06.09.2017
Pergamonmuseum
Labbu, the lion from the Processional Way, is now a cute plush toy made by the Steiff toy company, available via the webshop of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin and from the gift shop Buchhandlung Walther König in the Pergamonmuseum.
In the ancient Near East ‘Labbu’ was the word for lion. Now it is also the name of a plush toy handcrafted by the Steiff toy company. From its pacing stance to the distinctive appearance of its mane, the toy faithfully recreates its fellows from the Processional Way. In the 6th century BC King Nebuchadnezzar II had the bricks of the Babylonian ceremonial way decorated with 120 nearly life-size lions. Over two thousand years later the remains of these bricks were discovered during excavations in Babylon, now in Iraq. Some 30 of the original 120 lions of the Processional Way are now displayed in the Pergamonmuseum in Berlin. They were painstakingly reconstructed from thousands of brick fragments.
In homage to the magnificent, world-famous buildings of Babylon, Labbu the lion is now available for purchase via the webshop of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin or from Buchhandlung Walther König in the Pergamonmuseum: