Nick: New page: reconstruction of the Ishtar Gate in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin]] The '''Ishtar Gate '''(ب...

2017-07-08T12:39:55Z

New page: thumb|The [[reconstruction (architecture)|reconstruction of the Ishtar Gate in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin]] The '''Ishtar Gate '''(ب...

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[[image:Ishtar Gate at Berlin Museum.jpg|thumb|The [[reconstruction (architecture)|reconstruction]] of the Ishtar Gate in the
[[Pergamon Museum]] in [[Berlin]]]]
The '''Ishtar Gate '''(بوابة عشتار, دروازه ایشتار) was the eighth gate to the inner city of [[Babylon]]. It was constructed in about 575 BCE by order of King [[Nebuchadnezzar II]] on the north side of the city. It was excavated in the early 20th century and a reconstruction using original bricks is now shown in the [[Pergamon Museum]], [[Berlin]].

==History==
Dedicated to the [[Ancient Semitic religion#Babylonia and Assyria|Babylonian goddess]] [[Ishtar]], the gate was constructed using glazed brick with alternating rows of [[bas-relief]] ''[[mušḫuššu]]'' ([[dragon]]s) and [[aurochs]] (bulls), symbolizing the gods [[Marduk]] and [[Adad]] respectively.

The roof and doors of the gate were of [[Cedrus|cedar]], according to the dedication plaque. The gate was covered in [[lapis lazuli]], a deep-blue semi-precious stone that was revered in antiquity due to its vibrancy. These blue glazed bricks would have given the façade a jewel-like shine. Through the gate ran the Processional Way, which was lined with walls showing about 120 [[lion]]s, bulls, dragons and flowers on enameled yellow and black glazed bricks, symbolizing the goddess Ishtar. The gate itself depicted only gods and goddesses. These included 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 gate, being part of the Walls of Babylon, was considered one of the original [[Seven Wonders of the Ancient World|Seven Wonders of the World]]. It was replaced on that list by the [[Lighthouse of Alexandria]] from the third century BC.

==Excavation and display==
A [[reconstruction (architecture)|reconstruction]] of the Ishtar Gate and Processional Way was built at the [[Pergamon Museum]] in [[Berlin]] out of material excavated by [[Robert Koldewey]] and finished in the 1930s. It includes the inscription plaque. It stands 14 m (46 ft) high and 30 m (100 ft) wide. The excavation ran from 1902 to 1914, and, during that time, 14 m (45 ft) of the foundation of the gate was uncovered.

[[image:Ish-tar Gate detail.jpg|thumb|left|An [[aurochs]] above a flower ribbon; missing tiles are replaced]]

Claudius James Rich, British resident of Baghdad and a self-taught historian, did personal research on Babylon because it intrigued him. Acting as a scholar and collecting field data, he was determined to discover the wonders to the ancient world. C.J. Rich's topographical records of the ruins in Babylon were the first ever published, in 1815. It was reprinted in England no fewer than three times. C.J. Rich and most other 19th century visitors thought a mound in Babylon was a royal palace, and that was eventually confirmed by Robert Koldewey's excavations, who found two palaces of King Nebuchadnezzar and the Ishtar Gate. Robert Koldewey, a successful German excavator, had done previous work for the Royal Museum of Berlin, with his excavations at Surghul (Ancient Nina) and Al-hiba (ancient [[Lagash]]) in 1887. Koldewey's part in Babylon's excavation began in 1899.

The method that the British were comfortable with was excavating tunnels and deep trenches, which was damaging the mud brick architecture of the foundation. Instead, it was suggested that the excavation team focus on tablets and other artefacts rather than pick at the crumbling buildings. Despite the destructive nature of the archaeology used, the recording of data was immensely more thorough than in previous Mesopotamian excavations. Walter Andre, one of Koldewey's many assistants, was an architect and a draftsman, the first at Babylon. His contribution was documentation and reconstruction of Babylon. A small museum was built at the site and Andre was the museums first director.

One of most complex and impressive architectural reconstructions in the history of archaeology, was the rebuilding of Babylon's Ishtar gate and processional way in Berlin. Hundreds of crates of glaze brick fragments were carefully desalinated and then pieced together. Fragments were combined with new bricks baked in a specially designed kiln to re-create the correct color and finish. It was a double gate; the part that is shown in the Pergamon Museum today is the smaller, frontal part. The larger, back part was considered too large to fit into the constraints of the structure of the museum; it is in storage.

[[image:Pergamonmuseum Ishtartor 05.jpg|thumb|Pergamon Museum, Ishtar gate]]

Parts of the gate and lions from the Processional Way are in various other museums around the world. Only four museums acquired dragons, while lions went to several museums. The [[Istanbul Archaeology Museum]] has lions, dragons, and bulls. [[Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek]] in Copenhagen, Denmark, has one lion, one dragon and one bull. The [[Detroit Institute of Arts]] houses a dragon. The [[Röhsska Museum]] in Gothenburg, Sweden, has one dragon and one lion; the [[Louvre]], the [[Staatliche Sammlung für Ägyptische Kunst|State Museum of Egyptian Art]] in Munich, the [[Kunsthistorisches Museum]] in Vienna, the [[Royal Ontario Museum]] in Toronto, the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] in New York, the [[Oriental Institute, Chicago|Oriental Institute]] in Chicago, the [[Rhode Island School of Design Museum]], the [[Museum of Fine Arts, Boston|Museum of Fine Arts]] in Boston, and the [[Yale University Art Gallery]] in New Haven, Connecticut, each have lions. One of the processional lions was recently loaned by Berlin's Vorderasiatisches Museum to the [[British Museum]]

A smaller reproduction of the gate was built in Iraq under [[Saddam Hussein]] as the entrance to a museum that has not been completed. Damage to this reproduction has occurred since the [[Iraq war]] (see [[Babylon#Impact of the US military|Impact of the U.S. military]]).

== Gallery ==
[[image:Ishtar-gate-بوابة-عشتار.jpg|Photo of the remains from the 1930s of the excavation site in [[Babylon]]]]
[[image:Pergamon Museum Berlin 2007109.jpg|Model of the main procession street (''Aj-ibur-shapu'') towards Ishtar Gate]]
[[image:Pergamon Museum Berlin 2007110.jpg|Model of the gate; the double structure is clearly recognisable.]]
[[image:Ishtar Gate Dragon.JPG|Aurochs and dragons from the gate in the [[Istanbul Archaeology Museum]]s]]
[[image:Pergamonmuseum Ishtartor 02.jpg|One of the dragons from the gate]]
[[image:Pergamon Museum Berlin 2007085.jpg|Building inscription of King [[Nebuchadnezzar II]]]]
[[image:Berlín - Pergamon - Porta d'Ishtar - Lleons.JPG|[[Mesopotamian lion]]s and flowers decorated the processional street.]]
[[image:Close-up of Ishtar Gate tiles, Pergamon Museum 3.jpg|Close-up of an auroch from the Ishtar Gate ]]
[[image:Ihstar Gate RB.JPG|The replica Ishtar Gate in Babylon in 2004]]
[[image:Ishtar Gate Babylon Iraq.jpg|The replica Ishtar Gate in Babylon, Iraq in 2011]]

==References==

== External links ==
*[http://www.designmuseum.se/lejon.htm Pictures of lion & dragon at the Röhsska museum, Gothenburg]
*[http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/ishtar-gate-and-processional-way.html Neo-Babylonian Art: Ishtar Gate and Processional Way], [[Smarthistory]]

[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in the 6th century BC]]
[[Category:Babylon]]
[[Category:Gates]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Berlin]]
[[Category:Antikensammlung Berlin]]
[[Category:Nebuchadnezzar II]]
[[Category:Babylonian art and architecture]]
[[Category:Sculpture of the Ancient Near East]]
[[Category:Rebuilt buildings and structures in Berlin]]
[[Category:Tiling]]

Ishtar Gate - Revision history

Nick: New page: reconstruction of the Ishtar Gate in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin]] The '''Ishtar Gate '''(ب...