Detail of the Ancient Lion of Babylon 

When Jerusalem was conquered by king Nebuchadnezzar, the Jewish prisoners were led to Babylon, the land of idolatry. They must of had many thoughts when they saw all these lions in their approach into the city. The lion represented Ishtar, the warfare-deity. It was believed in ancient Babylon that Ishtar, the queen of heaven was not only the giver of life but the goddess of warfare. In one myth she forced her way through the gates of the underworld:

"If thou openest not the gate to let me enter, I will break the door, I will wrench the lock, I will smash the door-posts, I will force the doors. I will bring up the dead to eat the living. And the dead will outnumber the living." - Ishtar, Babylonian Myth

The ancient lion of Babylon on the Ishtar Gate was made of molded brick with polychrome glaze and appeared along the side of the 'Processional Way' in Babylon around 604-562 B.C. The 'Processional Way' led out of the city through the massive Ishtar Gate, the lion was the symbol of the goddess Ishtar. There were some 120 lions such as this one decorated along the walls. This painting is from a wall relief at the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago. It is 90.3 cm high and  230.5 cm wide. It was purchased in Berlin in 1931.

"For I will rise up against them," says the LORD of hosts, "And cut off from Babylon the name and remnant, And offspring and posterity," says the LORD. "I will also make it a possession for the porcupine, And marshes of muddy water; I will sweep it with the broom of destruction," says the LORD of hosts. Isaiah 14:22-23

Material - Molded brick with polychrome glaze
Neo-Babylonian Period
Reign of Nebuchadnezzar II
Date: 604-562 BC.
Height: 90.3 cm  (35.5511811 inches)
Width: 230.5 cm  (90.7480315 inches)
Depth: 
Babylon, southern Iraq
Excavated by: Robert Koldeway 1899-1914
Purchased in Berlin, 1931
Location: Oriental Institute, Chicago
Item: OIM A7481

Oriental Institute Excerpt

STRIDING LION

This colorful striding lion, its mouth opened in a threatening roar, once decorated a side of the 'Processional Way' in ancient Babylon (the Biblical city of Babel). The 'Processional Way' led out of the city through a massive gate named for the Mesopotamian goddess of love and war, Ishtar, whose symbol was the lion. Each year, during the celebration of the great New Year Festival, the images of the city's deities were carried out through the Ishtar Gate and along the 'Processional Way' past some 120 lions such as this one to a special festival house north of the city.

Oriental Institute, University of Chicago