Babylon: myth and reality

On Friday evening, Ian and I went to the British Museum to see the exhibition 'Babylon :Myth and Reality' . Not a huge exhibition but a gem ( Guardian review here) with its combination of artifacts and various artistic interpretations of the myths surrounding the place. The glazed ceramic panels from the Ishtar gate (built for Nebuchadnezzar) were very impressive. We bought the last embroidered velvet Xmas ornament based on the lions - they'd unfortunately sold out of the 'Mushhushshu' dragons which were rather endearing in their strange amalgam of snake, eagle, and lion with horns.

It was interesting to see how powerful an idea the Tower of Babel has been in artwork from Brueghel onwards - there were several contemporary pieces. I particularly liked the collage work of Anne Desmet , painstakingly built up from multiple prints ( she's lecturing at the BM in January). I remembered to look up Angie Hughes construction too when I got home, she told us about it at the CQ Summer School last year.

There was a model in the exhibition of the Ziggurat from which the myth of the Tower probably evolved. This reminded us of our trip to Syria but I'm afraid more for the Ziggurats of Pastries in Hama rather than the scant remains we saw near the Iraqi border.Well, they were delicious!