Ishtar Gate

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Lore & Background

King Nebuchadnezzar II reigned 604–562 BC, the peak of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. He is known as the biblical conqueror who captured Jerusalem. He ordered the construction of the gate and dedicated it to the Babylonian goddess Ishtar. The gate was constructed using glazed brick with alternating rows of bas-relief mušḫuššu (dragons), aurochs (bulls), and lions, symbolizing the gods Marduk, Adad, and Ishtar respectively. The roof and doors of the gate were made of cedar, according to the dedication plaque. The bricks in the gate were covered in a blue glaze meant to represent lapis lazuli. Through the gate ran the Processional Way, which was lined with walls showing about 120 lions, bulls, dragons, and flowers on yellow and black glazed bricks, symbolizing the goddess Ishtar. The gate itself depicted only gods and goddesses, including Ishtar, Adad, and Marduk. During celebrations of the New Year, statues of the deities were paraded through the gate and down the Processional Way. The inscription of the Ishtar Gate, written in Akkadian cuneiform in white and blue glazed bricks, was a dedication by Nebuchadnezzar to explain the gate's purpose. On the wall of the Ishtar Gate, the inscription is 15 meters tall by 10 meters wide and includes 60 lines of writing. The inscription was created around the same time as the gate's construction, around 605–562 BC.

Reader's Guide

The Ishtar Gate is significant as a monumental example of Neo-Babylonian architecture and religious devotion. It was the ceremonial entrance for the New Year's procession, during which statues of deities were paraded through the gate and down the Processional Way. The gate's construction using glazed bricks to imitate lapis lazuli reflects the high value placed on that stone in antiquity. The gate's design incorporated symbols of the major Babylonian gods: Marduk (dragon), Adad (aurochs), and Ishtar (lion). The gate was excavated by German archaeologist Robert Koldewey from 1904 to 1914, and after the end of the First World War in 1918, the smaller frontal gate was reconstructed in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin. Other panels from the façade of the gate are located in many other museums around the world. Replicas or evocations of the gate appear on the façades of Iraqi embassies in Beijing, Amman, and Islamabad. The gate's inscription, written in Akkadian cuneiform on glazed bricks, explains its purpose as a dedication by Nebuchadnezzar. The gate remains a key artifact for understanding Babylonian religion, art, and urban planning.

Did You Know?

• The Ishtar Gate was the eighth gate to the inner city wall of Babylon.
• The gate was 15 metres high, and the original foundations extended another 14 metres underground.
• The bricks were covered in a blue glaze meant to represent lapis lazuli, a deep-blue semi-precious stone.
• The Processional Way was lined with walls showing about 120 lions, bulls, dragons, and flowers on yellow and black glazed bricks.
• The inscription on the Ishtar Gate is 15 meters tall by 10 meters wide and includes 60 lines of writing.