Overview

In the Vorderasiatisches Museum (Museum of the Ancient Near East) a lost wonder of the world can still be marvelled at today: the walls of the ancient city of Babylon. They were once counted among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, until they fell into ruin. One section, however, comprising the magnificent, gorgeously coloured Ishtar Gate and the Babylonian Processional Way, was salvaged and reconstructed. These monuments are among the numerous items which give the Vorderasiatisches Museum its claim to be one of the most important collections of oriental antiquities in the world. Others range from a Samarian pottery bowl painted with fish and birds, to Mesopotamian clay tablets inscribed with cuneiform writing, to sacred reliefs representing ancient gods, and an alabaster statue of a man at prayer from the Ishtar Temple at Assur. With such articles, the collection builds up a picture of 6,000 years of art and culture in Mesopotamia, Syria and Anatolia. Its treasures are housed in the Pergamonmuseum alongside the Antikensammlung and the Museum für Islamische Kunst. Set side by side, the three collections demonstrate the influence of the civilisations of the Ancient Orient on the cultures of Classical Antiquity and Islam which succeeded it.

Source: Museum website