30/03/2023
Walls of Babylon
The Walls of Babylon, the city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, was one of the original wonders mentioned by Antipater of Sidon. His poem begins: “I have gazed on the walls of impregnable Babylon along which chariots may race”. Another ancient version of the Seven Wonders included the Ishtar Gate. Constructed around 575 BC it was part of the famous Walls of Babylon.
Both the gate and walls were constructed of blue glazed tiles with alternating rows of bas-relief dragons and aurochs. In 1983, Saddam Hussein started both a restoration and new constructions on top of the old ruins. If visiting Iraq sounds to risky: The Pergamon Museum in Berlin contains a reconstruction of the Ishtar Gate and walls partly made out of material excavated at Babylon.