The Architecture Of Nebuchadnezzar II

Nebuchadnezzar II was the most prosperous ruler of the Neo Babylonian empire. He wanted to restore and make the city of Babylon one of the most important and successful at the time, and to do so he adorned the city to make it look more beautiful and impressive than others. He built temples and towers, like the Tower of Babel, and also commissioned the creation of beautiful hidden gardens, but one of the most impressive monuments he appointed was the Ishtar gate. Nebuchadnezzar assigned this monument, and even though there were political, military and economic reasons to build it, it was mostly a symbol of his great power and his way to show it to the World. He wanted to be remembered and he knew he could do it with the construction of an impressive …show more content…
It was long and impressive at the moment there is a replica of the gate at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin which is accurate in proportion, but because of the size of the gallery certain parts have been cut out. The gate was built in the city of Babylon which Nebuchadnezzar help rebuilt. The city of Babylon had been important before with the reign of Hammurabi and later on with in the 6th century with Nebuchadnezzar. He conquers and destroys the temple at Jerusalem and also does the exile of the Jews, which tell us more about his great power. He then reconstructs the big ziggurat and builds other palaces and also this extraordinary gate which is 11 miles long. The city of Babylon had eight double gates and one of them was the Ishtar gate. The replica at the Museum in Berlin is one of the smaller ones. There were three major colors used in the gate, blue, brown and yellow and these are used in bricks throughout the monument. Images of lions in a relief sculpture are present in the processional way representing Ishtar power and pride. The way that the lions are placed on the wall in an orderly way can be also be communicating that they are trained and obey the king. In addition, there are other two more animals present in the gate, a bull and a kind of Mesopotamian dragon both animals were associated with gods from Mesopotamia and gods that the king, Nebuchadnezzar associated …show more content…
The colors were eye-catching because of the contrast between the blue and yellow. There is rhythm because of the repletion of animals throughout the brick wall and everything seemed balanced and proportional. The is perfect symmetry and proportionality in each part of the gate. Equal size in the beasts and bricks with which makes humans nowadays more impressed by the great planning and execution of the artisans in the making of this great wonder. The animals are ferocious and imposing to remind the viewers of the strength and supremacy and the gate shows the splendor and wealth of the city and how that was important to the king. The influence and image tat they give to the others outside of the great city of Babylon. This can also be interpreted as the colors of the gate, blue has always been related to royalty, majesty