I am Ashurbanipal

...The Museum, Bloomsbury

...'If I say this exhibition about the last great king of Assyria is largely the product of artefacts brought up from the museum basement, this doesn’t in the least detract from its extraordinary quality.

About a decade ago, the museum's downstairs Assyrian gallery closed to the general public for “access” reasons and this is the first time since then that its remarkable pieces have been brought together, with some loans from other museums. Ashurbanipal, king of the world, ruled an empire in seventh century BC that stretched from Egypt to Iran, with its heartland in Ninevah — the city that Jonah was sent to, before the unfortunate episode with the whale — in modern Iraq. And what a display it makes.'
Melanie McDonagh, Evening Standard