FIG. 12.BULL IN ENAMELLED BRICK FROM THE ISHTAR GATE.
FIG. 12.BULL IN ENAMELLED BRICK FROM THE ISHTAR GATE.
In the autumn of 1901 the writer spent some time in Babylon, stopping with Dr. Koldewey in the substantial expedition-house they have built with fine burnt-brick from Nebuchadnezzar's palace. At that time he had uncovered a good deal of the palace, and it was even then possible to trace out the walls of the Throne Room and note the recess where the throne itself had stood. But, beyond the fragments of the enamelled façade, little of artistic interest had been found, and on other portions of the site the results had been still more disappointing. The deep excavation of E-sagila had already been made, the temple of the goddess Ninmakh had been completely excavated, andwork was in full swing on that of the god Ninib. All proved to be of unburnt brick,[94]and the principal decoration of the walls was a thin lime-wash. Their discoverer was inclined to be sceptical of Babylon's fabled splendour.
FIG. 13.DRAGON IN ENAMELLED BRICK FROM THE ISHTAR GATE.
FIG. 13.DRAGON IN ENAMELLED BRICK FROM THE ISHTAR GATE.
But in the following spring he made the discovery which still remains the most striking achievement of the expedition, and has rehabilitated the fame of that ancient city. This was the great Ishtar Gate, which spanned Babylon's Sacred Way, and the bulls and dragons with which it was adorned have proved that the glyptic art of Babylonia attained a high level of perfection during its later period. The gate was erected at the point where the Sacred Way entered the older city. It was, in fact, the main gate in the two walls of crude brick along the north side of the Citadel, which we have seen reason to believe were the famous defences, Imgur-Bêl and Nimitti-Bêl.[95]Its structure, when rebuilt by Nebuchadnezzar, was rather elaborate.[96]It is a double gateway consisting of two separate gate-houses,[97]each with an outer and an inner door.[98]The reason for this is that the line of fortification is a double one, and each of its walls has a gateway of its own. But the gates are united into a single structure by means of short connecting walls, which complete the enclosure of the Gateway Court.[99]
FIG. 14.GROUND-PLAN OF THE ISHTAR GATE.The ground-plan of the gateway is indicated in black; other walls and buildings are hatched. A: Sacred Way to north of gate. B: Gate of outer wall. C: Gateway Court. D: Gate of inner wall. E: Space between west wings. F: Space between east wings. G: Sacred way to south of gate. H: North-east corner of Palace. K: Temple of the goddess Ninmakh. S: Steps leading down from level of Sacred Way. 1, 2: Doorways of outer gate. 3, 4: Doorways of inner gate.(After Koldewey.)
FIG. 14.
GROUND-PLAN OF THE ISHTAR GATE.
The ground-plan of the gateway is indicated in black; other walls and buildings are hatched. A: Sacred Way to north of gate. B: Gate of outer wall. C: Gateway Court. D: Gate of inner wall. E: Space between west wings. F: Space between east wings. G: Sacred way to south of gate. H: North-east corner of Palace. K: Temple of the goddess Ninmakh. S: Steps leading down from level of Sacred Way. 1, 2: Doorways of outer gate. 3, 4: Doorways of inner gate.
(After Koldewey.)
Dr. Koldewey considers it probable that this court was roofed in, to protect the great pair of doors, which swung back into it, from the weather. But if so, the whole roofing of the gateway must have been at the same low level; whereas the thick walls of the inner gate-house suggest that it and its arched doorways rose higher than the outer gateway, as is suggested in the section[100]and in the reconstruction of the Citadel.[101]
FIG. 15.SECTION OF THE ISHTAR GATE.The section is conjecturally restored, looking from west to east; the index capitals and figures correspond to those in Fig. 14. A: Sacred Way to north of gate. B: Gate of outer wall. C: Gateway Court. D: Gate of inner wall. G: Sacred way to south of gate. 1, 2: Doorways of outer gate. 3, 4: Doorways of inner gate,a: Traces of pavement. 6: Level of second pavement,c: Level of final pavement.d: Present ground-level,e: Level of ground before excavation. It will be noticed that the portions of the gate preserved are all below the final pavement-level.(After Andrae.)
FIG. 15.
SECTION OF THE ISHTAR GATE.
The section is conjecturally restored, looking from west to east; the index capitals and figures correspond to those in Fig. 14. A: Sacred Way to north of gate. B: Gate of outer wall. C: Gateway Court. D: Gate of inner wall. G: Sacred way to south of gate. 1, 2: Doorways of outer gate. 3, 4: Doorways of inner gate,a: Traces of pavement. 6: Level of second pavement,c: Level of final pavement.d: Present ground-level,e: Level of ground before excavation. It will be noticed that the portions of the gate preserved are all below the final pavement-level.
(After Andrae.)
It thus appears more probable that the court between the two gateways was left open, and that the two inner arches[102]rose far higher than those of the outer gate.[103]And there is the more reason for this, as an open court would have given far more light for viewing the remarkable decoration of the gateway upon its inner walls.
It will be noticed in the plan that the central roadway is not the only entrance through the gate; on each side of the two central gate-houses a wing is thrown out, making four wings in all. These also are constructed of burnt-brick, and they serve to connect the gate with the two fortification-walls of unburnt brick. In each wing is a further door, giving access to the space between the walls. Thus, in all, the gate has three separate entrances, and no less than eight doorways, four ranged along the central roadway, and two in each double wing.
FIG. 16.DIAGRAM TO SHOW THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE BEASTS OF THE ISHTAR GATE.The ground-plan of the gate is shown in outline, the arrows indicating the positions of Bulls or Dragons still in place upon its walls. The head of each arrow points in the same direction as the beast to which it refers. Where no beasts are preserved, the foundations of the structure are indicated by a dotted line. The index letters correspond to those in Fig. 14.(After Koldewey.)
FIG. 16.
DIAGRAM TO SHOW THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE BEASTS OF THE ISHTAR GATE.
The ground-plan of the gate is shown in outline, the arrows indicating the positions of Bulls or Dragons still in place upon its walls. The head of each arrow points in the same direction as the beast to which it refers. Where no beasts are preserved, the foundations of the structure are indicated by a dotted line. The index letters correspond to those in Fig. 14.
(After Koldewey.)
The whole wall-surface of the gateway on its northern side, both central towers and side-wings, was decorated with alternate rows of bulls and dragons in brick relief, the rows ranged one above the other up the surface of walls and towers. The decoration is continued over the whole interior surface of the central gateways and may be traced along the southern front of the inner gate-house. The beasts are arranged in such a way that to any one entering the city they would appear as though advancing to meet him. In the accompanying diagram,[104]which gives the ground-planof the gate in outline, the arrows indicate the positions of beasts that are still in place upon the walls, and the head of each arrow points in the direction that animal faces. It will be noticed that along most of the walls running north and south the beasts face northwards, while on the transverse walls they face inwards towards the centre. One end-wall in chamber B is preserved, and there, for the sake of symmetry, the two animals face each other, advancing from opposite directions. It has been calculated that at least five hundred and seventy-five of these creatures were represented on the walls and towers of the gateway. Some of the walls, with their successive tiers of beasts, are still standing to a height of twelve metres. The two eastern towers of the outer gate-house are the best preserved, and even in their present condition they convey some idea of the former magnificence of the building.
In the greater part of the structure that still remains in place, it is apparent that the brickwork was very roughly finished, and that the bitumen employed as mortar has been left where it has oozed out between the courses. The explanation is that the portions of the gateway which still stand are really foundations of the building, and were always intended to be buried below the pavement level. It is clear that the height of the road-way was constantly raised while the building of the gate was in progress, and there are traces of two temporary pavements,[105]afterwards filled in when the final pavement-level[106]was reached.[107]The visible portion of the gate above the last pavement has been entirely destroyed, but among itsdébriswere found thousands of fragments of the same two animals, but in enamelled brick of brilliant colouring, white and yellow against ablue ground. Some of these have been laboriously pieced together in Berlin, and specimens are now exhibited in the Kaiser Friedrich Museum and in the Imperial Ottoman Museum at Constantinople. Only one fragment of an enamelled portion of the wall was found in place,[108]and that was below the final pavement. It shows the legs of a bull above a band of rosettes with yellow centres.[109]
FIG. 17.ENAMELLED FRAGMENT OF THE ISHTAR GATE STILL IN POSITION.The fragment, which was the highest portion of the gate preserved, is from the east side of the second doorway of the outer gate; cf. Figs. 14 and 15, No. 2. It stands just below the final pavement-level, and only the upper portion is enamelled.
FIG. 17.
ENAMELLED FRAGMENT OF THE ISHTAR GATE STILL IN POSITION.
The fragment, which was the highest portion of the gate preserved, is from the east side of the second doorway of the outer gate; cf. Figs. 14 and 15, No. 2. It stands just below the final pavement-level, and only the upper portion is enamelled.
The delicate modelling of the figures is to some extent obscured in the foundation specimens, but the imperfections there visible are entirely absent from the enamelled series. An examination of the latter shows that the bricks were separately moulded, and, before the process of enamelling, were burnt in the usual way. The contours of the figures were then outlined in black with a vitreous paste, the surfaces so defined being afterwards filled in with coloured liquid enamels. The paste of the black outlines and the coloured enamels themselves had evidently the same fusing point, for when fired they have sometimes shaded off into one another, giving a softness and a pleasing variety of tone to the composition.[110]It should be added that the enamelled beasts, like those in plain brick, are in slight relief, the same moulds having been employed for both.
FIG. 18.
PLAN OF THE LATER DEFENCES OF THE CITADEL UPON THE NORTH, SHOWING THE WALLS WITH THE LION FRIEZE AND THE ISHTAR GATE.
A: Sacred Way. B, B: Walls with Lion Frieze flanking the Sacred Way. C: Ishtar Gate. D: North-east corner of Palace. E: Temple of Ninmakh. F: Front wall of Northern Citadel. G: North wall of Northern Citadel. H: North wall of the Principal Citadel. J: Broad Canal, fed from the Euphrates, to supply the Principal Citadel. K: Old wall of the Principal Citadel. L, M: Moat-walls supporting dam, over which the roadway passed; that on the east side has not yet been excavated. N: Eastward extension of north wall of Northern Citadel. P: Stair-case, or ramps, ascending to roadway. R: Eastward extension of wall of Principal Citadel. S: South wall of eastern outworks. T, U, V: Ends of transverse walls in Principal Citadel. Y: River-side embankment of the Persian period. Z: Crude brick walls with doorways, forming a temporary gateway, filled in below latest pavement. N.B.—The two arrows denote the direction in which the lions are represented as advancing in the frieze.
Before the Neo-Babylonian period the Ishtar Gate had defended the northern entrance to the city, and was probably a massive structure of unburnt brick withoutexternal decoration. But, with the building of the outer city-wall, it stood in the second line of defence. And as Nebuchadnezzar extended the fortifications of the Citadel itself upon the northern side, it lost still more of its strategic importance, and from its interior position became a fit subject for the decorator's art. The whole course of the roadway through these exterior defences he flanked with mighty walls, seven metres thick, extending from the gate northwards to the outermost wall and moat.[111]Their great strength was dictated by the fact that, should an enemy penetrate the outer city-wall, he would have to pass between them, under the garrison's fire, to reach the citadel-gate. But these, like the gate itself, formed a secondary or interior defence, and so, like it, were elaborately decorated. The side of each wall facing the roadway was adorned with a long frieze of lions, in low relief and brilliantly enamelled,which were represented advancing southwards towards the Ishtar Gate. The surface of each wall was broken up into panels by a series of slightly projecting towers, each panel probably containing two lions, while the plinth below the Lion Frieze was decorated with rosettes. There appear to have been sixty lions along each wall. Some were in white enamel with yellow manes, while others were in yellow and had red manes,[112]and they stood out against a light or dark blue ground. Leading as they did to the bulls and dragons of the gateway, we can realize in some degree the effect produced upon a stranger entering the inner city of Babylon for the first time.
FIG. 19.LION FROM THE FRIEZE OF THE SACRED WAY TO THE NORTH OF THE ISHTAR GATE.
FIG. 19.
LION FROM THE FRIEZE OF THE SACRED WAY TO THE NORTH OF THE ISHTAR GATE.
Such a stranger, passing within the Ishtar Gate, would have been struck with wonder at the broad Procession Street,[113]which ran its long course straight through the city from north to south, with the great temples ranged on either hand. Its foundation of burnt brick covered with bitumen is still preserved, upon which, to the south of the gateway, rested a pavement of massive flags, the centre of fine hard limestone, the sides of red breccia veined with white. In inscriptions upon the edges of these paving slabs, formerly hidden by their asphalt mortar, Nebuchadnezzar boasts that he paved the street of Babylon for the procession of the great lord Marduk, to whom he prays for eternal life.[114]The slabs that are still in place are polished with hard use, but, unlike the pavements of Pompeii, show no ruts or indentations such as we might have expected from the chariots of the later period. It is possible that, in view of its sacred character, the use of the road was restricted to foot passengers and beasts of burden, except when the king and his retinue passed along it through the city. And in any case, not countingchariots of war and state, there was probably very little wheeled traffic in Babylonia at any time.
When clear of the citadel the road descends by a gradual slope to the level of the plain, and preserving the same breadth, passes to the right of the temple dedicated to Ishtar of Akkad.[115]As it continues southward it is flanked at a little distance on the east by the streets of private houses, whose foundations have been uncovered in the Merkes mound;[116]and on the west side it runs close under the huge peribolos of E-temen-anki, the Tower of Babylon.[117]As far as the main gate of E-temen-anki[118]its foundation is laid in burnt-brick, over which was an upper paving completely formed of breccia. The inscription upon the slabs corresponds to that on the breccia paving-stones opposite the citadel; but they have evidently been re-used from an earlier pavement of Sennacherib, whose name some of them bear upon the underside. This earlier pavement of Babylon's Sacred Way must have been laid by that monarch before he reversed his conciliatory policy toward the southern kingdom. At the south-east corner of the peribolos the road turns at a right angle and running between the peribolos and E-sagila, the great temple of the city-god, passes through a gate in the river-wall built by Nabonidus, and so over the Euphrates bridge before turning southward again in the direction of Borsippa.[119]This branch road between the Tower of Babylon and E-sagila[120]is undoubtedly the continuation of the procession-street. For not only was it the way of approach to Marduk's temple, but its course has been definitely traced by excavation. But there can be no doubt that the upper portion of the road, running north and south through the city, was continued in a straight line from the point where the Sacred Way branched off. This would have conducted an important streamof traffic to the main gate in the southern city-wall, passing on its way between the temples dedicated to the god Ninib and to another deity not yet identified.[121]
THE SACRED WAY OF BABYLON
THE SACRED WAY OF BABYLON
Apart from the royal palaces, the five temples of Babylon were the principal buildings within the city, and their excavation has thrown an entirely new light upon our ideas of the religious architecture of the country. The ground-plans of four of them have now been ascertained in their entirety, and we are consequently in a position to form some idea of the general principles upon which such buildings were arranged. The first to be excavated was the little temple E-makh, dedicated to the goddess Ninmakh, which, as we have already seen, was built on the citadel itself, in the north-east corner of the open space to the south of the Ishtar Gateway. Its principal façade faces the north-west, and, since the eastern entrance of the Ishtar Gate opens just opposite the corner of the temple, a wall with a doorway in it was thrown across, spanning the passage between temple and fortification.[122]The only entrance to the temple was in the centre of the façade; and in the passage-way immediately in front of it, surrounded by a pavement of burnt-brick, is a small crude-brick altar.[123]It is an interesting fact that the only other altar yet found in Babylon is also of crude brick and occupies precisely the same position, outside a temple and immediately opposite its main entrance;[124]while in a third temple, though the altar itself has disappeared, the paved area which surrounded it is still visible.[125]We may therefore conclude that this represents the normal position for the altar in the Babylonian cult; and it fully substantiates the statement of Herodotus that the two altars of Belus were outside his temple.[126]One of these, he tells us, was of solid gold, on which it was only lawful to offer sucklings; the other was a common altar (doubtless of crude brick) but of great size, on whichfull-grown animals were sacrificed. It was also on the great altar that the Chaldeans burnt the frankincense, which, according to Herodotus, was offered to the amount of a thousand talents' weight every year at the festival of the god.
It may further be noted that this exterior position of the altar corresponds to Hebrew usage, according to which the main altar was erected in the outer court in front of the temple proper. Thus Solomon's brazen altar, which under Phoenician influence took the place of earlier altars of earth or unhewn stone,[127]stood before the temple.[128]The altar within the Hebrew temple was of cedar-wood,[129]and it was clearly not a permanent structure embedded in the pavement, for Ezekiel refers to it as a "table," and states that it "was of wood."[130]It was more in the nature of a table for offerings, and it may be inferred that in earlier times it served as the table upon which the shewbread was placed before Yahwe.[131]The complete absence of any trace of a permanent altar within the Babylonian temples can only be due to a similar practice; the altars or tables within the shrines must have been light wooden structures, and they were probably carried off or burnt when the temples were destroyed. There is of course no need to regard this resemblance as due to direct cultural influence or borrowing. But we may undoubtedly conclude that we here have an example of parallelism in religious ritual between two races of the same Semitic stock. What the Sumerian practice was in this respect we have as yet no means of ascertaining; but in such details of cult it is quite possible that the Semitic Babylonians substituted their own traditional usages for any other they may have found in the country of their adoption.
The temple of Ninmakh itself, like all the others in Babylon, was built of crude brick, and though its walls were covered with a thin plaster or wash of lime, onlythe simplest form of decoration in black and white was attempted, and that very sparingly.[132]The fact that the practice of building in mud-brick should have continued at a time when kiln-burnt and enamelled brick was lavished on the royal palaces, is probably to be explained as a result of religious conservatism. The architectural design does not differ in essentials from that employed for buildings of a military character. It will be seen that the long exterior walls of E-makh resemble those of a fortification, their surface being broken up by slightly projecting towers set at regular intervals.[133]Larger rectangular towers flank the gateway, and two others, diminishing in size and probably also in height, are ranged on either side of them. The vertical grooves, which traverse the exterior faces of the towers from top to bottom, constitute a characteristic form of temple embellishment, which is never found on buildings of a secular character. They may be either plain rectangular grooves, or more usually, as in E-makh, are stepped when viewed in section.[134]
In all the important doorways of the temples foundation-deposits were buried in little niches or boxes, formed of six bricks placed together and hidden below the level of the pavement. The deposits found in place are generally fashioned of baked clay, and that of most common occurrence is a small figure of the god Papsukal. One of those in Ninmakh's temple was in the form of a bird, no doubt sacred to the goddess. There is clear evidence that the object of their burial was to ensure the safety of the entrance both from spiritual and from human foes. In addition to this magical protection the entrance was further secured by double doors, their pivots shod with bronze and turning in massive stone sockets. The ordinary method of fastening such doors by bolts was supplemented in the case of E-makh by a beam propped against the doors and with its lower end fitting into a socket in the pavement. Since thetemple was within the citadel fortifications, the possibility was foreseen that it might have to be defended from assault like the secular buildings in its immediate neighbourhood.
FIG. 20.GROUND-PLAN OF E-MAKH.A: Open Court. B: Ante-chamber to Shrine. C: Shrine. E: Entrance-chamber, or Vestibule, to temple,b: Service-room for Ante-chamber,c: Service-room for Shrine,d: Crude-brick altar,e: Well,s: Dais, or postament, for statue of Ninmakh. 1: Porters' room. 2-4: Priests' apartments or Store-rooms. 5, 6, 9, 10: Chambers giving access to narrow passages. 7, 8, 11, 12: Narrow passages, possibly containing stairways or ramps to roof.(After Andrae.)
FIG. 20.
GROUND-PLAN OF E-MAKH.
A: Open Court. B: Ante-chamber to Shrine. C: Shrine. E: Entrance-chamber, or Vestibule, to temple,b: Service-room for Ante-chamber,c: Service-room for Shrine,d: Crude-brick altar,e: Well,s: Dais, or postament, for statue of Ninmakh. 1: Porters' room. 2-4: Priests' apartments or Store-rooms. 5, 6, 9, 10: Chambers giving access to narrow passages. 7, 8, 11, 12: Narrow passages, possibly containing stairways or ramps to roof.
(After Andrae.)
Passing through the entrance-chamber of E-makh, from which opens a service-room for the use of the temple-guardians, one enters a large open court,[135]surrounded on all sides by doorways leading to priests' apartments and store-chambers and to the shrine. The latter is on the south-east side, facing the entrance tothe court, and, like the main gateway of the temple, the façade of the shrine and the flanking towers of its doorway were adorned with stepped grooves. The shrine itself is approached through an ante-chamber, and each has a small service-apartment opening out from it to the left. Against the back wall of the shrine, immediately opposite the doors, stood the cult image of the goddess, visible from the open court; this has disappeared, but the foundations of the low dais or postament, on which it stood, are still in place.
FIG. 21.CONJECTURAL RESTORATION OF E-MAKH, THE TEMPLE OF THE GODDESS NINMAKH.The view is taken from the north. The plain finish to the tops of walls and towers is in accordance with one theory of reconstruction. The connecting wall between the temple and the east wing of the Ishtar Gate is omitted to simplify the drawing.(After Andrae.)
FIG. 21.
CONJECTURAL RESTORATION OF E-MAKH, THE TEMPLE OF THE GODDESS NINMAKH.
The view is taken from the north. The plain finish to the tops of walls and towers is in accordance with one theory of reconstruction. The connecting wall between the temple and the east wing of the Ishtar Gate is omitted to simplify the drawing.
(After Andrae.)
The long narrow passage behind the shrine[136]was thought at first by its discoverer to have served a secret purpose of the priesthood. It was suggested that it might have given access to a concealed opening in the back wall of the shrine, behind the image of the goddess, whence oracles could have been given forth with her authority. But there is a precisely similar passage along the north-east wall; and we may probably accept the more prosaic explanation that they contained the ramps or stairways that led up to the flat roof, though why two should have been required, both at the same end of the building, is not clear.[137]The precise use ofthe other chambers opening from the court cannot be identified with any certainty, as nothing was found in them to indicate whether they served as apartments for the priesthood or as magazines for temple-stores. Beyond a number of votive terracotta figures, no cult object was discovered. But around the dais for the image of the goddess, the well in the courtyard for lustral water, and the small crude-brick altar before the temple entrance, it is possible to picture in imagination some of the rites to which reference is made in the Babylonian religious texts.
As we have already seen was the case with the palace-buildings, the upper structure of all the temples has been completely destroyed, so that it is not now certain how the tops of walls and towers were finished off. In the conjectural restoration of Ninmakh's temple[138]the upper portions are left perfectly plain. And this represents one theory of reconstruction. But it is also possible that the walls were crowned with the stepped battlements of military architecture. In the restoration of Assyrian buildings, both secular and religious, great assistance has been obtained from the sculptured bas-reliefs that lined the palace walls. For the scenes upon them include many representations of buildings, and, when due allowance has been made for the conventions employed, a considerable degree of certainty may be attained with their help in picturing the external appearance of buildings of which only the lower courses of the walls now remain. The scarcity of stone in Babylonia, and the consequent absence of mural reliefs, have deprived us of this source of information in the case of the southern kingdom. The only direct evidence on the point that has been forthcoming consists of a design stamped in outline upon a rectangular gold plaque, found with other fragments of gold and jewellery in the remains of a sumptuous burial within the structure of Nabopolassar's palace.[139]The period of the burial is certain, for the grave in which the great pottery sarcophagus was placed had beenclosed with bricks of Nebuchadnezzar, who afterwards built his strengthening wall against it. It must therefore date from the earlier part of his reign, and Dr. Koldewey makes the suggestion that it was perhaps the tomb of Nabopolassar himself.[140]However that may be, the grave is certainly of the early Neo-Babylonian period, and the architectural design upon the gold plaque may be taken as good evidence for that time.
FIG. 22.GOLD PLAQUE, WITH ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN, PROM A NEO-BABYLONIAN BURIAL.The engraving on the plaque shows a city-gate with flanking towers and stepped battlements. (Enlargement after photo, by Koldewey.)
FIG. 22.
GOLD PLAQUE, WITH ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN, PROM A NEO-BABYLONIAN BURIAL.
The engraving on the plaque shows a city-gate with flanking towers and stepped battlements. (Enlargement after photo, by Koldewey.)
The plaque formed the principal decoration in a chain bracelet, small rings passing through the holes at its four corners and serving to attach it to the larger links of the chain. On it the jeweller has represented a gate with an arched doorway, flanked by towers, which rise above the walls of the main building. Each tower is surmounted by a projecting upper structure, pierced with small circular loopholes, and both towers and walls are crowned with triangular battlements. The latter are obviously intended to be stepped, the engraver not having sufficient space to represent this detail in a design on so small a scale. The outline is probably that of a fortified city-gate, and it fully justifies the adoption of the stepped battlement in the reconstruction of military buildings of the period. Whether the temples were furnished in the same manner, for purely decorative purposes, is not so clear. Some idea of the appearance of one, restored on this alternative hypothesis, may be gathered from the elevation of the unidentified temple known as "Z," which is given in Fig. 24.
It is important that the ground-plans of no less than four of the temples in Babylon have been recovered, for it will be seen that the main features, already noted inNinmakh's temple, are always repeated.[141]In each the temple buildings are arranged around an open court, to which access is given through one or more entrances with vestibules. The doorways to temple and to shrine are flanked by grooved towers, while within the shrine itself the cult-statue stood on a low dais, visible from the court.
FIG. 23.GROUND-PLAN OF THE UNIDENTIFIED TEMPLE KNOWN AS "Z."A1: Main Court of temple. A2, A3: Subsidiary Courts. B: Ante-chamber to Shrine. C: Shrine. E1, E2, E3: Entrance-chambers, or Vestibules, to temple, d, c2, c3: Service-rooms for Shrine,s: Dais, or postament, for cult-statue. 1-3: Porters' rooms. 4, 5: Chambers with access to narrow passage, possibly containing stairway or ramp to roof. 6, 7: Priests' apartments or store-rooms. 8, 9: Entrance-chambers to residential quarters. 10-15: Quarters for resident priesthood around N.-W. Court. 16: Entrance-chamber to Inner Court. 17-21: Quarters for resident priesthood around Inner Court.(After Andrae.)
FIG. 23.
GROUND-PLAN OF THE UNIDENTIFIED TEMPLE KNOWN AS "Z."
A1: Main Court of temple. A2, A3: Subsidiary Courts. B: Ante-chamber to Shrine. C: Shrine. E1, E2, E3: Entrance-chambers, or Vestibules, to temple, d, c2, c3: Service-rooms for Shrine,s: Dais, or postament, for cult-statue. 1-3: Porters' rooms. 4, 5: Chambers with access to narrow passage, possibly containing stairway or ramp to roof. 6, 7: Priests' apartments or store-rooms. 8, 9: Entrance-chambers to residential quarters. 10-15: Quarters for resident priesthood around N.-W. Court. 16: Entrance-chamber to Inner Court. 17-21: Quarters for resident priesthood around Inner Court.
(After Andrae.)
Yet with this general similarity, all combine special features of their own. The temple "Z," for example, is exactly rectangular in plan, and is divided into two distinct parts, the object of which may be readily surmised. The larger and eastern portion, opening on the great court, was obviously devoted to the service of the deity. For there, on the south side,is the shrine and its ante-chamber, with the dais for the eult-image against the south wall. The western portion is grouped around two smaller courts, and, as its arrangement resembles that of a private dwelling-house, we may regard it as the quarters of the resident priesthood. Other notable features are the three service-chambers to the shrine, and the three separate entrances to the temple itself, each with its own vestibule and porters' room. But there is only one narrow passage, extending partly behind the shrine and containing, as suggested, a ramp or stairway to the roof. There was probably an altar before the northern gate, as shown in the restoration, but only the paved area on which it stood was found to be still in place.
FIG. 24.CONJECTURAL RESTORATION OF THE UNIDENTIFIED TEMPLE KNOWN AS "Z."The view is taken from a point immediately opposite the north corner of the temple. The stepped battlements on walls and towers, borrowed from military architecture, are here adopted in accordance with one theory of reconstruction. (After Andrae and Koldewey.)
FIG. 24.
CONJECTURAL RESTORATION OF THE UNIDENTIFIED TEMPLE KNOWN AS "Z."
The view is taken from a point immediately opposite the north corner of the temple. The stepped battlements on walls and towers, borrowed from military architecture, are here adopted in accordance with one theory of reconstruction. (After Andrae and Koldewey.)
In the temples dedicated to Ishtar of Akkad and to the god Ninib the shrines are on the west side of the great court, instead of on the south as in those we have already examined. Thus it would seem there was no special position for the shrine, though the temples themselves are generally built with their corners directed approximately to the cardinal points.[142]In the temple of Ishtar unmistakable traces have been noted of a simple form of mural decoration thatappears to have been employed in all the temples of Babylon. While the walls in general were coloured dead white with a thin gypsum wash, certain of the more prominent parts, such as the main entrance, the doorway leading to the shrine and the niche behind the statue of the goddess, were washed over with black asphalt in solution, each blackened surface being decorated near its edge with white strips or line-borders. The contrast in colour presented by this black and white decoration must have been startling in its effect; no doubt, like the crude-brick material of the buildings, it was an inheritance from earlier times, and owed its retention to its traditional religious significance.
FIG. 25.GROUND-PLAN OF THE TEMPLE OF ISHTAR OF AKKAD.A: Open Court. B: Ante-chamber to Shrine. C: Shrine. El, E2: Entrance-chambers, or Vestibules, to temple.b1,b2,b3: Service-rooms for Ante-chamber,d: Service-room for Shrine,e: Well,s: Position of statue of Ishtar, on dais or postament against niche in back-wall of Shrine. 1-4: Priests' apartments or store-rooms. 5-7: Porters' rooms. 8: Entrance-chamber to small inner court. 9: Small open court in which were two circular stores or granaries. 10-14: Chambers, probably used as store-rooms, giving access to narrow passage, which possibly contained stairway or ramp to roof.(After Reuther.)
FIG. 25.
GROUND-PLAN OF THE TEMPLE OF ISHTAR OF AKKAD.
A: Open Court. B: Ante-chamber to Shrine. C: Shrine. El, E2: Entrance-chambers, or Vestibules, to temple.b1,b2,b3: Service-rooms for Ante-chamber,d: Service-room for Shrine,e: Well,s: Position of statue of Ishtar, on dais or postament against niche in back-wall of Shrine. 1-4: Priests' apartments or store-rooms. 5-7: Porters' rooms. 8: Entrance-chamber to small inner court. 9: Small open court in which were two circular stores or granaries. 10-14: Chambers, probably used as store-rooms, giving access to narrow passage, which possibly contained stairway or ramp to roof.
(After Reuther.)
In the temple of Ninib two additional shrines flank the principal one, each having its own entrance and a dais or postament for a statue. It is probable that the side shrines were devoted to the worship of subsidiary deities connected in some way with Ninib, for thetemple as a whole was dedicated solely to him. This we learn from Nabopolassar's foundation-cylinders, buried below the pavement of the shrine, which relate how the king erected the building in his honour, on an earlier foundation, after he had kept back the foot of the Assyrian from the land of Akkad and had thrown off his heavy yoke.[143]It was fitting that he should have marked his gratitude in this way to the god of war.
FIG. 26.GROUND-PLAN OF THE TEMPLE OF NINIB.A: Open Court. C: Shrine of Ninib. NC, SC: Subsidiary shrines for other deities,s, s, s: Postaments for statues of Ninib and the other deities, set against niches in the wall exactly opposite the entrances. E1, E2, E3: Entrance-chambers or Vestibules, to temple,d: Crude-brick altar. 1, 2, 6, 7: Porters' rooms. 3-6, 11, 12: Priests' apartments or store-rooms. 10: Small open court. 8, 9: Chambers giving access to narrow passage behind the shrines, which possibly contained stairway or ramp to roof.(After Andrae.)
FIG. 26.
GROUND-PLAN OF THE TEMPLE OF NINIB.
A: Open Court. C: Shrine of Ninib. NC, SC: Subsidiary shrines for other deities,s, s, s: Postaments for statues of Ninib and the other deities, set against niches in the wall exactly opposite the entrances. E1, E2, E3: Entrance-chambers or Vestibules, to temple,d: Crude-brick altar. 1, 2, 6, 7: Porters' rooms. 3-6, 11, 12: Priests' apartments or store-rooms. 10: Small open court. 8, 9: Chambers giving access to narrow passage behind the shrines, which possibly contained stairway or ramp to roof.
(After Andrae.)
The most interesting temple of Babylon is naturally that dedicated to the worship of the city-god. This was the famous E-sagila, a great part of which still lies buried some twenty-one metres below the surface ofTell 'Amrân.[144]Its main portion, lying to the west, is practically square in ground-plan, and like the smaller temples of the city, it consists of chambers grouped around an open court; but their arrangement here is far more symmetrical.[145]There was a great gateway in the centre of each side, where in Neriglissar's time stood the eight bronze serpents, a pair of them beside each entrance.[146]The eastern gate was no doubt the principal one, as it gives access to the inner court through a single great vestibule or entrance-chamber, in striking contrast to the smaller vestibules on the north and south sides, from which the court can be reached only through side-corridors.[147]Around the great court within, the temple doorways and towers are arranged symmetrically. The shrine of Marduk lay on its western side, as may be inferred from the façade and towered entrance. This was the E-kua of the inscriptions, which Nebuchadnezzar states he made to shine like the sun, coating its walls with gold as though with gypsum-plaster, a phrase which recalls the mud and gypsum washes of the other temples. "The best of my cedars," he says, "that I brought from Lebanon, the noble forest, I sought out for the roofing of Ekua, [Marduk's] lordly chamber; the mighty cedars I covered with gleaming gold for the roofing of Ekua."[148]The lavish employment of gold in the temple's decoration is attested by Herodotus, who states that in this, "the lower temple,"[149]was a great seated figure of Zeus, which, like the throne, the dais, and the table before it, was fashioned of gold, the metal weighing altogether eight hundred talents.[150]