Ishtar Gate

 

Ishtar Gate was the 8th gate to the inner city of Babylon.

Constructed in 569 BC by order of King Nebuchadnezzar on the north side of the city.

It was part of a grand walled processional way leading into the city.

ORIGINAL STRUCTURE

• a double gate with a smaller frontal gate and a larger more grand secondary section.
• Walls were finished in glazed bricks mostly in blue, with animals and deities on them
• German archaeologist Robert Koldewey led excavation of site from 1904 to 1914 
• After WW1 the smaller frontal gate was reconstructed in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin
• Other panels from the gate are located in many other museums around the world

One of the mushussi dragons from the gate.

HISTORY

• King Nebuchadnezzar ordered the construction of the gate and dedicated it to the Babylonian goddess Ishtar
• Made of glazed brick with rows of dragons, bulls, lions- symbolizing the gods Marduk, Adad and Ishtar.

OTHER

• Nebuchadnezzar inscription - honor to the gods
• Iraq has petitioned German government to return the gate many times - but to no avail.  Debate is an article of such cultural significance is better off in a safer environment than in a country affected by so much war (Iraq).
• It is used as a prime example in debate of cultural significance 

The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) has a serpent-dragon panel from the Ishtar Gate of Babylon in its collection:

The panel is a celebrated symbol of Iraqi cultural heritage and one of the DIA's most prized works. It features a Mushhushshu dragon, a protective animal figure that was associated with Marduk, the patron god of Babylon. The Mushhushshu is a divine creature with the head and scales of a snake, the claws of an eagle, the legs of a lion, and a tail ending in a scorpion's stinger