Ishtar Gate

The Ishtar Gate was the eighth gate to the inner city of Babylon. It was constructed c. 569 BC by order of King Nebuchadnezzar II on the north side of the city. It was part of a grand walled processional way leading into the city.

The original structure was a double gate with a smaller frontal gate and a larger and more grandiose secondary posterior section. The walls were finished in glazed bricks mostly in blue, with animals and deities in low relief at intervals. The gate was 15 metres high, and the original foundations extended another 14 metres underground.

German archaeologist Robert Koldewey led the excavation of the site from 1904 to 1914.