The
Hanging Gardens of Babylon were considered to be one of the greatest
Seven Wonders of the Ancient WorldThe Seven Wonders of the World refers to remarkable constructions of classical antiquity listed by various authors in guidebooks popular among the ancient Hellenic tourists, particularly in the 1st and 2nd centuries BC...
, and the only one of the Wonders which may in fact have been legendary. They were purportedly built in the ancient
city-stateA city-state is an independent or autonomous entity whose territory consists of a city which is not administered as a part of another local government.-Historical city-states:...
of
BabylonBabylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
, near present-day
Al Hillah,
Babil, in
IraqIraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
. They are sometimes called the
Hanging Gardens of Semiramis (in reference to the legendary
Queen SemiramisThe real and historical Shammuramat , was the Assyrian queen of Shamshi-Adad V , King of Assyria and ruler of the Neo Assyrian Empire, and its regent for four years until her son Adad-nirari III came of age....
).
The
gardenA garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The garden can incorporate both natural and man-made materials. The most common form today is known as a residential garden, but the term garden has...
s were supposedly built by the
Neo-Babylonian EmpireThe Neo-Babylonian Empire or Second Babylonian Empire was a period of Mesopotamian history which began in 626 BC and ended in 539 BC. During the preceding three centuries, Babylonia had been ruled by their fellow Akkadian speakers and northern neighbours, Assyria. Throughout that time Babylonia...
king Nebuchadnezzar II around 601 BC. He is reported to have constructed the gardens to please his homesick wife,
AmytisAmuhia or Amytis of Media was the daughter or granddaughter of the king Cyaxares, and the wife of Nebuchadnezzar II.-Birth:Amytis was either born to Cyaxares and his wife or to Cyaxares's son and daughter-in-law...
of
Media
, who longed for the trees and fragrant plants of her homeland. The gardens were said to have been destroyed by several earthquakes after the 2nd century BC.
The lush Hanging Gardens are extensively documented by
GreekThe Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
historiansHistory is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
such as
StraboStrabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...
and
Diodorus SiculusDiodorus Siculus was a Greek historian who flourished between 60 and 30 BC. According to Diodorus' own work, he was born at Agyrium in Sicily . With one exception, antiquity affords no further information about Diodorus' life and doings beyond what is to be found in his own work, Bibliotheca...
. Through the ages, the location may have been confused with gardens that existed at
NinevehNineveh was an ancient Assyrian city on the eastern bank of the Tigris River, and capital of the Neo Assyrian Empire. Its ruins are across the river from the modern-day major city of Mosul, in the Ninawa Governorate of Iraq....
, since tablets from there clearly show gardens. Writings on these tablets describe the possible use of something similar to an Archimedes screw as a process of raising the water to the required height. Nebuchadnezzar II is also reported to have used massive slabs of stone, which was unheard of in Babylon, to prevent the water from eroding the ground.
Greek references
"Babylon, too, lies in a plain; and the circuit of its wall is three hundred and eighty-five stadia. The thickness of its wall is thirty-two feet; the height thereof between the towers is fifty
cubitThe cubit is a traditional unit of length, based on the length of the forearm. Cubits of various lengths were employed in many parts of the world in Antiquity, in the Middle Ages and into Early Modern Times....
s; that of the towers is sixty cubits; the passage on top of the wall is such that four-horse
chariotThe chariot is a type of horse carriage used in both peace and war as the chief vehicle of many ancient peoples. Ox carts, proto-chariots, were built by the Proto-Indo-Europeans and also built in Mesopotamia as early as 3000 BC. The original horse chariot was a fast, light, open, two wheeled...
s can easily pass one another; and it is on this account that this and the hanging garden are called one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The garden is
quadrangularIn architecture, a quadrangle is a space or courtyard, usually rectangular in plan, the sides of which are entirely or mainly occupied by parts of a large building. The word is probably most closely associated with college or university campus architecture, but quadrangles may be found in other...
in shape, and each side is four
plethraPlethron is a measurement used in Ancient times, equal to 100 Greek feet . It was roughly the width of a typical athletic running-track, and was used as the standard width and length of a Wrestling square, since wrestling competitions were held on the racing track in early times.A plethron is...
in length. It consists of
arched vaultsA Vault is an architectural term for an arched form used to provide a space with a ceiling or roof. The parts of a vault exert lateral thrust that require a counter resistance. When vaults are built underground, the ground gives all the resistance required...
, which are situated, one after another, on checkered, cube-like foundations. The checkered foundations, which are hollowed out, are covered so deep with earth that they admit of the largest of trees, having been constructed of baked brick and
asphaltAsphalt or , also known as bitumen, is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid that is present in most crude petroleums and in some natural deposits, it is a substance classed as a pitch...
— the foundations themselves and the vaults and the arches. The ascent to the uppermost
terraceA terrace is an outdoor, occupiable extension of a building above ground level. Although its physical characteristics may vary to a great degree, a terrace will generally be larger than a balcony and will have an "open-top" facing the sky...
-roofs is made by a stairway; and alongside these stairs there were screws, through which the water was continually conducted up into the garden from the
EuphratesThe Euphrates is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia...
by those appointed for this purpose. For the river, a stadium in width, flows through the middle of the city; and the garden is on the bank of the river."
"The Garden was 100 feet (30.5 m) long by 100 ft wide and built up in tiers so that it resembled a theatre. Vaults had been constructed under the ascending terraces which carried the entire weight of the planted garden; the uppermost vault, which was seventy-five feet high, was the highest part of the garden, which, at this point, was on the same level as the city walls. The roofs of the vaults which supported the garden were constructed of stone beams some sixteen feet long, and over these were laid first a layer of reeds set in thick tar, then two courses of baked brick bonded by cement, and finally a covering of lead to prevent the moisture in the soil penetrating the roof. On top of this roof enough topsoil was heaped to allow the biggest trees to take root. The earth was levelled off and thickly planted with every kind of tree. And since the galleries projected one beyond the other, where they were sunlit, they contained conduits for the water which was raised by pumps in great abundance from the river, though no one outside could see it being done."
Other references
Scriptores Rerum Alexandrii Magni
- "And then there were the Hanging Gardens. Paracleisos going up to the top is like climbing a mountain. Each terrace rises up from the last like the syrinx
In classical mythology, Syrinx was a nymph and a follower of Artemis, known for her chastity. Pursued by the amorous Greek god Pan, she ran to the river's edge and asked for assistance from the river nymphs. In answer, she was transformed into hollow water reeds that made a haunting sound when...
, the pipes of pan, which are made of several tubes of unequal length. This gives the appearance of a theater. It was flanked by perfectly constructed walls twenty-six feet thick. The galleries were roofed with stone balconiesBalcony , a platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade.-Types:The traditional Maltese balcony is a wooden closed balcony projecting from a...
. Above these there was the first of a bed of reedsPhragmites, the Common reed, is a large perennial grass found in wetlands throughout temperate and tropical regions of the world. Phragmites australis is sometimes regarded as the sole species of the genus Phragmites, though some botanists divide Phragmites australis into three or four species...
with a great quantity of bitumen, then a double layer of baked bricks set in gypsumGypsum is a very soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula CaSO4·2H2O. It is found in alabaster, a decorative stone used in Ancient Egypt. It is the second softest mineral on the Mohs Hardness Scale...
, then over that a covering of lead so that moisture from the soil heaped above it would not seep through. The earth was deep enough to contain the roots of the many varieties of trees which fascinated the beholder with their great size and their beauty. There was also a passage which had pipes leading up to the highest level and machinery for raising water through which great quantities of water were drawn from the river, with none of the process being visible from the outside."
Controversy
There is some controversy as to whether the Hanging Gardens were an actual creation or a poetic creation owing to the lack of documentation of them in the chronicles of Babylonian history. In ancient writings the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were first described by
BerossusBerossus was a Hellenistic-era Babylonian writer, a priest of Bel Marduk and astronomer writing in Greek, who was active at the beginning of the 3rd century BC...
, a Babylonian
priestA priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
who lived in the late 4th century BC, although his books are known only from quotations by later authors (e.g., Flavius Josephus). These accounts were later elaborated on by
GreekThe Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
historians.
A more recent theory proposes that the gardens were actually constructed under the orders of
SennacheribSennacherib |Sîn]] has replaced brothers for me"; Aramaic: ) was the son of Sargon II, whom he succeeded on the throne of Assyria .-Rise to power:...
, who took the throne of
AssyriaAssyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
in 705 BC, reigning until 681 BC. During new studies of the location of
NinevehNineveh was an ancient Assyrian city on the eastern bank of the Tigris River, and capital of the Neo Assyrian Empire. Its ruins are across the river from the modern-day major city of Mosul, in the Ninawa Governorate of Iraq....
(Located on the eastern bank of the
TigrisThe Tigris River is the eastern member of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of southeastern Turkey through Iraq.-Geography:...
in ancient
AssyriaAssyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
) his gardens were placed close to the entrance of his palace, on the bank of the river Tigris. It is possible that in the intervening centuries, the two sites became confused, and the hanging gardens were attributed to Babylon.
Popular references
- The Hanging Gardens of Babylon feature in Matthew Reilly
Matthew John Reilly is an Australian action thriller writer. His novels are noted for their fast pace, twisting plots and intense action.- Biography :...
's fictional action novel Seven Ancient WondersSeven Ancient Wonders is a book written by the Australian author Matthew Reilly in 2005. Its sequel, The Six Sacred Stones was released in the fall of 2007...
.
- The Hanging Gardens of Babylon is a level featured in The Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones
Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones is an action-adventure computer and video game developed and published by Ubisoft Montreal. It was released in December, 2005 in North America for the Xbox, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, and the Nintendo GameCube...
.
- The Hanging Gardens of Babylon is part of a level featured in the game Titan Quest
Titan Quest is an action RPG developed by Iron Lore Entertainment. It was released worldwide by THQ on June 26, 2006. The game was released on Steam, along with the expansion Titan Quest: Immortal Throne, on July 17, 2007...
.
- The Hanging Gardens of Babylon is a dungeon in the MMORPG
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
Atlantica OnlineAtlantica Online is a free to play 3D massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by NDOORS Corporation. The game is set in an alternate history Earth, with the game map consisting of large parts of the northern hemisphere...
.
- The Hanging Gardens of Babylon is the setting for certain scenes in Giuseppe Verdi's
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
opera NabuccoNabucco is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera, based on the Biblical story and the 1836 play by Auguste Anicet-Bourgeois and Francis Cornue...
.
External links
- Seven Wonders of the World: The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
- Technology and Culture Volume 44, Number 1, January 2003] Dalley, Stephanie. Oleson, John Peter
John Peter Oleson is a Canadian classical archaeologist and historian of ancient technology. His main interests are the Roman Near East, maritime archaeology , and ancient technology, especially hydraulic technology, water-lifting devices, and Roman concrete construction.- Life :Born in 1946 in...
. "Sennacherib, Archimedes, and the Water Screw: The Context of Invention in the Ancient World"