A few shots of Babylon!

[D B Campbell]

The Ishtar Gate is fantastic, isn't it? Glad to see it's still standing!

I think it's a copy; Berlin has the original.

Sorry, Jona. I meant I'm glad that Saddam's copy is still standing after the Iraq War. It is a beautiful sight.

I stood in Babylon, where Bryan and his compadres are standing, 25 years ago, when things were a lot quieter. Saddam's reproduction is on a smaller scale than the original, perhaps because it was intended to be the entrance to a museum which was never built. As I recall, all the bricks are stamped with his name!

[Jona Lendering]

As I recall, all the bricks are stamped with his name!

Yes, that's something you recall correctly. At least, I have heard that often.

[Wander]

I read somewhere else years ago that the Ishtar Gate replica is actually 1/2 scale; that should be easy to verify if the original is in Germany.

[D B Campbell]

Here's a picture of its discovery in the early 1900s -- amazing!

Looks about twice the size of Saddam's reproduction, judging by the size of the by-stander and the scale of the dragons.

[Wander]

If he's going to go to the trouble, why not go ahead and build a full-scale replica? Seems a waste -- but then, I never did think like Saddam.

(Great pic, by the way!)

[texascavtrooper]

Duncan,
Yes the museum was built but after the war started it was looted very badly and has to be refurbished. While I was there I did some accedental archaeology. I was walking through the part that was still in ruins with the guide when I triped. I looked back and saw what I had triped on. It was an old oil lamp complete unbroken. I asked the guide what it was and if I could keep it. She snatch it from me and asked where I got it I told her and she said "no". It's now in the museum. Oh well.

[Sean Manning]

Saddam did have a thing for ancient Babylon. I guess that was a mixed blessing for the site, though ...

His space-gun project (he wanted to launch satellites by cannon, Jules Verne style ... the objection being that he could have launched missiles the same way) was Project Babylon. Like a lot of his plans, that was wrecked in the First Gulf War, although his chief engineer had just been murdered in Belgium anyways.

[texascavtrooper]

Yes he did have a thing about Babylon. In one of the pics that has me in it and Babylon in the back ground. I am standing on the patio of Saddam's palace. He also had all kinds of things made for the restoration of the city. He wanted to rebuild the whole city and make it the new capital.