Nimrud. Nineveh. Babylon. Eridu. Ur. Names remembered from the Arabian Nights or wet autumn afternoons wandering through the winged, hoofed and bearded wonders of ancient Assyria, Sumeria and Babylon in the British Museum. Or even from exotically-set detective stories by Agatha Christie. Murder on the Orient Express. Appointment with Death. They came to Baghdad.
These legendary Mesopotamian cities would be natural tourist magnets today if they weren't in Saddam's Iraq. The Foreign Office advises against all travel there, and it remains, as far as western nationals are concerned, the haunt of diplomats, journalists, aid workers, certain business executives and the occasional expert archaeologist.
Now, courtesy of the British Museum's colourful and episodic exhibition, Agatha Christie and Archaeology: Mystery in Mesopotamia, you can set out, from a nicely imagined Victoria station, c1928, on a vicarious and pleasurable journey to experience the treasures of this forbidden land. The BM has performed a neat balancing act. This is a show that will bring new visitors to the museum as well as those who have passed it by for too long. It also brings the artefacts of Sumerian, Babylonian and Assyrian civilisations to sparkling, engimatic life. These are seen as if for the first time through the eyes of Agatha Christie who, while writing her hugely popular whodunnits, accompanied her second husband, Max Mallowan, the distinguished archaeologist, on digs throughout Iraq between 1930 and 1958.
Christie made herself more than useful on these expeditions, taking photographs and later making films that prove to be unexpected historical treasures. She fell completely in love with Iraq, its people as well as its ancient cultures. This exhibition makes it easy to see why.
From the start, it captures the sense of promise and occasion of a great journey from cloudy London to cloudless Mesopotamia. Standing between enchanting posters advertising the Simplon-Orient Express, we watch a film of the train leaving Victoria, all cut-glass, fresh flowers and starched white tablecloths on its way to Dover. Spoken excerpts from Agatha Christie's diaries strike exactly the right note. The only jarring moment is when the Dover-bound train passes the southbound Flying Scotsman hurrying towards King's Cross. An unresolved mystery, perhaps. Is there something sinister afoot? Why has the Orient Express been diverted via some devious route on to the East Coast mainline? One for Hercule Poirot.
But, on Mrs Mallowan goes, over a gloriously choppy Channel to Calais, and so down by deep blue Wagons-Lits to Istanbul, the Pera Palace Hotel, over the Bosphorus, on board the Taurus Express and so east to Baghdad.
Here we meet objects from the BM's great collection of Mesopotamian artefacts, interspersed with notebooks, films, photographs and documents of all kinds. This is as much a story of the history of archaeology and travel to the Middle East as it is of Mesopotamian cultures and the settings of Christie thrillers. Christie's fictional detective, Poirot, made the connection between criminology and archaeology (both require a lot of digging for certain facts), while Christie liked to say of her relationship with her husband that "one of the pleasures of being married to an archaeologist is that the older you become, the more interesting you are to him."
Christie was clearly a very interesting woman. She loved the fact that her books sold in great numbers, but shied away from all forms of celebrity. Mesopotamia was a happy escape. Quite how happy, it is easy to see in the films and photographs on show at the BM. There is, though, something infinitely sad in the fact that the ziggurats of Nimrud and Nineveh, Babylon and Ur are out of bounds today. Looking at Christie's colour shots of the mighty remains of Nimrud set in a sea of spring flowers - wild tulips, irises, anemones and poppies - with the snow-capped mountains of Kurdistan as a backdrop, is enough to make you want the Middle East to sort itself out in time for next year's holiday. Or even to read an Agatha Christie story for the first time.
Agatha Christie and Archaeology: Mystery in Mesopotamia is at the British Museum, Great Russell Street, London WC1 (020-7323 8000) until March 24. Adults £7, concessions £3.50, children under 11 free.