WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.645 [music] 00:00:05.645 --> 00:00:07.944 Dr. Steven Zucker: We're in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin 00:00:07.944 --> 00:00:10.545 and one of the most astonishing objects they have 00:00:10.545 --> 00:00:12.138 --well it's not an object 00:00:12.138 --> 00:00:13.979 Dr. Beth Harris: It's a gate for a city 00:00:13.979 --> 00:00:16.397 --there were eight double gates that formed 00:00:16.397 --> 00:00:19.375 part of the walls around the ancient city of Babylon 00:00:19.375 --> 00:00:20.762 Dr. Zucker: It's huge 00:00:20.762 --> 00:00:22.692 Dr. Harris: It doesn't just impress us 00:00:22.692 --> 00:00:24.556 it impressed people--but it was built 00:00:24.556 --> 00:00:26.875 --in fact it was called one of the Wonders of the World 00:00:26.875 --> 00:00:29.210 Dr. Zucker: So Nebuchadnezzar--of biblical fame 00:00:29.210 --> 00:00:32.126 ascended to the throne and proceeded to rebuild 00:00:32.126 --> 00:00:34.637 the already ancient city of Babylon 00:00:34.637 --> 00:00:38.362 --this is a city that has its roots in the third millenia B.C. 00:00:38.362 --> 00:00:41.160 --but it had become a major political center 00:00:41.160 --> 00:00:44.477 under King Hammurabi in the 1700s B.C.E. 00:00:44.477 --> 00:00:48.906 --the city had remained populated but regained importance in the 6th century 00:00:48.906 --> 00:00:51.830 under Nebuchadnezzar II and under his father 00:00:51.830 --> 00:00:55.640 --and what we are seeing here is part of the enormous building campaign 00:00:55.640 --> 00:00:58.109 that Nebuchadnezzar II had undertaken 00:00:58.109 --> 00:01:01.493 Dr. Harris: We may recognize Nebuchadnezzar from the Bible 00:01:01.493 --> 00:01:03.179 --from the book of Daniel 00:01:03.179 --> 00:01:07.673 --he's the ruler of Babylon who conquers and destroys the temple in Jerusalem 00:01:07.673 --> 00:01:11.262 --and whose responsible for the exile of the Jews 00:01:11.262 --> 00:01:13.289 Dr. Zucker: Clearly he was very powerful 00:01:13.289 --> 00:01:15.843 --he was able to undertake this enormous building campaign 00:01:15.843 --> 00:01:18.010 --you know he fortified and strengthened 00:01:18.010 --> 00:01:20.923 eleven miles of wall around the city of Babylon 00:01:20.923 --> 00:01:24.096 --he reconstructed the great ziggurat in Babylon 00:01:24.096 --> 00:01:27.057 which had the Temple of Marduk at its top 00:01:27.057 --> 00:01:30.041 and it's probably the source of the story of the Tower of Bable 00:01:30.041 --> 00:01:34.680 --he created palaces and he created this extraordinary gate 00:01:34.680 --> 00:01:36.893 Dr. Harris: And hanging gardens which were also considered 00:01:36.893 --> 00:01:38.729 one of the wonders of the world 00:01:38.729 --> 00:01:41.556 --so the city of Babylon had eight double gates 00:01:41.556 --> 00:01:44.146 --the one we are looking at is one of those gates 00:01:44.146 --> 00:01:47.124 --and actually the smaller of the double gate 00:01:47.124 --> 00:01:49.915 --the other one would have been even larger 00:01:49.915 --> 00:01:51.875 if that's possible to imagine 00:01:51.875 --> 00:01:54.523 Dr. Zucker: In fact so large that the museum can't actually put it on display 00:01:54.523 --> 00:01:56.746 even in this very large space 00:01:56.746 --> 00:01:59.432 --this gate which would of course would have only been opened 00:01:59.432 --> 00:02:02.293 for the friendly--is at the end of a long processional way 00:02:02.293 --> 00:02:06.696 --lined with beautiful lions that speak very clearly of pride 00:02:06.696 --> 00:02:09.663 --of power--and of Nebuchadnezzar's rule 00:02:09.663 --> 00:02:11.971 Dr. Harris: The lions that we see on processional way 00:02:11.971 --> 00:02:15.493 represent Ishtar--one of the Babylonians goddesses 00:02:15.493 --> 00:02:19.357 --the goddess of war and wisdom and sexuality 00:02:19.357 --> 00:02:21.554 Dr. Zucker: They're raised up to eye-level 00:02:21.554 --> 00:02:24.323 and they're a little bit smaller than life size 00:02:24.323 --> 00:02:25.973 but they are pretty big 00:02:25.973 --> 00:02:27.573 Dr. Harris: And they are frightening 00:02:27.573 --> 00:02:29.739 --they're mouths are open in these ferocious roars 00:02:29.739 --> 00:02:31.736 Dr. Zucker: It's true they are snarling aren't they 00:02:31.736 --> 00:02:33.687 Dr. Harris: They are--but the fact that they are placed 00:02:33.687 --> 00:02:36.092 in this very regular way--makes them seem 00:02:36.092 --> 00:02:38.628 as though they are trained or controlled 00:02:38.628 --> 00:02:40.644 by King Nebuchadnezzar himself 00:02:40.644 --> 00:02:42.856 Dr. Zucker: It makes us fear not only the lions 00:02:42.856 --> 00:02:44.908 but it makes us fear the king 00:02:44.908 --> 00:02:46.889 --the image of a lion is beautiful 00:02:46.889 --> 00:02:50.024 --this faience of raised to create kind of relief sculpture 00:02:50.024 --> 00:02:53.074 --so in addition to the lions--there are two other animals forms 00:02:53.074 --> 00:02:55.337 that decorate the gate and they're both meant 00:02:55.337 --> 00:02:57.458 to be as ferocious as the lions 00:02:57.458 --> 00:02:59.889 --a kind of ancient bull known as an auroch 00:02:59.889 --> 00:03:02.091 --these were supposed to be terribly fierce 00:03:02.091 --> 00:03:04.703 --and then alternating with the rows of auroch 00:03:04.703 --> 00:03:06.973 are a kind of mesopetamian dragon 00:03:06.973 --> 00:03:09.222 which is really a composite beast 00:03:09.222 --> 00:03:11.957 --the front paws are those of lions 00:03:11.957 --> 00:03:15.057 --the head and neck come from a snake or serpent 00:03:15.057 --> 00:03:17.619 --the hind legs come from an eagle perhaps 00:03:17.619 --> 00:03:19.202 Dr. Beth Harris: And their tails 00:03:19.202 --> 00:03:21.126 have a stinger like a scorpion 00:03:21.126 --> 00:03:23.645 Dr. Zucker: Those dragons are associated with Marduk 00:03:23.645 --> 00:03:25.688 --the patron god of the city 00:03:25.688 --> 00:03:28.905 --and Nebuchadnezzar associated himself directly with Marduk 00:03:28.905 --> 00:03:31.016 --the aurochs--that is these bulls 00:03:31.016 --> 00:03:33.503 --are associated with the god Adad 00:03:33.503 --> 00:03:35.343 --a god associated with storms 00:03:35.343 --> 00:03:37.136 --with the fertility of the land 00:03:37.136 --> 00:03:38.624 --with the harvest 00:03:38.624 --> 00:03:41.119 --all of these animals speak to protecting the city 00:03:41.119 --> 00:03:42.892 --but also providing for the city 00:03:42.892 --> 00:03:44.624 Dr. Harris: They are ferocious animals 00:03:44.624 --> 00:03:48.674 --but they're also represented in a very regular way 00:03:48.674 --> 00:03:51.634 along the procession and on the tower and archway of the gate 00:03:51.634 --> 00:03:54.902 --so that there is symmetry 00:03:54.902 --> 00:03:57.305 --a sense of order in the way they are represented 00:03:57.305 --> 00:04:00.725 Dr. Zucker: One of the most extraordinary aspects of these towers 00:04:00.725 --> 00:04:03.167 --of the gate as a whole--is the color 00:04:03.167 --> 00:04:06.652 --this is an arid place where the sun is bright--where is gets really hot 00:04:06.652 --> 00:04:11.138 --and you can imagine how brilliant the blues and greens would have been 00:04:11.138 --> 00:04:17.101 not in the context of the museum--but in the context of the edge of a desert 00:04:17.101 --> 00:04:19.336 --in Mesopotamia there was a real problem 00:04:19.336 --> 00:04:21.416 --you know the Egyptians were able to build 00:04:21.416 --> 00:04:23.772 their Great Pyramids and other monuments 00:04:23.772 --> 00:04:26.070 out of the native stone that surrounded them 00:04:26.070 --> 00:04:28.691 --but in Mesopotamia they didn't have that 00:04:28.691 --> 00:04:31.492 --this was a river valley--Babylon is on the banks of the Euphrates 00:04:31.492 --> 00:04:34.109 --in fact the Euphrates cuts right through the city 00:04:34.109 --> 00:04:36.568 --when the Mesopotamians wanted to build 00:04:36.568 --> 00:04:38.950 they created buildings out of brick 00:04:38.950 --> 00:04:40.969 --created from the clay of the river valley 00:04:40.969 --> 00:04:43.542 --the brilliant blue that we see on the surface of the gate is faience 00:04:43.542 --> 00:04:46.299 --this is a technique that was known to the ancient Egyptians 00:04:46.299 --> 00:04:49.006 and other parts of the ancient world 00:04:49.006 --> 00:04:51.607 --and it uses copper to create this brilliant blue 00:04:51.607 --> 00:04:53.839 --and this is a beautiful example 00:04:53.839 --> 00:04:58.692 Dr. Harris: So the gate is massive--it's frightening--it's decorative 00:04:58.692 --> 00:05:00.935 --and it's brilliantly colored 00:05:00.935 --> 00:05:03.443 --no wonder Nebuchadnezzar was so proud of it 00:05:03.443 --> 00:05:05.391 and wrote an inscription on the side 00:05:05.391 --> 00:05:07.605 Dr. Zucker: Let's go read that 00:05:07.605 --> 00:05:10.592 --now we're sure where the inscription was originally placed on the wall 00:05:10.592 --> 00:05:13.919 --but in this reconstruction it's on the left side of the left tower 00:05:13.919 --> 00:05:18.383 --here's an excerpt, "I Nebuchadnezzar laid the foundation of the gates 00:05:18.383 --> 00:05:22.541 down to the ground water level--and had them built out of pure blue stone 00:05:22.541 --> 00:05:26.374 --upon the walls in the inner room of the gate are bulls and dragons 00:05:26.374 --> 00:05:31.386 --and thus I magnificently adorned them with luxurious splendour for all mankind to behold in awe 00:05:31.386 --> 00:05:37.990 Dr. Harris: And we are in awe two and a half millenia later 00:05:37.990 --> 00:05:41.241 Dr. Zucker: Nebuchadnezzar understood his place in history 00:05:41.241 --> 00:05:44.717 and he actually wrote inscriptions in his new buildings 00:05:44.717 --> 00:05:49.325 that not only identified them and identified their purpose and him as their patron 00:05:49.325 --> 00:05:53.390 --but also asked future rulers to rebuild them for him 00:05:53.390 --> 00:05:56.902 Dr. Harris: It's as though he knew that empires come and go 00:05:56.902 --> 00:05:59.842 Dr. Zucker: And that he could speak across history 00:05:59.842 --> 00:06:03.142 --and in our time--the ruler of Mesopotamia which we now call Iraq 00:06:03.142 --> 00:06:05.692 seemed to pay attention 00:06:05.692 --> 00:06:09.809 Saddam Hussein actually had begun the rebuilding of parts of Babylonia 00:06:09.809 --> 00:06:14.304 --he built his own palace a few hundred meters away from the Ishtar Gate 00:06:14.304 --> 00:06:17.518 --and began the reconstruction of parts of the city as well 00:06:17.518 --> 00:06:21.486 --that came to a halt of course in the recent military actions against him 00:06:21.486 --> 00:06:24.142 --and of course he was ultimately deposed and killed 00:06:24.142 --> 00:06:27.742 Dr. Harris: And what it meant to rebuild this legendary city 00:06:27.742 --> 00:06:30.193 Dr. Zucker: Saddam Hussein was very much rebuilding it 00:06:30.193 --> 00:06:32.688 not for Nebuchadnezzar but for his own political ambition 00:06:32.688 --> 00:06:35.524 Dr. Harris: Reclaiming the power of Nebuchadnezzar for himself 00:06:35.524 --> 00:06:37.925 Dr. Zucker: That's right and the power of ancient Mesopotamia 00:06:37.925 --> 00:06:54.388 [music]