Cour Khorsabad

Paris, France (Jun 20, 2004)

The last image of the year. I thought it fit to post an old photo I shot at the Museum of Louvre some time ago in the Near Eastern antiquities section, dedicated to the art from ancient Mesopotamia. We now call this region Iraq, the place where our civilization was born, where writing was invented (what made history begin), where the wheel was used for the first time, where three great religions place the home of their forefathers. The giant statues in the photo came from Khorsabad, 20 km north of Mosul, a very short lived capital of ancient Assyria.

As we enter into a new year, I like to be reminded of the continuity of history. The new year will bring new wonders and new tragedies, but it is just another chapter of the very long story of humanity. We marvel at the prodigies of our technology, but at the same time we remain breathless in front of these giant statues, looking at us through the chasm of more than 27 centuries.

Happy new year.