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The Lion of Babylon is an ancient
The Lion of Babylon is an ancient Babylonia
Babylonia (; Akkadian: , ''māt Akkadī'') was an ancient Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Syria). It emerged as an Amorite-ruled state c ...
n symbol.
History
Antiquity
The Lion of Babylon symbolically represented theKing of Babylon
The king of Babylon (Akkadian: ''šakkanakki Bābili'', later also ''šar Bābili'') was the ruler of the ancient Mesopotamian city of Babylon and its kingdom, Babylonia, which existed as an independent realm from the 19th century BC to its fall ...
.Benjamin Sass, Joachim Marzahn. Aramaic and figural stamp impressions on bricks of the sixth century B.C. from Babylon. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, 2010. Pp. 181-182.
The depiction is based on the Mesopotamian lion
The Asiatic lion is a population of ''Panthera leo leo'' that today survives in the wild only in India. Since the turn of the 20th century, its range has been restricted to Gir National Park and the surrounding areas in the Indian state of Gujar ...
, which used to roam in the region.
It represents Ishtar
Inanna, also sux, 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒀭𒈾, nin-an-na, label=none is an ancient Mesopotamian goddess of love, war, and fertility. She is also associated with beauty, sex, divine justice, and political power. She was originally worshiped in Su ...
, goddess of fertility, love, and war.
Modern
The lion featured as thedexter
Dexter may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Dexter, the main character of the American animated series '' Dexter's Laboratory'' that aired from 1996 to 2003
* Dexter, a fictional character in the British web series ''Diary of a Bad Man''
* Dext ...
supporter
In heraldry, supporters, sometimes referred to as ''attendants'', are figures or objects usually placed on either side of the shield and depicted holding it up.
Early forms of supporters are found in medieval seals. However, unlike the coro ...
on the coat of arms of Iraq
The Emblem of Iraq since Baath's coups d'état features a golden black eagle looking towards the viewer's left dexter. The eagle is the Eagle of Saladin associated with 20th-century pan-Arabism, bearing a shield of the Iraqi flag, and holding ...
from 1932–1959.
Gallery
See also
*Star of Ishtar
The Star of Ishtar or Star of Inanna is a Mesopotamian symbol of the ancient Sumerian goddess Inanna and her East Semitic counterpart Ishtar. The owl was also one of Ishtar's primary symbols. Ishtar is mostly associated with the planet Venus, ...
*Ziggurat
A ziggurat (; Cuneiform: 𒅆𒂍𒉪, Akkadian: ', D-stem of ' 'to protrude, to build high', cognate with other Semitic languages like Hebrew ''zaqar'' (זָקַר) 'protrude') is a type of massive structure built in ancient Mesopotamia. It has ...
*Lion of Babylon (statue)
Lion of Babylon is a stone sculpture, over 2600 years old, that was found in the ancient city of Babylon, Iraq. It was discovered in 1876 by a German archaeological mission.
The statue may have been commissioned by the Chaldean Babylonian kin ...
*Lion of Judah
The Lion of Judah ( he, אריה יהודה, ) is a Jewish national and cultural symbol, traditionally regarded as the symbol of the tribe of Judah. The association between the Judahites and the lion can first be found in the blessing given b ...
References
External links
* Babylon Mythological lions National symbols of Iraq Lions in heraldry ar:أسد بابل bg:Асад Бабил es:T-72 León de Babilonia it:Lion of Babylon ms:Kereta kebal Singa Babylon {{heraldry-stub