Editing Ishtar Gate (section)

==History==
[[File:Mushkhusshu, il drago-serpente raffigurato sulla porta di Ishtar - Pergamon Museum, Berlin.jpg|thumb|left|One of the [[mušḫuššu]] dragons from the gate]]
King [[Nebuchadnezzar II]] reigned 604–562 BC, the peak of the [[Neo-Babylonian Empire]]. He is known as the biblical conqueror who captured [[Jerusalem]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/31.13.2/|title=Panel with striding lion {{!}} Work of Art {{!}} Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History {{!}} The Metropolitan Museum of Art|website=The Met's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History|access-date=2017-11-28}}</ref> He ordered the construction of the gate and dedicated it to the [[Ancient Semitic religion#Babylonia and Assyria|Babylonian goddess]] [[Ishtar]]. The gate was constructed using glazed brick with alternating rows of [[bas-relief]] ''[[mušḫuššu]]'' ([[dragon]]s), [[aurochs]] (bulls), and lions, symbolizing the gods [[Marduk]], [[Adad]], and [[Ishtar]] respectively.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kleiner|first=Fred|title=Gardner's Art Through the Ages|year=2005|publisher=Thompson Learning, Inc.|location=Belmont, CA|isbn=978-0-15-505090-7|pages=49}}</ref>

The roof and doors of the gate were made of [[Cedrus|cedar]], according to the dedication plaque. The bricks in the gate were covered in a blue glaze meant to represent [[lapis lazuli]], a deep-blue semi-precious stone that was revered in antiquity due to its vibrancy. The blue-glazed bricks would have given the façade a jewel-like shine. Through the gate ran the Processional Way, which was lined with walls showing about 120 [[lion]]s, bulls, dragons, and flowers on yellow and black glazed bricks, symbolizing the goddess Ishtar. The gate itself depicted only gods and goddesses. These included Ishtar, Adad, and Marduk. During celebrations of the New Year, statues of the deities were paraded through the gate and down the Processional Way.{{citation needed|date=November 2017}}