Ishtar Gate

Introduction

The Ishtar Gate - one of the gates of Babylon - and the procession route of Nebuchadnezzar II was built in (605-562 BC). Babylon was the capital of Babylonia and was on the Euphrates in what is now central Iraq. The Ishtar Gate was in Babylon at the end of a walled street procession, which was originally 20 to 24 meters wide and had a length of 250 meters. This procession road was constructed by the Babylonians used each year for the New Year festival in the spring. The wall, which was mostly covered with blue glazed tiles, was decorated with animal figures, as they were also at the Ishtar Gate itself. The gate guarded access to a 90 m high ziggurat, which was crowned by a shrine of Marduk. (Bradford, 47)

In ancient Babylon, the locals called themselves "Babili" ("Gate of God"). The Greeks transformed the name of "Babylon" and the Greek version of the name has now become more common (though Iraqis still write and pronounce the "Babylon"). Babylon occupies a vast territory; there are 20 square meters with the external walls of 18 km. Within this territory it has its own city, occupying both banks of the Euphrates River and, in turn, fortified walls. Strengthening consisted of a deep ditch filled with water which connects to the Euphrates, and the walls built of mud and brick, a thickness of about 30m every 20m were constructed towers. The city was divided into two parts. The left bank of a more ancient and further strengthened the fortress wall that ran along the Euphrates. The right-bank part of the (more recent origin) took a somewhat smaller area and, obviously, was of secondary importance. Both parts of the inner city bridge (length up to 123 meters), one of them had a lifting span. (Chisholm, 70)

Development

In Babylon, the Ishtar Gate led eight gates and all the gates after the names of various gods. The entry in to the gate was protected by a citadel with four massive towers and arched passageways between them. The towers were faced with glazed pottery with blue ornaments and frightening images of lions, bulls, fantastic monsters. Gates of Ishtar, the goddess - beautiful work of Babylonian art, only the eight city gates, which were covered with expensive glaze brick and reliefs. Gates of Ishtar personifies the idea of the Babylonians of the strength and power of the city and state. The goddess Ishtar was the goddess of blossoming of nature, love, fertility and beauty. It is usually depicted as a beautiful woman whose body overgrown with delicate green shoots. Ishtar was the principal goddess of the Babylonian pantheon. She was identified with the planet Venus. (Kim, 09)

Special celebrations in Babylon were considered a meeting of the New Year. New Year holiday began in March, since the Babylonians followed the lunar calendar, and lasted for more than 10 days. Beginning the noted religious ceremonies that took place in the temple of Marduk and the ziggurat towers Etemenanki where ...