Lion of Babylon (statue)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lion of Babylon
Lion of Babylon in 1909
Lion of Babylon from the left side [1]

Lion of Babylon is a stone sculpture that was found in the ancient city of Babylon, Iraq.

History[]

It was discovered in 1876 by a German archaeological mission.

The Lion of Babylon is over 2600 years old.[1]

The statue was built by the Chaldean Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II (605-562 BC).[2]

The statue had been damaged over the years due to lack of protection, getting climbed on by tourists that left marks on the statue, or natural causes like erosion which Archaeologists had already feared was going to happen without the right protection of the statue.[3] However, the most significant damage, as seen today, to the face and jaw was caused in 1917, as witnessed by Private Robert John Morgan of the Army Service Corps during the Great War. 

    ..."An Officer of the British Army, who was a conjuror, one day when he was looking around, he stopped by this statue and commenced to take coins from the mouth of this Lion. Seeing this done by the Officer the local Arabs thought that it was full of these coins. So, when night came, they got together and armed with large sledge hammers smashed the head as they sought for the remaining coins but found to their surprise a solid stone body."

In 2013 The World Monuments Fund worked with the Iraq State Board of Antiquities to make improvements to the site. The Lion was cleaned and partially restored, the base of the statue was replaced, and a security barrier was added.[4]

Description[]

The statue is made out of black basalt black stone; it depicts a Mesopotamian lion standing above a lying human. The statue is two meters in length and the platform upon which it stands is one meter. The lion weighs about 7000 kg.

The statue height is 1 meters, and it is 2 meters long.[5]

Symbolism[]

The Lion of Babylon is a historic theme in the region. The statue is considered among the most important symbols of Babylon in particular and Mesopotamian art in general.[6] The statue is considered a national symbol of Iraq, it has been used by several Iraqi institutions such as the Iraqi Football Association.[7]

The lion was meant to put fear into their enemies, by showing a lion trampling a man to scare their enemies.[8]

It represented Ishtar, the goddess of fertility, love, and war.[9]

On the back of the lion is a representation of where Ishtar should stand.[10]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Symbolism, MENA (2018-12-26). "The Lion of Babylon". MENA symbolism. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
  2. ^ Zeed, Adnan Abu (30 June 2016). "Prized Lion of Babylon joins list of crumbling Iraqi antiquities". Al-Monitor. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  3. ^ "Ancient Iraq: Lion of Babylon - World Monuments Fund". Google Arts & Culture. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
  4. ^ "Ancient Iraq: Lion of Babylon - Google Arts & Culture". Google Cultural Institute. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  5. ^ "Ancient Iraq: Lion of Babylon - World Monuments Fund". Google Arts & Culture. Retrieved 2020-04-30.
  6. ^ "Babylon Chronicle, A 1932 photograph of the Lion of Babylon from the". Tammuz.tumblr.com. Retrieved 2016-03-30.
  7. ^ "الاتحاد العراقي لكرة القدم". Ifa.iq. Retrieved 2016-03-30.
  8. ^ "Lion of Babylon [Detail]". World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
  9. ^ "Ancient Iraq: Lion of Babylon - World Monuments Fund". Google Arts & Culture. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
  10. ^ "Babylon, Iraq". www.atlastours.net. Retrieved 2020-04-30.
Retrieved from ""