2. • The Ishtar Gate (605-562 B.C) originated as one of eight processional gateways of
the great city of the Babylon. Constructing of mud – brick masonry with a glazed
exterior, the fortified wall demonstrates a dual function and represents both
represents architectural and expressive design, functioning of a defensive military
“earthwork” and also as a religious and civic symbol of pride and grandeur. The blue
glazed tiles of the edifice with rows of bas- relief carving in animal form which are
symbolic emblems of religious significance.
3. • The gate stands 47 feet high and is 100 feet wide; more precisely Gate is a double-
gate with the roof and doors originally constructed out of cedar. The Ishtar Gate
held special significance alongside the other city-gate.
• The famous double walls were gate corresponding to the double wall with an arched
doorway and projecting towers. The façade and the passage were decorated with
symbolic emblems of the city’s patron- god Marduk, fashioned of especially molded,
colorful glazed bricks set off against a deep blue background (now in the Berlin
Museum).
4. • No artist or group of artist is credited with the design or construction of the Ishtar
Gate; however, the intention of expression by the anonymous architect and
craftsman who collaborated on the Gate is nonetheless evident he scope, precise
design, harmony, and overall aesthetic impact of the Ishtar Gate. No doubt, even the
once magnificent Gate startled contemporary viewers as much as those who look
back from the future; it was once considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World,
and retained its aesthetic glory even post- excavation: “The imposing ruins of the
Gate, built by Nebuchadnezzar show why the Babylonians basted od their building
accomplishments and why their city was called “Babylon the Great”
5. • The design and the form of the Gate is intended to inspire awe and majesty. The huge surface area
where the Bas- relief and glazed tiles tower down in splined color are meant to convey a sense of
civic pride and religious protection to the citizens of Babylon and to inspired fear and trepidation to
possible invaders. An interesting symbolic connotation is conveyed through the multiple dualities
inherent in the form of the Gate. To begin with, the Gate has two sides and symbolically the bas
relief and the inscriptions on the wall convey a dual purpose: to still civic pride and glory upon the
citizens whom the wall was built to protect and to warm possible hostiles of consequences. The
scope of the Gate alone its breath and height is enough to suggest opulence and strong fortification;
however, the Ishtar Gate as the Grand Processional Gate, conveyed the essence of the city in a
single monument. The Gate complimented and completed a huge,” five- storied ziggurat, 20 which
rose approximately 300 feet height and which some scholars have connected with the Tower of
Babel described in the Old Testament in the Book of Genesis. The Ishtar Gate was erected on the
processional way that led to the enclosure of the place and ziggurat.”
6. • In additional to its functional uses, the Gate’s design and decorative motifs an incisive
glimpse into Babylonian aesthetic. When one considers the exception craftsmanship and
great technical precision that went into crating the nuanced details of the Gate, it is easy
to comprehend that a unity of community led to the construction of such an imposing
and richly design artifice: the splendid architecture of the Street of Procession s where
walls of the palaces, the gates and the bases of the battlemented walls of the
processional way, with their towering buttresses at intervals, were adorned with bricks
relief enameled in brilliant colors There were friezes representing pacing lions, in
decorative series, while the doorways were guarded by bulls and fabulous beasts set one
above another. “4 As of eight Gates to the fabled city of Babylon, the Ishtar Gate stood as
the Crown Jewel of the city and the most singly expressive monument to Babylonian
civic pride and artistic achievement.”
7. • Gwendolyn Leick, A dictionary of Ancient Near Eastern Architecture
(London:Routledge, 1988)26.
• J.A. Thompson, the Bible and archaeology, 3rd Rev. ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: William
B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1982).
• Linnea H. Wren, and Janine M. Carter, eds., Perspectives on Western Art, Vol. 1
(New York: Harper & Row, 1987)15.
• Frederick A. Praeger, Praeger Picture Encyclopedia of Art: A Comprehensive Survey
of Painting, Sculpture, Architecture and Crafts, Their Methods, Styles and Technical
Terms, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day (New York: F.A Praeger,
1958)133.
