Nebuchadnezzar inscription on the Ishtar Gate, lower part

Nebuchadnezzar inscription on the Ishtar Gate, Pergamon Museum, Museum Island, Berlin. Glazed bricks, modern reconstruction. Babylon (Iraq), 6th century BCE. Division of finds, VA Bab 7661. Numerous brick fragments with remnants of cuneiform signs were found in the immediate vicinity of the Ishtar Gate. They probably once formed part of a building inscription of Nebuchadnezzar II (604-562 BCE), integrated into the gate. Although we do not know exactly where the text was originally located, there is no doubt that it concerns the gate's building. The inscription displayed here is a reconstruction made from original fragments and modern bricks. The text could be reconstructed on the basis of a well-preserved building inscription of the Babylonian king, now in London. It reads: "I [=Nebuchadnezzar] laid the foundation of the gates down to the ground water level [...] and had them built out of sheer blue stone, on which bulls and dragons were elaborately painted. [...] I set up wil