Farewell Babylon, Farewell Nineveh

Abstract

Cinema either speaks of Babylonia or Assyria, but never of the territory as a more or less cohesive social or cultural entity. The lavish celebration enhances the moral corruption that leads to divine condemnation, either by the Judeo-Christian God who punishes Babylon, or by the supreme god of Assyria who condemns his population. The fall of Mesopotamia is, in short, an explanation for the success of Judeo-Christianity and Occidentalism. The king's words determinate the eschatological value of the divine message consequently written on the wall. King Sardanapalo goes outside the palace where, under heavy rain, he listens to the divine eschatological omen and asks for forgiveness for the wrongs he has committed. Sardanapalo and Nineveh were victims of a storm sent by their national god because they attacked him and because they symbolized all that was against the precepts fomented by the Western civilization that rose after its fall.