paupadros Posted February 11 Posted February 11 (edited) Welcome to Babylon! Let Akitu begin! The new year’s celebrations have begun with the entrance of the king through the Ishtar Gate to the city of Babylon. The Ishtar Gate is the eighth access gates to the city of Babylon and was built in 575BC by king Nebuchadnezzar II, second king of the Neo-Babylonian empire. The gate is adorned with beautiful blue tiles, and two animals representing gods of the Babylonian pantheon: the dragon Mušḫuššu for Marduk and an auroch for Adad. ============ I've created this build for the Bricklink Designer Program Series 4. Go give it a VOTE if you want it to become a real set! ============ The model is not only a representation of this beautiful monument, but an ode to the history and culture that originated in Mesopotamia. The back of the model opens up to reveal some secrets: This project originated from a fictional sub-theme I created a couple of years ago (you can read all about it here). I was a space theme about planet exploration. In the first wave, I suggested a sort of Ishtar Gate set in a dusty moon far away. I've always really liked ancient antiquity, and Babylon in particular, so I think it was kind of inevitable I would sooner or later redesign the fictional gate into a larger and more complete replica of the original. Living Quarters The back opens up to reveal a few scenes of daily life in Babylon during the time of construction of the gate. There is a board game called “The Game of Ur”, which consists of a race and a battle between two players to see who can get seven pieces across the board first. Plenty of clay tablets are stacked on the table, along with cylindrical seals and a tablet with the world’s oldest map. On the shelves sit a few frog-shaped weights and a little Mušḫuššu sculpture. King’s Throne The other part of the back has the throne, a staff, a chest and a tiled mosaic with floral themes and lions. There are close to no remains of babylonian furniture because it was all mostly made from wood. Details Dotted around the model, there are other important artifacts from the history of Babylon. The Basalt Monument of Esarhaddon sits in front of the model and tells the story of the reconstruction of Babylon by Neo-Assyrian king Esarhaddon. Next to it, sits a tamarisk plant typical of saline soils. In the footing of the other tower sits the Stele of Nabonidus showing the last ruler of Neo-Babylonian empire standing next to the moon god. Model Dimensions: Length: 40.5cm / 16in Width: 28cm / 11in Height: 28.8cm / 11.3in Thank you for reading along and hope you like the model! Edited February 11 by paupadros issues with embdedding images Quote
Feuer Zug Posted February 13 Posted February 13 Beautiful recreation of the Ishtar Gate. The relief dragon and auroc are wonderful. Quote
LEGO Train 12 Volts Posted February 13 Posted February 13 Beautiful construction...I like the animals represented on the towers, excellent building technique! Quote
BrickJagger Posted February 17 Posted February 17 Very well done rendition of an iconic piece of architecture! I like how it swings open to reveal more details in the back -- I feel like you don't see that too often in MOCs like this Quote
hikouki Posted February 18 Posted February 18 Love the attention to detail, especially the animal 'paintings' on the walls. Quote
paupadros Posted February 19 Author Posted February 19 On 2/13/2025 at 3:26 PM, Feuer Zug said: Beautiful recreation of the Ishtar Gate. The relief dragon and auroc are wonderful. Thank you so much! I actually had lots of doubts about this area in particular. I had bulkier options that protruded out of the gate, but ended up choosing a simple stacked sideways plate design. I think I made the right choice. Glad you like it! On 2/13/2025 at 10:07 PM, LEGO Train 12 Volts said: Beautiful construction...I like the animals represented on the towers, excellent building technique! Thank you! On 2/18/2025 at 12:18 AM, BrickJagger said: Very well done rendition of an iconic piece of architecture! I like how it swings open to reveal more details in the back -- I feel like you don't see that too often in MOCs like this Yes! Thank you! In all honesty, I designed this as if I were a Lego designer. What would I like to see? Sure, a realistic gate is the most important thing to nail, but the model having more to offer than it seems at first glance is absolutely key. It's not groundbreaking at all. Dollshouses for decades have used a similar idea, but I thought it would work especially well here with the enclosed gate. On 2/18/2025 at 6:26 AM, hikouki said: Love the attention to detail, especially the animal 'paintings' on the walls. Thank you! Quote
paupadros Posted May 5 Author Posted May 5 I wanted to make a few changes to the design for Series 8 but ran out of time! Anyway. You can still vote for it again lads ;) https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/series-8/2968/The-Ishtar-Gate Quote
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