Talk about your historic brickwork. This lion was created in 575 BC when the Ishtar Gate was built at the order of King Nebuchadnezzar II as the eigth gate to the inner city of Babylon. The Ishtar Gate was discovered near the end of the nineteenth century, excavated and transported to Germany. A portion of the gate was reassembled in the 1930's in this museum for display. I can only imagine how impressive the Ishtar Gate must have been to the people visiting Babylon over 2,500 years ago.