The Ishtar Gate

If you visit the Babylon Archeological Site in Iraq today, you will not find the Ishtar Gate. To see that, you must travel to the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, Germany.

The original gate was disassembled brick by brick, shipped to Europe, restored, and reassembled to grace the halls of the museum.

However, you will see a recreation of the gate standing as a sentinel at the head of the Processional Way. This gate is just one of  eight gates into the ancient city of Babylon, but it is surely the most important.

Nebuchadnezzar’s passion was to make Babylon a masterpiece, and the Ishtar Gate was the jewel in the crown.

Then Daniel requested of the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel sat in the gate of the king. – Daniel 2:49 KJV

Because we don’t have context for the importance of sitting in the king’s gate, most modern translations reference Daniel being in the king’s court. In the ancient world, the business of the kingdom happened in the gate. This is where Daniel sat, near the palace, administering justice on behalf of King Nebuchadnezzar. Wow. From teenage captive to the governor of Babylonia, the second most powerful man in the Babylonian Empire.