Ishtar Gate, City gate in Hillah, Iraq
The Ishtar Gate is a city gate in Hillah, Iraq, that once stood around 15 meters tall. Built from bright blue glazed bricks, its walls display reliefs of dragons, bulls, and lions arranged in repeating rows.
The German excavation led by Robert Koldewey from 1904 to 1914 unearthed thousands of fragments. After the First World War, the gate was reconstructed at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.
The gate is named after Ishtar, the goddess to whom Nebuchadnezzar II dedicated it. Its reliefs show Marduk's dragon, Adad's aurochs and Ishtar's lions, and during New Year celebrations statues of these deities were paraded through the gate and along the Processional Way.
Visitors can see original fragments at several museums worldwide, while the main reconstruction stands at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin. The museum provides detailed information about the original construction and function of the gate.
The construction relied on specially molded clay bricks pressed into wooden forms, creating seamless connections between the 575 relief decorations. These were arranged in 13 rows and covered the entire facade of the gate.
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