition, through 149 pieces (sets) of artifacts including reliefs, cuneiform clay tablets, and bronze ornaments, as well as the launch of five series of themed cultural and creative products by the surrounding pop-up stores, leads the audience back to the Mesopotamian plain over 2600 years ago, approaching the powerful Assyrian Empire. This is the third collaboration between the Suzhou Museum and the British Museum, shifting the perspective of world civilization history from the Mediterranean coast to the Tigris-Euphrates river basin. The Assyrian Empire, established in the 7th century BC by the Assyrians in the Tigris-Euphrates river basin, was a great empire that spanned Western Asia and North Africa, with its capital at Nineveh (present-day Iraq). The empire reached its zenith during the reign of King Ashurbanipal. The special exhibition, focusing on the monarch of the Assyrian Empire's heyday—Ashurbanipal, takes the audience to appreciate artifacts full of vitality such as vessels, reliefs, and cuneiform clay tablets, and to experience the splendor of palaces, spectacular sculptures, exotic gardens, and libraries rich in collections. It also allows the audience to understand the Assyrian Empire, which was geographically located along the legendary Euphrates and Tigris rivers, and chronologically concurrent with China's Spring and Autumn period.