Great Pyramid

Colossus

Hanging Gardens

Mausoleum

Zeus

Lighthouse

Artemis

References

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Babylon, capitol of Babylonia, was at its peak from about 620-550 BC. It was ruled by warrior kings, and the Babylonian empire included all of the towns and people around it. Barges and merchant ships on the river, and mule trains and camel trains over land brought traders from all parts of the world, eager to barter the wealth of their own countries for Babylonian corn. The city's treasuries bulged with gold, silver, ebony, ivory, silk, and precious stones; its streets, fields, and warehouses bustled with slaves; its walls and temples glittered with ornament; and its parks were filled with plants and trees from every place in the world.

In 605 BC Nebuchadnezzar became king of Babylon. He was the most successful warrior king ever. The only people Nebuchadnezzar did not try to conquer were the Medes. They lived in the wild mountain country far to Babylon's north. Instead of fighting, Nebuchadnezzar won the Medes over by marrying their princess, Amytis, and made a friendly alliance between the two nations. Amytis had never lived anywhere besides the mountains, and she was used to them, but Babylonia was flat. She watched Nebuchadnezzar's men building walls, temples, and city gates, and she longed for the mountains. Nebuchadnezzar ordered his men to build the Hanging Gardens to remind Amytis of her home.

The first thing that they did to build the gardens was to make a series of brick arches to hold them. They were ten stories high, and had a shaded courtyard underneath. On top of them, the workmen built brick terraces. They lined the terraces with lead and put a thick layer of soil on top. On the platform Nebuchadnezzar's men planted every imaginable kind of tree and plant, importing them from all over the kingdom. Babylon's people saw to it that the gardens would not be a wonder for a only few weeks or months so they made an irrigation system where there was a chain of buckets controlled by slaves who would keep the buckets going around in circles, taking water from the river to the gardens.

The Hanging Gardens lasted after Nebuchadnezzar and Amytis died and still existed during Alexander the Great's time, but now all that is left is a pile of dusty rubble.