Skip to main content

Primary sourceArtifactc. 574 BC

Ishtar Gate

c. 574 BC

A monumental glazed-brick gate built by Nebuchadnezzar II as part of his rebuilding of Babylon, decorated with dragons, bulls and lions.

Nebuchadnezzar commissioned this gate as part of his rebuilding of Babylon, with his own dedicatory inscription on it.

Ask Nebuchadnezzar II about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Reconstructed blue glazed-brick gate with rows of raised golden animals, including lions and bulls, on its walls and a tall arched passage in the center. Visitors stand in a museum hall in front of the gate, and a few people walk along the right side.
Ishtar Gate, commissioned by Nebuchadnezzar II, c. 574 BC. Reconstructed in the Pergamon Museum, Berlin.

About this source

What it is

The Ishtar Gate was one of the gates into the inner city wall of Babylon, built by order of King Nebuchadnezzar II around the 6th century BC. Its walls were covered in blue glazed bricks decorated with rows of animals in relief. German archaeologists excavated it in the early 1900s, and the smaller front gate was later rebuilt in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, where it stands today.

Why it matters

The gate shows how Nebuchadnezzar used architecture to display his power and piety. It was dedicated to the goddess Ishtar, and its animal reliefs symbolised the gods Marduk, Adad and Ishtar. It is the most spectacular physical evidence of his rebuilding of Babylon into an imperial capital.

Look closer

  • What do the materials and colours tell you about what the Babylonians valued?
  • Why might a king want his gate covered in images of gods rather than himself?
  • How much of what you see is original, and how much is modern reconstruction?

This artifact is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Nebuchadnezzar II on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Nebuchadnezzar II sources

Meet the AI Nebuchadnezzar II →
Photo of a reddish-brown clay tablet covered in rows of cuneiform wedge-shaped writing, displayed on small clear plastic stands against a pale background. The tablet is broken into several pieces.Document

Primary source

Nebuchadnezzar Chronicle

Babylonian scribes · c. 550-400 BC (recording events of 605-594 BC)

A reddish-brown clay tablet, broken and irregular in outline, covered with rows of cuneiform wedge-shaped script. It rests on a clear acrylic display stand in a museum case against a pale wall.Document

Primary source

Jehoiachin's Rations Tablets

Babylonian palace scribes · c. 592 BC

A large rectangular pale stone block covered in dense rows of cuneiform wedge-shaped script, arranged in vertical columns, photographed head-on against a grey wall and a light-colored display surface.Document

Primary source

East India House Inscription

Nebuchadnezzar II (scribes writing for him) · 604-562 BC

A folio from a medieval illuminated Hebrew Bible manuscript on aged vellum, page numbered 240 at top left. Hebrew text in two columns with a gold and blue hexagram-style decorative frame, pink and blue floral and leaf motifs, a red ornamental vine border on the left, and a small drawn rooster-like bird figure at right.Book

Primary source

Book of Jeremiah

Jeremiah · c. 6th century BC (text); manuscript illuminated later

A handwritten Hebrew scroll unrolled between two wooden rollers on stands, with columns of black Hebrew script on cream parchment. A gold-lettered sign reading דניאל (Daniel) sits on a maroon cloth in front.Book

Secondary source

Book of Daniel

c. 200 BC

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Nebuchadnezzar II now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions