Reconstruction of the west façade of the vice-regent’s palace

Under the Parthians (2nd century BC to 3rd century AD), Ashur was the seat of a Parthian vice-regent. In 1930 Walter Andrae reconstructed opposite Babylon’s Ishtar Gate one of the partially painted stucco façades from the court of his palace in the south of Ashur (Room 9). It is fascinating to look at this richly structured Parthian palace façade through the Miletus Market Gate from the adjacent architecture hall of the Collection of Classical Antiquities: in a single glance one crosses the border between Occident and Orient, and one is able make a direct comparison between a classical and an oriental façade arrangement.