The Hammurabi Code monument was quietly standing in a museum in Sunshine City

Code of Hammurabi Stele standing tall at the museum — Monument to the Code of Hammurabi in Ancient Orient Museum

Japan and the ancient Orient don't seem to have a very close relationship, but in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, there is the aptly named the Ancient Orient Museum. I'm not sure why there is a museum about the ancient Orient in Tokyo, the Far East. Anyway, as a lover of the Middle East, I headed for Sunshine City where the museum was located. I haven't traveled around the Middle East for a long time. I'd be happy to get a feel for the Middle East here.

The Ancient Orient, in a nutshell, covers a wide range both geographically and chronologically. Geographically, it includes ancient Egypt, ancient Mesopotamia, ancient Persia, and a wide area from what is now called Egypt to Afghanistan. In terms of period, it covers from the 4th millennium B.C., when Sumer was rising, to the 4th century B.C., when Alexander the Great was conducting his eastern expedition.

The museum, with its wide geographical and historical coverage, had a wide range of exhibits from different periods and places. There were Paleolithic hand axe, ancient Egyptian amulets, and a mummy coffin. I was particularly fascinated by the Code of Hammurabi stele. It is a life-size replica of the one in the Louvre in Paris, but the towering black mass in the museum looked like a monolith that had suddenly appeared in the middle of Tokyo.

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