Dragon of Marduk

This Striding Snake Dragon of Marduk at one time decorated the Ishtar Gate which began the procession to the great temple of Marduk for about half a mile. The dragon is decorated in molded glazed bricks, with its scaly body of a dragon, head of a snake, hind feet claws of a large bird of prey, front paws of a lion and the tail of a deadly scorpion. It is interesting that the serpent in the Garden of Eden was apparently standing upright before it became cursed in the fall. The Hebrew word for serpent is "nachash" and in Isaiah 27:1 the dragon is also referred to as the "nachash".

Marduk was the chief god of the Babylonians and Nebuchadnezzar is the king during this time period when the awesome Ishtar Gate was standing at the entrance to the great city of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar was famous in history and one of the most power monarchs of all time and his city was called in the Bible a city of gold. It was so impressive that Herodotus wrote of its grandeur. The Dragon of Marduk is extremely important in the study of Biblical Archaeology.

"And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:" Genesis 3:14

And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. Revelation 20:2-3

Material - Glazed Bricks, Terracotta 
Neo-Babylonian - Mesopotamian 
Ishtar Gate Dragon Relief
Date: 604-562 BC.
Length: 1.7 m (65.75 inches) 
Width: 1.2 m (45.5 inches) 
Depth: 
Babylon, southern Iraq
Excavated by: Robert Koldeway 1899-1914
Founders Society Purchase, General Membership Fund 
Location: Detroit Institute of Arts
Accession Number: 31.25 

Detroit Institute of Arts Excerpt

Dragon of Marduk
The mythical Dragon of Marduk with scaly body, serpent's head, viper's horns, front 
feet of a feline, hind feet of a bird, and a scorpion's tail, was sacred to the god 
Marduk, principal deity of Babylon. 

The striding dragon was a portion of the decoration of one of the gates of the city 
of Babylon. King Nebuchadnezzar, whose name appears in the Bible as the despoiler 
of Jerusalem (Kings II 24:10-16, 25:8-15), ornamented the monumental entrance gate 
dedicated to Ishtar, the goddess of love and war, and the processional street 
leading to it with scores of pacing glazed brick animals: on the gate were 
alternating tiers of Marduk's dragons and bulls of the weather god Adad; along the 
street were the lions sacred to Ishtar. All of this brilliant decoration was 
designed to create a ceremonial entrance for the king in religious procession on 
the most important day of the New Year's Festival. 

Detroit Institute of Arts : Permanent Collection - Ancient Art - Mesopotamia