What did it mean to be the king of the world 3,000 years ago?

Join us on this virtual tour of the British Museum’s Assyrian gallery of Ashurnasirpal given by an ex-British Museum guide. We’ll be using walk-through images of the gallery to really bring it to life.

Learn about the Assyrians, with their heartland in northern Mesopotamia, who once dominated the known world and created the first proper empire.

One of the Assyrian kings, Ashurnasirpal II, controlled a huge empire, made laws, managed the religion and he was also a warrior king, leading armoured battering rams and sophisticated amphibious assaults.

And then he’d relax in an expansive palace of colourful friezes guarded by supernatural creatures. (He also fought lions in a his spare time.)

NB: Please note, this virtual tour is not an official tour of the British Museum.

About this virtual tour:

45 -50 minutes

Via Zoom app and we’ll email you the password on the morning of the tour

£7 per person or

£10 per family (family can be in two locations on 2 devices so you can buy for a family member who doesn't live with you)

How to join the virtual tour:

We’ll email you full details of the Zoom meeting link, password and Meeting ID on the morning of the tour.

Five minutes before start time, click on the link we send you or log in via the Zoom app and then sit back and enjoy the tour.

Please put your microphone on mute, but you will be able to unmute and ask questions at the end of every stop.

There is also a ‘chat’ feature on Zoom that enables you to write your questions in live time to the tour guide.

Who's the tour guide?


Loona Hazarika of Let's Discover London was trained by the British Museum to give the official tours of the Japanese and Assyrian galleries from 2006 to 2010. He has guided hundreds of people around his birthplace London and has appeared on the TV series Urban Secrets and BBC TV’s Hairy Builder. He holds an MA degree from the University of Cambridge.


To see a list of dates for our other tours please see our calendar.