Ancient Mesopotamian Civilisation and its Heritage in Modern Iraq. Perceptions and Modern Representations

The paper questions how Iraq, an Arab country with a long-standing historical tradition of different cultures, perceives itself. Building on Assmann’s notions of collective and cultural memory (1992), the authors show how modern Iraqi art and literature have used history to forge a national identity that conceives of Iraq as the direct and natural heir of ancient Mesopotamian civilizations.