Gate of Ishtar

Gate Of Ishtar Throughout history, art has always been the highlight of mankind. Art has been writing history before language has been created. Our art has written history, or even protected us, the Gate of Ishtar did its purpose by doing so. A wonderful, and very artistic wall built through art, this gate was dedicated to the Babylonian goddess, Ishtar The Gate of Ishtar was one of the greatest, and monumental architectural treasure ever constructed during the Neo-Babylonian and Persian period. It was even considered one of the seven wonders in the world. The history behind this gate is very rich and popular. It was built during the time of Nebuchadnezzar II, who ordered the building of this gate. The time of this finished its construction was around 575 BCE. According to where the gate was located, it guarded the northern part of Babylon, running through the Processional Way. During the time, the gate was an absolute phenomenon. It ran approximately 40 feet high and 30 feet width, it also had a double arch gate. The reason behind the double arch gate was for it to be spaced by an interior passage. The masonry during the time of construction of the gate was very advanced, but not long lasting. The gate consisted of mud bricks, since the whole city of Babylon used mud bricks. Covering the mud bricks were blue glazed led, or copper, that gave the bricks an illuminating dark blue color. During that time, they used this process for all the important monuments in Babylon. On the gate there is a description, ordered by Nebuchadnezzar himself, which stated his feelings toward the gate, and the description of what the gate was made of. He also built his palace a few meters away from the gate itself. Throughout the gate, every brick was sought out and hand crafted one by one. Doing so, anyone who experiences the gate first hand can tell the marksmanship of each brick. The brickwork is decorated and inlayed by yellow colors creating lions, which run throughout