Lion of Babylon (statue)


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.
The statue was built by the Chaldean Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II.
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.
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.

Description

The statue is made out of black basalt black stone; it depicts a Mesopotamian lion standing above a laying human. The statue is two meters in length and the platform upon which it stands is one meter. The lion weighs about 7000kgs.
The statue height is 11.95 meters, and it is 2.6 meters long.

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. The statue is considered a national symbol of Iraq, it has been used by several Iraqi institutions such as the Iraqi Football Association.
The lion was meant to put fear into their enemies, by showing a lion trampling a man to scare their enemies.
It represented Ishatar, the goddess of fertility, love, and war.
On the back of the lion is a representation of where Ishtar should stand.