The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were described as a wonder of the ancient world, but their existence is disputed by archaeologists. While pleasure gardens existed in Babylon, evidence does not support the grand scale described in literature. The gardens may have been confused with smaller pleasure gardens and would have required significant irrigation efforts.
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon are considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, according to descriptions reflecting an incredible feat of architecture and engineering. According to written literature on the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, they appear to have been built in a series of terraces on the banks of the Euphrates River about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from present-day Baghdad, Iraq. The profusion of plants in the gardens would have seemed to hang over the assorted terraces and balconies, possibly creating the illusion of being within a lush mountain jungle setting.
However, archaeologists dispute the existence of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Very little literature of Babylonian society records anything like the Hanging Gardens of Babylon appearing in the writings of historians such as Herodotus, who wrote about them in 450 BC. While pleasure gardens certainly existed along the banks of the Euphrates and were irrigated using ingenious pulley systems, it is unlikely that the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, at least as most people imagine them, actually existed. Archaeological evidence from the site does not support the existence of huge gardens built with huge solid stone walls and blocks, and modern interpretations of Herodotus suggest that he was describing the city as a whole, rather than a series of gardens.
In classical literature, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were described as a towering edifice of plants, terraces, structures and pillars that loomed over the river banks for miles. According to Herodotus, the gardens had immensely thick walls and were lined with stone floors that would have resisted saturation from irrigation systems. Legend has it that the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were built by Nebuchadnezzar II for a wife who came from the mountains and who missed the diverse soil and plant life of her home.
Whether or not the Hanging Gardens of Babylon existed on the scale described by ancient historians, Babylon was probably a green city, filled with a wide variety of gardens which certainly incorporated various levels of terrain. Additionally, most Babylonian houses probably had hanging gardens for decoration, food, and to refresh the house with leafy vines. Descriptions of these smaller pleasure gardens may have led to a state of confusion. The irrigation effort would also have been considerable, as that region’s dry climate does not generate enough rain to sustain elaborate gardens. The gardeners would have had to raise the water from the river in some way, perhaps laying the foundations for aqueducts and other more complex water-moving systems developed by cultures that had contact with Babylonia.
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