Ishtar Gate - Biblical Archaeology Encyclopedia

Overview

The Ishtar Gate was the main northern gate of Nebuchadnezzar II's Babylon, a double gateway through the city's inner walls at the end of the Procession Street. Koldewey excavated it in 1902 and called it 'the largest and most striking ruin of Babylon', its walls still standing 12 metres high.

Its walls carried rows of bulls and dragons (the sirrush, Marduk's animal) in moulded brick relief - first unglazed, then in flat and relief glazed brick as the road level was repeatedly raised. The famous striding lions belong to the walls of the Procession Street leading to the gate, not to the gate itself. A limestone block found between the two doorways bears Nebuchadnezzar's consecration text for the gate.

German excavators shipped glazed-brick fragments to Berlin under the 1903 and 1926 find divisions; conservators reassembled 72 animal reliefs and the front gate, shown in the Pergamonmuseum from 1930. The Berlin building is under renovation: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin say the South Wing closed on 23 October 2023, the museum partly reopens on 4 June 2027, and the Vorderasiatisches Museum's full collection returns with the South Wing, expected in 2037.

In its own words

(Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, son of) Nabopolassar (King of Babylon am I). The gate of Nana (Ishtar... I built) with (blue) enamelled bricks . . . for Marduk my lord. Lusty bulls of bronze and mighty figures of serpents I placed at their thresholdsConsecration inscription of the Ishtar Gate, trans. L. Messerschmidt, in R. Koldewey, The Excavations at Babylon (1914), p. 45

What the evidence shows

Double gateway: two doorways one behind the other joined into one block, through the paired inner walls (Imgur-Bel and Nimitti-Bel) (Koldewey 1914, pp. 32-34).
Decoration: alternating horizontal rows of bulls and sirrush dragons; each animal 13 courses high, repeating every 24 courses (c. 2 m); 9 rows visible from top to bottom (Koldewey 1914, pp. 39-41).
The road level was raised at least twice; traces of successive pavements between the animal rows (Koldewey 1914, p. 42).
Consecration inscription on a limestone block found between the two doorways at the level of the topmost pavement (Koldewey 1914, p. 45).
Lions in glazed relief lined the defensive walls of the Procession Street approaching the gate (Koldewey 1914, p. 26).
Nebuchadnezzar's East India House Inscription describes rebuilding the gates of Imgur-Bel and Nimitti-Bel with burnt brick and 'brilliant stones on which bulls and serpents were engraved' and placing bronze bulls and upright serpents at their thresholds (Langdon 1905, p. 131).
Archaeomagnetic intensity from five brick specimens across three phases: 136 +/- 2.1 ZAm2, best fit 569 BCE on the Levantine curve; significantly different from the value for the 586 BCE Jerusalem destruction layer (148.9 +/- 3.9 ZAm2) (Di Chiara et al. 2024).
Berlin reconstruction built from fragments allotted in the 1903 (Istanbul) and 1926 (Baghdad) find divisions; 72 animal reliefs assembled in two years; displayed from 1930 (SMB).

Open questions

Before or after the fall of Jerusalem? Di Chiara, Tauxe, Gries, Helwing, Howland & Ben-Yosef (PLOS ONE 19/1, 2024) find the gate's magnetic intensity differs significantly from that recorded in Jerusalem's 586 BCE destruction layer and fits the curve best at 569 BCE, so they conclude the gate was built after 586 'although probably not immediately after'. The 583 +/- 22 BCE figure sometimes quoted is the age they assigned from Nebuchadnezzar's reign, not an independent measurement. Our note: an intensity-only match on a regional curve can cross the curve at more than one date, so the 569 BCE figure depends on the Levantine curve's shape and resolution for the 6th century.
How much of what Berlin shows is the ancient gate? Koldewey (1914) describes the monument as a double gateway with walls still 12 m high; Berlin shows the smaller front gate rebuilt from sorted fragments with modern bricks (SMB). Anyone quoting a height should say whether it is the ruin at Babylon, the Berlin reconstruction, or a reconstruction drawing.

Since 2024

2024-01Archaeomagnetic study of bricks from all three phases: best fit 569 BCE, assigned age 583 +/- 22 BCE; phases built in quick succession, after the 586 BCE destruction of Jerusalem. [2]
2023-10 / 2027-06 / 2037Berlin: Pergamonmuseum South Wing closed 23 Oct 2023; partial reopening 4 June 2027 (Near Eastern highlights only); full Vorderasiatisches Museum expected with the South Wing in 2037. Whether the Ishtar Gate reconstruction is visible in 2027 is not stated on the official page. [5]

Sources

R. Koldewey, The Excavations at Babylon, trans. A. S. Johns (London: Macmillan, 1914) link excavation report
A. Di Chiara, L. Tauxe, H. Gries, B. Helwing, M. D. Howland & E. Ben-Yosef, 'An archaeomagnetic study of the Ishtar Gate, Babylon,' PLOS ONE 19.1 (17 Jan 2024): e0293014. DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0293014 link study
S. Langdon, Building Inscriptions of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, Part I: Nabopolassar and Nebuchadnezzar (Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1905), Nebuchadnezzar No. 15 (East India House Inscription) link translation
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, 'From Fragment to Monument' (Pergamonmuseum special presentation, 10 Nov 2020 - 3 Oct 2021) link museum record
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, 'Refurbishment of the Pergamonmuseum' (official page) link museum record

Corrected from the earlier edition of this page

Old entry: the gate 'is referenced in the vision of the ram and the goat' (Daniel 8). Daniel 8:2 sets that vision at Shushan by the river Ulai; the chapter does not mention the Ishtar Gate or any Babylonian gate.
Old entry: 'reliefs depicting dragons, lions, and other mythical creatures' on the gate. Koldewey (1914) records bulls and sirrush dragons on the gate; the lions are on the Procession Street walls.
Old 'Inscription: N/A'. The gate has a consecration inscription of Nebuchadnezzar (Koldewey 1914, p. 45) and bricks stamped with his name.
Old 'Discovery: 1902-1914'. The gate itself was excavated February-November 1902; the DOG expedition at Babylon ran 1899-1917.
Old 'Approximately 12 meters tall'. Koldewey's 12 m is the height the ruined walls still stood in 1902, not a measured height of the complete gate.
Old 'Date: c. 575 BCE' with no basis. The inscriptions give the reign (604-562 BCE); the 2024 archaeomagnetic study gives a best fit of 569 BCE.
Old biblical list 'Ezra 6 (Rebuilding of temple)' has no link to this gate; removed.
Old location 'Pergamon Museum, Berlin' is incomplete: the Berlin display has been closed since October 2023 and the lower gate remains at Babylon.

Checked against new publications through 2026-09.