The Hanging Gardens of Babylon (also known as Hanging Gardens of Semiramis) and the walls of Babylon (near present-day Baghdad in Iraq) were considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World. They were both supposedly built by Nebuchadnezzar II around 600 BC. He is reported to have ordered the construction of the gardens to please his wife, Amyitis of Media, who longed for the trees and beautiful plants of her homeland. The lush Hanging Gardens are extensively documented by Greek historians such as Strabo and Diodorus Siculus, but otherwise there is little evidence for their existence. In fact, there are no Babylonian records of any such gardens having existed. Some circumstantial evidence gathered at the excavation of the palace at Babylon has accrued, but does not completely substantiate what look like fanciful descriptions. Through the ages, the location may have been confused with gardens that existed at Nineveh, 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.
 A hanging garden, 21st century interpretation |
See also
- Seven Wonders of the World
- History of Iraq
- Babylon
- Tower of Babel
- Semiramis
- Terraces (Bahá'í): also known the Bahá'í Hanging Gardens; Haifa; Israel
- Gardening
- History of gardening
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. "Sennacherib, Archimedes, and the Water Screw: The Context of Invention in the Ancient World"