Coloured glazed brick panels of the facade of the  first smaller Ishtar Gate, Babylon, dating from 604-562 BC. Babylon (present day Iraq). The Ishtar Gate, Babylon, was situated in the northern wall of the city and was named after the goddess Ishtar. The gate was decorated with reprentations of bulls, the symbol of the weather god Adad, and dragons (Babylonian Mushhushu), the symbol of the city God Marduk. The mythical composite animal has the head and the body of a snake, the front legs of a lion, the hind legs of a bird and a scorpion sting in the tail. The ground plan and debris of the gate buildings were uncovered during the German excavation from 1899-1917 directed by Robert Koldewey. The Vorderasiatisches Museum, part of the Pergamon Museum, Berlin
{}