Attending a performance of Verdi’s opera Nabucco in Tel Aviv last month I was struck by the apparent reference to contemporary developments. The opera, which was written in 1841, is loosely based on events described in the Bible (2 Kings, Jeremiah, Lamentations, and Daniel) recounting the conquest of the ancient Jewish capital, Jerusalem, and the kingdom of Judea by Nebuchadnezzer, king of Babylon, followed by the deportation of its Jewish population into slavery in Babylon. Alongside largely invented dramatic events in the opera which involve power struggles and love interest, the theme of the exile and enslavement of the Jewish population plays a major dramatic role.

Babylon was one of the most celebrated and influential cities of the ancient world. Located on the Euphrates River in modern-day Iraq, it served as........

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