The Gate of Ištar
Built by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II in 575 BC as the main entrance to the city, the Gate of Ishtar is dedicated to the goddess of love (but also of war).
14 meters high, it was completely covered with blue ceramic tiles and decorated with lions, dragons and bulls.
The animals were symbols associated with the gods; the lions represented Ishtar, the bulls Adad, the god of the weather, and the dragons Marduk, the protector of the cities.
The door opened onto the Processional Way, a long corridor that connected the Ziggurat, the Festival Palace, and the temple dedicated to the god Marduk. The road was paved with red and yellow stones, and the walls were decorated with a blue frieze with more than one hundred and twenty flowers and lions.
A part of the door recovered by archaeologists was reconstructed in Berlin, where it can be admired in the Archaeological Museum.