# *L’Eau primordiale. Leçons de Mésopotamie*

Group exhibition · May 20, 2026 – Mar 15, 2027 · on view · Richelieu wing, room 230, and the Near Eastern Antiquities galleries

Antiquities from the Louvre’s own Near Eastern collection, read for what ancient Mesopotamia’s first canals and irrigation can teach about water today.

Set in room 230 of the Richelieu wing and running through the Near Eastern Antiquities galleries, the show draws only on the Louvre’s holdings. Mesopotamia, crossed by the Tigris and Euphrates and a likely source of the flood myth, is where irrigation was first developed, with the earliest known canals, bridges, aqueducts and artificial lakes.

It weighs the long-term gains and harms those works brought to the land and its people. Curated by Ariane Thomas, director of the department, with Barbara Couturaud and Grégoire Nicolet.

Full details: [louvre.fr](https://www.louvre.fr/expositions-et-evenements/expositions/l-eau-primordiale-0)

## At [Musée du Louvre](https://onview.so/paris/musee-du-louvre.md)

Museum in Louvre, Paris.

- Address: Rue de Rivoli, Paris, 75001
- Hours: Wed–Mon 9–6, Wed and Fri until 9
- Website: https://www.louvre.fr
- Directions: <https://www.google.com/maps/dir/?api=1&destination=Mus%C3%A9e%20du%20Louvre%2C%20Rue%20de%20Rivoli%2C%20Paris%2C%2075001>
- On the map: https://onview.so/paris/map/musee-du-louvre

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On View's listing, as of Wednesday, October 14, 2026. This page: https://onview.so/paris/musee-du-louvre/leau-primordiale-lecons-de-mesopotamie. Every gallery and museum in Paris: https://onview.so/paris.md. All of On View: https://onview.so/llms.txt