The Ishtar Hotel is a

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

located on

Firdos Square Firdos Square ( ar, ساحة الفردوس, Sāḥat al-Firdaus) is a public open space in central Baghdad, Iraq. It is named after the Arabic word ''Firdows'', which means "paradise". The site has been the location of several monumental artworks ...

. At 99 meters tall, it is the tallest building in Baghdad and the tallest structure in Iraq after the Baghdad Tower.

History

Named after the ancient goddess

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 S ...

, the hotel opened in 1982 as the Ishtar Sheraton Hotel & Casino (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

, فندق شيراتون عشتار). It was one of the most popular western-run hotels in Baghdad. When the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

began in 1991,

Sheraton Hotels Sheraton Hotels and Resorts is an international semi-luxury hotel chain owned by Marriott International. As of June 30, 2020, Sheraton operates 446 hotels with 155,617 rooms globally, including locations in North America, Africa, Asia Pacific, Ce ...

severed their management contract with the Iraqi government, which built and owned the property. The hotel continued to use the Sheraton name without permission for the following 22 years. While the hotel was briefly popular with foreign journalists and contractors after the

2003 invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...

, its occupancy level soon dropped sharply. The hotel, an obvious and imposing target, was periodically hit with mortar or

rocket A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely fr ...

fire during the early years of the post-

Saddam Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...

era. The structure was seriously damaged during a bomb attack in October 2005 and was closed for more than a year afterward. Thirty-seven were killed in a car bomb attack outside of the hotel on January 25, 2010. This hotel was renovated in 2011, along with five other of the biggest hotels in Baghdad, in preparation for the 2012 Arab League summit. The renovations were done by a Turkish company. During the Arab League summit, officials from various countries stayed at the hotel, along with journalists. The hotel was renamed Cristal Grand Ishtar Hotel in March 2013.http://www.cristalhospitality.com/cristalgrand/iraq/baghdad/cristalgrandishtarhotel The lobby features a marble statue of Isthar, standing on a fountain in the shape of the

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, w ...

and the Star of

Shamash Utu (dUD "Sun"), also known under the Akkadian name Shamash, ''šmš'', syc, ܫܡܫܐ ''šemša'', he, שֶׁמֶשׁ ''šemeš'', ar, شمس ''šams'', Ashurian Aramaic: 𐣴𐣬𐣴 ''š'meš(ā)'' was the ancient Mesopotamian sun god. ...

Gallery

Image:Palestine Meridian hotel and Ishtar Sheraton hotel.jpg, Ishtar Hotel on left, Palestine Hotel on right Image:The Sheraton Ishtar Hotel - Flickr - Al Jazeera English.jpg, Ishtar Sheraton Hotel, 2010 Image:Baghdad hotel بغداد.jpg, Lobby of Ishtar Hotel with statue of Ishtar

History

Gallery

See also