Commissioned around 575 BC by the Neo-Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II, the Ishtar Gate was the eighth gate of the inner wall of Babylon and the culmination of the Processional Way. Its deep cobalt-blue glazed bricks are set with relief images of the dragon-like sirrush of Marduk, lions sacred to Ishtar, and bulls associated with Adad — a triple dedication of royal power to the city's chief deities. Excavated by Robert Koldewey's German mission between 1899 and 1917 and painstakingly reassembled in Berlin's Pergamon Museum, the 14-metre-high reconstruction is one of the most spectacular displays in any museum of ancient Near Eastern art.

Exhibition Venue

Pergamon Museum

Bezirk Mitte, Germany

Related Stories

베를린, 고대 바빌론의 문이 열리는 곳

Visit the Pergamon Museum on Berlin Museum Island.