The Museum of the Ancient Near East stands among prestigious peers such as the Louvre and the British Museum as one of the world's premier institutions of ancient artifacts from the Near East. Spanning an area of 2,000 square meters, the collection of antiquities transports visitors back 6,000 years in time to a realm of culture, history, and art.
In the southern wing of the Pergamonmuseum, 14 rooms are dedicated to this vast, comprehensive collection of architectural pieces, reliefs, and smaller objects, many of which were discovered by German archaeologists and are of global historical significance. Originating mainly from Sumerian, Babylonian, Assyrian, and northern Syrian/eastern Anatolian regions, the artifacts shed light on the areas now comprising of Iraq, Syria, and Turkey.
The Babylonian Hall is home to a myriad of attractions, the most iconic being the Processional Way, the Ishtar Gate and the facade of the throne hall of King Nebuchadnezzar II, all of which have been replicated to their original size with the painstaking assembly of broken glazed bricks. Lions, bulls, and dragons adorn the walls, representing the major gods of Babylon.
The main attractions in the Babylonian Hall include the model of the Tower of Babel which was dedicated to Marduk, the chief god of the city, and a copy of the famous stela bearing the laws of King Hammurapi.