A Wonder to Behold: Craftsmanship and the Creation of Babylon's Ishtar Gate

Edited by Anastasia Amrhein, Clare Fitzgerald, and Elizabeth Knott
Distributed for the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University
ISBN: 9780691200156
Pages: 186 pages.
Illustrations: 160 color illus.
Dimensions: 9 x 10 1/2 inches

In the ancient Near East, expert craftspeople were more than technicians: they numbered among those special members of society who could access the divine. While the artisans’ names are largely unknown today, their legacy remains in the form of spectacular artworks and monuments. One of the most celebrated works of antiquity—the Ishtar Gate and its affiliated Processional Way—featured a dazzling array of colorful beasts assembled from molded, baked, and glazed bricks. Such an awe-inspiring structure demanded the highest level of craft; each animal was created from dozens of bricks that interlocked like a jigsaw. Yet this display of technical and artistic skill also served a ritual purpose, since the Gate provided a divinely protected entrance to the sacred inner city of Babylon.

A Wonder to Behold explores ancient Near Eastern ideas about the transformative power of materials and craftsmanship in relation to the Ishtar Gate. This beautifully illustrated catalogue accompanies an exhibition at New York University’s Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (November 6, 2019–May 24, 2020). Essays by archaeologists, art historians, curators, conservators, and text specialists examine a wide variety of artifacts from major American and European institutions. Contributors include Anastasia Amrhein, Heather Baker, Jean-François de Lapérouse, Eduardo A. Escobar, Anja Fügert, Sarah B. Graff, Helen Gries, Elizabeth Knott, Katherine A. Larson, Beate Pongratz-Leisten, Shiyanthi Thavapalan, and May-Sarah Zeßin. Use Promo Code "25W" at Checkout for 25% off this item from November 25 to December 25, 2022