Built: Circa 600 BC

Location: In Babylon, located on the East bank of the River Euphrates, 50 km south of Baghdad, Iraq

History:

It may surprise some to know that the Hanging Gardens may only be a fable, and that it had only existed in the imagination of Greek poets and historians. There were no accounts of the Hanging Gardens in the Babylonian record tablets during the time of the structure’s creation.

It is believed that the gardens were built by King Nebuchadnezzar II to please his homesick wife, Semiramis. She missed the hills of her Persian homeland and disliked Babylon’s flatness. So Nebuchadnezzar built her a man made hill in the form of terraced gardens.

The most descriptive accounts of the Gardens by Greek historians were gathered from tales told by Alexander’s soldiers who were at Mesopotamia and saw Babylon. It could be that the poets and ancient historians used their imagination to combine the stories of the palace of Nebuchadnezzar, the Tower of Babel and the ziggurats to produce the Hanging Gardens.

To this day, archaeologists are still struggling to solve the mystery of this Ancient Wonder and to gather enough evidence to discover the location of the Gardens and their true appearance.

Description:

According to the detailed descriptions written by Greek poets and historians, the Hanging Gardens were a mountain-like series of planted terraces. The structure is quadrangular in shape, with an area of approximately 400 feet square, and rose to a height of 100 m (328 ft). It was surrounded by a reinforcing wall seven metres (23 feet) thick. The terraces were connected with wide marble staircases, which were supported by rows of arches.

Stone flowerbeds lay along each terrace and were filled with an abundance of exotic trees and flowers. A series of cisterns located at the top terrace fed the fountains, waterfalls and streams that kept the plants watered. Some believed that slaves were used to turn screws that pumped water from nearby Euphrates River.