Description of the Hanging Gardens of BabylonHanging Gardens Babylon or Hanging Gardens Amytis (or Amanis according to other sources) is one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. According to legend, a huge artificial hill was built by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II. Ancient Greek historian Herodotus describing ancient capital Babylon, claimed that the perimeter of its outer walls was 56 miles (about 89 km) long, the thickness of the walls reached 80 feet (30 meters), and the height was 320 feet (about 100 meters). The walls of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were wide enough for two chariots drawn by four horses to easily overtake each other. The city also had internal walls that were "not so thick, but like the first they were no less powerful." Inside these double walls stood luxurious palaces and temples containing huge statues made of pure gold. Towering over the city was the famous Tower of Babel, the temple of the god Marduk, which seemed to reach to the heavens, and of course the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. |
Hanging Gardens of Babylon - Seven Facts Location: City of Babylon (modern Iraq) |
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| Hilt | Adrianov Val | Antonine Wall | Skara Bray |
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| Coliseum | Chichen Itza | Teotihuacan | the great Wall of China |
| Side | Stonehenge | Jerusalem | Petra |
Archaeological excavations carried out in ancient Babylon dispute some of Herodotus's claims (the outer walls were 10 miles (16 km) long and not that high).
However, his narrative does give us a sense of what an amazing city Babylon was and the effect it had on the ancient people. Oddly enough, one of the city's most impressive sights was not even mentioned by Herodotus, namely the Hanging Gardens of Babylon or the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Reconstruction
Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Gift for the homesick wife
Historical records state that the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were built by King Nebuchadnezzar II, who ruled the city for 43 years starting in 605 BC. This was the height of the power and influence of the city and King Nebuchadnezzar himself, who is known to have built an amazing array of temples, streets, palaces and walls. He particularly distinguished himself in the history of Babylon for defeating the Assyrian Empire, which twice took Babylon and destroyed it. Together with Cyaxares, king of Media (modern-day Iraq, Iran and parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan), they divided the Assyrian empire among themselves, and to maintain the alliance, Nebuchadnezzar II married Cyaxares' daughter, Amytis.
It is believed that Nebuchadnezzar built the luxurious Hanging Gardens of Babylon for his homesick wife, Amytis. Amytis, the daughter of the king of Media, married Nebuchadnezzar to create an alliance between the two countries. Her homeland was covered with green hills and mountains, and the area of Mesopotamia, of course, does not have any hills. The king decided to cure her depression by recreating part of her homeland by creating an artificial mountain with a garden.
There is an alternative story that the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were built by the Assyrian queen Semiramis or Shammuramat (812-803 BC) during her five-year reign. Although she was the wife of the Assyrian king Shamshi-Adad V, she was Babylonian by blood.
The Greek geographer Strabo, who described the Hanging Gardens of Babylon in the first century BC, described the Gardens of Babylon as follows:
Garden[Semiramis] had a quadrangular shape, and each side was four plethra in length. It consists of arched vaults, which are located one above the other, on checkered, cubic columns. Checkered selections that have been hollowed out are covered with a layer deep earth, so they allow the largest trees. All this is supported by a series of vaults and arches. You can climb to the uppermost terrace by stairs; next to these stairs there are screws, with the help of which workers appointed specifically for this purpose constantly raised water from the Euphrates into the garden. And the garden is located on the river bank
Problem with Water and Irrigation of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon
Strabo argued that it was the solution to the irrigation of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon that was truly the most amazing engineering problem that was solved by the ancients. Babylon is located in a dry region; rains are not very frequent here. In order for the garden to survive, the trees and bushes had to be irrigated with water from the Euphrates River, which flowed through the city, dividing it into two parts. This meant that the water had to be raised to the very top, and from there it could flow through canals to the terraces below. This was a huge task given the lack of modern engines and pressure pumps in ancient times. We do not know exactly what these ancient devices described by Strabo looked like, but it is quite possible that they were some form of “chain pump”. For more details, you can watch a video showing the mechanism of its operation.
| The video is in English, but the graphics describing the Hanging Gardens of Babylon are quite understandable without translation |
The pump chain was stretched between two large wheels, located one above the other. Buckets were hung from chains. Under the lower wheel there is a pool with a water source. As the wheel turned, the buckets dipped into the pool and lifted the water to the top. The chain then lifted them to the upper wheel, where buckets poured water into the upper basin. The chain then carried the empty buckets back down to repeat the cycle. From the upper basin of the garden, water was drained through channels, creating artificial streams for watering the garden. |
An alternative way of getting water to the upper part of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon may have been using a screw pump (shown in the video). This device looks quite simple. A long tube was taken with one end in the lower pool, from which water was pumped, and from the other end, hanging over the upper pool, water was poured out.
The water was raised using a long internal screw, which was fitted tightly into the tube. As the propeller turns, the water is pinched between the propeller blades and forced to the top. When the water reached the top, it fell into the upper pool. Screw pumps are very
effective ways
movement of water and a number of engineers have suggested that they were used in hanging gardens. Strabo even makes references in his description of parts of the garden that can be taken as evidence that such hand pumps brought water to the top. One problem with this theory, however, is that we have little evidence that the Babylonians had a screw pump. It is believed that the screw pump was invented by the Greek engineer Archimedes from the Sicilian city of Syracuse in 250 BC, more than 300 years after the construction of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. However, let’s not forget that the Greeks are a proud people and could completely ignore the achievements of other peoples. Construction of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon
During the construction of the Gardens of Babylon, it was necessary to take into account not only the severity of the water supplied to the top, but also its destructive properties on the structure itself. Since the stone was difficult to find on the Mesopotamian plain,
"a covering with sheets of lead, which retained moisture which was absorbed through the ground and allowed the foundation to be destroyed. The ground level was deep enough for the growth of the largest trees. When the soil was laid and leveled, all kinds of trees were planted in it, both for grandeur and beauty , or maybe for the admiration of the audience."
How big were the Gardens of Babylon? Diodorus tells us that they were about 400 feet wide by 400 feet (about 130 meters by 130 meters) long and over 80 feet (25 meters) high. Other calculations show that the height was equal to the height of the outer city wall given to us by Herodotus, which he stated was 320 feet (100 meters) high. In any case, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were an amazing sight: a green, artificial mountain clearly stood out against the background of the plain.
Description of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon in the works of antiquity
In fact, everything we know about gardens comes to us from ancient works. As we will describe below, the location of the gardens itself has not yet been clarified. Let's start with who built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Josephus (37-100 AD) gives a description of the gardens, making reference to Berosus (or Berosus), a Babylonian priest of the god Marduk who lived c. 290 BC. Berossus described the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II and was the only source who claimed that it was Nebuchadnezzar II who built this miracle.
"In this palace he installed very high paths supported by stone columns; and he planted a garden, and called it a curtained gardenparadise, and replenished with all kinds of trees, he made an exact likeness mountainous country. He did this to
to please his queen, because she was raised in Media and also loved Mountain landscape"
Diodorus Siculus (c. 60-30 BC), made references to Clitarchus (historian of Alexander the Great) and Ctesias of Cnidus, who lived in the 4th centuries BC. Diodorus attributes the construction to a Syrian king.
The park extends for four plethra on each side, and since the approach to the garden is inclined, like the side of a hill, and several parts of the structure grow one out of the other, tier upon tier, appearance Overall it was like a theatre. When the ascending terraces were built, galleries were built there, which bore the entire weight of the sown garden; and the upper gallery, which was fifty cubits high, bore the highest platform of the park, which was made on the same level as the battlements of the city walls. Moreover, the walls, which were built at great expense, were twenty-two feet thick, while the passage between each two walls was ten feet wide. The bottom of the gardens was laid with a layer of reeds laid in large quantities bitumen, and above these two layers was placed a layer of baked brick bound with cement, and as the last layer there was a covering of lead, so that moisture from the soil could not penetrate downwards. Soil was laid on top of all this to a depth sufficient for roots. largest trees; the ground was leveled, densely planted with trees of every kind, which, from their large size or charm, could give pleasure to the spectator.
Galleries, each of which projects one after the other, they all receive light, and contain many royal residences of all kinds; there was also one gallery which contained openings leading to the upper surface and machines for supplying water to the gardens, the machines raising water in great abundance from the river, although no one outside could see how it was done. Now this park, as I said, was a late construction.
The Legend of Queen Semiramis
Where did Semiramis come from and was she a real character in the history of the region? This seemingly simple question does not have a clear answer. On the one hand, many historians identify Semiramis with the Assyrian princess Shammuramat (812-803 BC), but not everything is so simple. This is what the ancient authors tell us: “In ancient times there was a city in Syria called Ascalon, and next to it deep lake , where the temple of the goddess Atargatis (Atargatida, also Derketo) stood." According to myth, she fell from the sky near Bambiki, and a fish living in the lake saved her. The goddess, in gratitude, made the fish into the constellation Pisces and fixed it in the heavens. By the way, that’s why the temple , dedicated to Atargatis, was made in the shape of a fish with. The goddess of love Aphrodite was angry with Atargatis-Atargatis-Derketo and made her fall in love with a simple mortal youth.
Atargatis gave birth to a daughter, but, irritated by the inequality of the marriage, she killed the young man. The goddess abandoned her daughter and disappeared into the lake. The daughter Semiramis was left completely alone. Local pigeons began to take care of the orphan. They warmed her with the warmth of their bodies, and fed her milk, and later cheese, which they brought in their beaks. Later, the shepherds found the baby after hearing her cry. They took the beautiful child and took her to Simmas, the keeper of the royal flock. Simmas adopted Semiramis ("dove" in Syriac) and made her his daughter.
Semiramis grew into a lovely girl.
The beauty was noticed by Onnes, the first royal adviser to King Nin and the governor of Syria, and of course fell in love with her. He asked her father Simmas for her hand in marriage and they got married. In this marriage she gave birth to two sons. But beauty was not the only virtue of the young woman. According to legends, she had a steely character and a marvelous mind.
Of course, King Ning could not pass by such a woman and demanded that his first adviser Onnes give up his wife in peace. Onnes initially resisted, but the king threatened that he would gouge out the eyes of the disobedient servant if he did not see the master’s needs. Moreover, in exchange for Semiramis, the king promised to give his daughter Sosana. Poor Onnesa could not stand such grief, went crazy and eventually hanged himself. And Semiramis became the queen and wife of King Nin. King Nin left his governor in Bactria and returned to Nineveh in triumph.
New wife Ninia bore him a son. The death of King Nin has two versions. According to one version, Nin died a natural death, according to another, his death was violent. According to
latest version
King Nin decided to give Semiramis a birthday present. She asked to become the sole ruler for one day. The king agreed and immediately paid with his head. The insidious woman issued the first decree according to which Nina was taken out into the garden and beheaded. So Semiramis became the sole ruler of Nineveh and regent of her son, the heir of Ninya. Was the Hanging Garden of Babylon really in Nineveh? The Hanging Gardens of Babylon are undoubtedly one of the most important buildings of Antiquity. However, if we look at archaeological finds we have very little evidence that they actually existed at all. In fact, ancient writers are all that remains of this majestic building. We don’t even have these gardens in the official archives of Babylon itself. Ancient clay tablets served as paper, and all important buildings in the city were recorded in cuneiform. However, they say nothing about gardens. Historians explained this by saying that the gardens were part of the palace and therefore were not considered a separate building. Others have suggested that the gardens were actually located in the capital of the Assyrian Empire, Nineveh. By this
alternative version
Stephanie Dalley, an Assyriologist at the University of Oxford, believes the error was the result of a mistranslation of ancient works and that the gardens themselves were located 500 km to the south in the city of Nineveh. King Sennacherib (705-680 BC) left a number of works describing luxurious gardens. He built gardens with an extensive irrigation system. These written accounts differ greatly from Nebuchadnezzar's archive, which does not have any mention of gardens in his list of achievements in Babylon. Dalli also states that the name "Babylon", which translates as "Gate of the Gods" was a name that could have been applied to several Mesopotamian cities.
Sennacherib apparently renamed the city gates and dedicated them to the gods so that Nineveh would not be seen as "Babylon", creating confusion.
Interestingly, Sennacherib is the only Mesopotamian king to leave a message of his love for his wife - a key part of the classic romantic story about the construction of the Hanging Gardens:
And for Tashmetu-sharrat, the mistress of the palace, my beloved wife, whose features rise above all other women, I had a palace of love, delight and joy, built by her
Assyrian image of a garden. As we see, part of the garden is located on an aqueduct or platform, that is, they are suspended
Another possible candidate for the construction of the Hanging Gardens was King Ashur-nasir-apal II (883-859 BC). He did not suffer from modesty and wrote a lot about his merits and successes: I dug a canal from the (river) Upper Zab, passing through the top of the mountain, and called it the Canal of Plenty. I watered the Tiger's meadows and planted orchards with all kinds of fruit trees around. I planted seeds and plants that I found in the countries I marched through and in the highlands I visited: pine trees different types , cypress and juniper various types , almonds, dates, ebony , rosewood, olive, oak, tamarisk, Walnut
, turpentine tree, spruce, pomegranate, pear, quince, fig, grapevine.... the water of the canal flows like a fountain from above into the garden; fragrance permeates the footpaths, streams of water are as numerous as the stars of the sky in the walking garden.... Like a squirrel I select fruits in the garden of delights... Is there some more why the structure of the gardens was “transferred” to Babylon from Nineveh. The fact is that Nebuchadnezzar II was the Babylonian king who defeated the Assyrians.
Perhaps some gardens were actually built in Babylon, and the king's servants described them in such a way as to eclipse anything that the Assyrians could do. It is quite possible that the legend of the Hanging Gardens was essentially stolen by the victors along with the gold and silver.
Is it possible that the Greek scholars who wrote about the garden in Babylon for several centuries could have confused these two different places? They were able to confuse the Assyrian queen Semiramis or Shammuramat (812-803 BC) with the Babylonian Amytis. If there really were gardens in Babylon, can remains be found to prove their existence?
Archaeological site of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon German archaeologist Robert Koldewey conducted a series of archaeological excavations of ancient Babylon in 1899. For many centuries, the ancient city was abandoned, and only a pile of dirty trash
never explored by scientists. Although, unlike many ancient sites, the location of the city was well known, nothing remains of the architecture. Stone was hardly used in the structure, and clay bricks deteriorated over the centuries. Koldewey spent fourteen years and excavated much of the city, including the outer walls of Babylon, the inner walls, the foundations of the Tower of Babel, the palaces of Nebuchadnezzar, and the wide thoroughfare that runs through the heart of the city.
During the excavations of the Southern Citadel, Koldewey discovered a basement with fourteen large rooms with stone arched ceilings. Ancient records indicated that only two places in the city used stone in their construction, on the northern wall of the Northern Citadel, and in the construction of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The northern wall of the Northern Citadel has already been found and stone has actually been found in the structure. This led Koldewey to the logical conclusion that he had found the basement or lower tiers of the legendary Garden of Babylon.
While Koldewey was convinced that he had found the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, some modern archaeologists question his discovery, arguing that the site was too far from the river.
The amount of water required for irrigation made this arrangement extremely inconvenient and illogical. Moreover, Strabo clearly states that the garden should be located near the Euphrates River. In addition, clay tables were discovered not so long ago. They represent the royal archive. Therefore, it was logical to assume that the place was used for administrative and storage purposes, and not as a pleasure garden for the Babylonian queen. It is quite possible that the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were located under the Euphrates River. The fact is that the river changed its course several times and it is quite possible that the remains were absorbed by the water. Unfortunately on this moment
archaeological excavations at the site of ancient Babylon are not possible due to the fact that democracy or Sharia law are now being actively implanted there, depending on the region.
Ruins of the city of Babylon in 1932
If the Hanging Gardens of Babylon really existed, then what happened to them?
There is a report that they were destroyed by an earthquake in the second century BC. The remains of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, mostly made of mud brick, were probably slowly eroded by infrequent rains over the centuries.
Whatever the fate of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon was, we can only guess if Queen Amytis was happy or if she continued to yearn for the green mountains of her distant homeland.
Hanging Gardens of Babylon
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon or the Hanging Gardens of Amitis (or Amanis according to other sources) is one of the seven wonders of the Ancient World. According to legend, a huge artificial hill was built by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II.
The city also had internal walls, which were “not so thick, but like the first they were no less powerful.” Inside these double walls stood luxurious palaces and temples containing huge statues made of pure gold. Towering over the city was the famous Tower of Babel, the temple of the god Marduk, which seemed to reach to the heavens.
Archaeological excavations carried out in ancient Babylon dispute some of Herodotus's claims (the outer walls of the boule are 10 miles (16 km) long and not that high). However, his narrative does give us a sense of what an amazing city Babylon was and the effect it had on the ancient people.
Oddly enough, one of the city's most impressive sights was not even mentioned by Herodotus: the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
Gift for the homesick wife
Historical accounts say that the garden was built by King Nebuchadnezzar II, who ruled the city for 43 years starting in 605 BC. This was the height of the city's power and influence and King Nebuchadnezzar himself is known to have built an amazing array of temples, streets, palaces and walls.
He particularly distinguished himself in the history of Babylon because he defeated the Assyrian Empire, which twice took Babylon and destroyed it. Together with Cyaxares, king of Media (modern-day Iraq, Iran and parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan), they divided the Assyrian empire among themselves, and to maintain the alliance, Nebuchadnezzar II married Cyaxares' daughter, Amytis.
It is believed that Nebuchadnezzar built these luxurious gardens for his homesick wife, Amytis. Amytis, the daughter of the king of Media, married Nebuchadnezzar to create an alliance between the two countries. Her homeland was covered with green hills and mountains, and the area of Mesopotamia, of course, does not have any hills. The king decided to cure her depression by recreating part of her homeland by creating an artificial mountain with a garden.
There is an alternative story that the gardens were built by the Assyrian queen Semiramis or Shammuramat (812-803 BC) during her five-year reign. Although she was the wife of the Assyrian king Shamshi-Adad V, she was Babylonian by blood.
Hanging gardens probably did not actually "hang" in the sense that cables and ropes were not used. The name comes from a mistranslation of the Greek word "kremastos" or the Latin "pensilis". Both words can be translated as “overhangs,” as in the case of a terrace or balcony, rather than hanging in the literal sense of the word.
The Greek geographer Strabo, who described the gardens in the first century BC, wrote:
The garden had a quadrangular shape, and each side was four plethra in length. It consists of arched vaults, which are located one above the other, on checkered, cubic columns. The checkered collections that are hollowed out are covered with a layer of deep earth so that they tolerate the largest trees.
All this is supported by a series of vaults and arches. You can climb to the very top terrace by stairs; next to these stairs there are screws, with the help of which workers appointed specifically for this purpose constantly raised water from the Euphrates into the garden. And the garden is located on the river bank
Problem with Water and Irrigation
Strabo argued that it was the solution to the irrigation of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon that was truly the most amazing engineering problem that was solved by the ancients. Babylon is located in a dry region; rains are not very frequent here. In order for the garden to survive, the trees and bushes had to be irrigated with water from the Euphrates River, which flowed through the city, dividing it into two parts.
This meant that the water had to be raised to the very top, and from there it could flow through canals to the terraces below. This was a huge task given the lack of modern engines and pressure pumps in ancient times. We do not know exactly what these ancient devices described by Strabo looked like, but it is quite possible that they were some form of “chain pump”. For more details, you can watch a video showing the mechanism of its operation.
The pump chain was stretched between two large wheels, located one above the other. Buckets were hung from chains. Below the bottom wheel is a pool with a water source. As the wheel turned, the buckets dipped into the pool and lifted the water to the top. The chain then lifted them to the upper wheel, where buckets poured water into the upper basin. The chain then carried the empty buckets back down to repeat the cycle.
From the upper basin of the garden, water was drained through channels, creating artificial streams for watering the garden. The pool doors were attached to a shaft with a handle. By turning the handle, slaves could control the power of the flow.
An alternative way of getting water to the top of the gardens may have been using a screw pump (shown in the video). This device looks quite simple. A long tube was taken with one end in the lower pool, from which water was pumped, and from the other end, hanging over the upper pool, water was poured out.
The water was raised using a long internal screw, which was fitted tightly into the tube. As the propeller turns, the water is pinched between the propeller blades and forced to the top. When the water reached the top, it fell into the upper pool.
Screw pumps are very efficient ways of moving water and a number of engineers have suggested that they were used in hanging gardens. Strabo even makes references in his description of parts of the garden that can be taken as evidence that such hand pumps brought water to the top.
One problem with this theory, however, is that we have little evidence that the Babylonians had a screw pump. It is believed that the screw pump was invented by the Greek engineer Archimedes from the Sicilian city of Syracuse in 250 BC, more than 300 years after the construction of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
However, let’s not forget that the Greeks are a proud people and could completely ignore the achievements of other peoples.
Construction of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon
During the construction of the Gardens of Babylon, it was necessary to take into account not only the severity of the water supplied to the top, but also its destructive properties on the structure itself. Since stone was difficult to find on the Mesopotamian plain, most of the buildings in Babylon were built of brick.
The bricks were made from clay mixed with chopped straw and baked in the sun. They were then bonded with bitumen, a slimy substance that acted as mortar. Unfortunately, water could quickly ruin such bricks and the garden itself could quickly sag under the influence of moisture. As has been said, rains are rare in Mesopotamia, but a structure that received so much water from the Euphrates could actually be destroyed in a few weeks and months.
Diodorus Siculus, a Greek historian, described the platforms on which the garden stood and claimed that they consisted of huge stone slabs (the only structure apparently made of stone in Babylon), covered with layers of reeds, asphalt and tiles. Above it was
“The covering was covered with sheets of lead, which retained moisture that was absorbed through the ground and allowed the foundation to be destroyed. The ground level was deep enough for the largest trees to grow. When the soil was laid and leveled, all kinds of trees were planted in it, both for grandeur and beauty, and perhaps for the admiration of the spectators.”
How big were the gardens? Diodorus tells us that they were about 400 feet wide by 400 feet (about 130 meters) long and over 80 feet (25 meters) high. Other calculations show that the height was equal to the height of the outer city wall given to us by Herodotus, which he stated was 320 feet (100 meters) high.
In any case, the gardens were an amazing sight: a green, artificial mountain clearly stood out against the background of the plain.
Description of the Hanging Gardens in the works of antiquity
In fact, everything we know about gardens comes to us from ancient works. As we will describe below, the location of the gardens itself has not yet been clarified. Let's start with who built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Josephus (37-100 AD) gives a description of the gardens, making reference to Berosus (or Berosus), a Babylonian priest of the god Marduk who lived c. 290 BC. Berossus described the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II and was the only source who claimed that it was Nebuchadnezzar II who built this miracle.
The park extends for four plethra on each side, and as the approach to the garden is slanted like a hillside and several parts of the structure grow out of one another, tier upon tier, the overall appearance was reminiscent of a theatre. When the ascending terraces were built, galleries were built there, which bore the entire weight of the sown garden; and the upper gallery, which was fifty cubits high, bore the highest platform of the park, which was made on the same level as the battlements of the city walls. Moreover, the walls, which were built at great expense, were twenty-two feet thick, while the passage between each two walls was ten feet wide.
The bottom of the gardens was laid with a layer of reeds, laid in large quantities of bitumen, and above these two layers was laid a layer of baked bricks bound with cement, and as the last layer there was a covering of lead, so that moisture from the soil could not penetrate downwards.
On top of all this earth was laid to a depth sufficient for the roots of the largest trees; the ground was level, densely planted with trees of all kinds, which, in their own way, large size or charm, could give pleasure to the viewer. Galleries, each of which projects one after the other, they all receive light, and contain many royal residences of all kinds; there was also one gallery which contained openings leading to the upper surface and machines for supplying water to the gardens, the machines raising water in great abundance from the river, although no one outside could see how it was done.
Now this park, as I said, was a late construction
...
Where are the Hanging Gardens of Babylon?
- were in Babylon.
The city of Babylon was located in Mesopotamia (Mesopotamia), an area in the middle and lower reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Mesopotamia is one of the largest centers of civilization of the Ancient East. Nowadays, most of the territory of Mesopotamia is part of the state of Iraq. - Now nowhere.
The Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II (605562 BC), in order to fight against the main enemy of Assyria, whose troops twice destroyed the capital of the state of Babylon, entered into a military alliance with Knaxar, the king of Media.Having won, they divided the territory of Assyria among themselves. Their military alliance was confirmed by the marriage of Nebuchadnezzar II to the daughter of the Median king Amytis. Dusty and noisy Babylon, located on a bare sandy plain, did not please the queen, who grew up in mountainous and green Media. To console her, Nebuchadnezzar ordered the construction of hanging gardens.
Architecture and device
Architecturally, the hanging gardens were a pyramid consisting of four tiers-platforms. They were supported by columns up to 25 meters high. The lower tier had the shape of an irregular quadrangle, the largest side of which was 42 m, the smallest 34 m.To prevent the seepage of irrigation water, the surface of each platform was first covered with a layer of reeds mixed with asphalt, then two layers of brick held together with gypsum mortar, and lead slabs were laid on top. On them lay a thick carpet of fertile soil, where seeds of various herbs, flowers, shrubs, and trees were planted.
The pyramid resembled an ever-blooming green hill. Pipes were placed in the cavity of one of the columns, through which water from the Euphrates was constantly supplied by pumps to the upper tier of the gardens, from where it, flowing in streams and small waterfalls, irrigated the plants of the lower tiers. Name
There is a version that the gardens were not named at all in honor of the very girl-lover of Nebuchadnezzar, who actually had a different name. They say that Semiramis was just an Assyrian ruler, and was at enmity with the Babylonians. - Babylon, now Iraq. Only they are not there, but were, because now only the foundations and the assumption of scientists that the yards were here remain. Previously, it was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Of all seven, only one remains today - the Great Pyramid (tomb of Khufu-Cheops), length 147 m, side of the base - 230 m.
- The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were built in Babylon.
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon are younger than the pyramids. They were built at a time when the Odyssey already existed and Greek cities were being built. And at the same time, the gardens are much closer to the ancient Egyptian world than to the Greek world. The gardens mark the decline of the Assyro-Babylonian power, contemporary ancient egypt, his rivals. And if the pyramids survived everyone and are alive today, then the Hanging Gardens turned out to be short-lived and disappeared along with Babylon - a majestic, but not durable giant made of clay.
Babylon was already heading towards sunset. It ceased to be the capital of a great power and was turned by the Persian conquerors into the center of one of the satrapies, when the troops of Alexander the Great entered there - a man who, although he did not build any of the wonders of the world, influenced to one degree or another the fate of many great monuments of the past, for their creation or destruction.
In 331 BC, the inhabitants of Babylon sent envoys to the Macedonians with an invitation to enter Babylon in peace. Alexander was amazed by the wealth and grandeur, although it had fallen into decay, but still largest city peace and stayed there. In Babylon, Alexander was greeted as a liberator. And ahead lay the whole world that had to be conquered.
Less than ten years have passed since the circle has closed. The Lord of the East Alexander, tired, exhausted by the inhuman stress of the last eight years, but full of plans and plans, returned to Babylon. He was already ready to conquer Egypt and march to the West in order to subjugate Carthage, Italy and Spain and reach the limit of the then world - the Pillars of Hercules. But in the midst of preparations for the campaign, he fell ill. For several days Alexander struggled with illness, conferred with the generals, and prepared the fleet for the campaign. The city was hot and dusty. Summer sun through the haze the red walls of multi-storey buildings tilted. During the day, the noisy bazaars fell silent, deafened by an unprecedented flow of goods - cheap slaves and jewelry brought by soldiers from the Indian borders - easy-to-get, easy-to-go booty. The heat and dust penetrated even through the thick walls of the palace, and Alexander was suffocating - for all these years he had never been able to get used to the heat of his eastern possessions. He was afraid to die not because he was in awe of death - he looked closely at it, a stranger and his own, in battles. But death, understandable and even acceptable ten years ago, was now unthinkable for him, a living god. Alexander did not want to die here, in the dusty stuffiness of a foreign city, so far from the shady oak forests of Macedonia, without completing his fate. After all, if the world so obediently lay down at the feet of his horses, then it means that the second half of the world must join the first. He could not die without seeing and conquering the West.
And when the bishop felt very bad, he remembered the only place in Babylon where he should feel better, because it was there that he caught, remembered - and, having remembered, was surprised - the aroma of Macedonian, filled with the bright sun, the murmuring of a brook and the smell of forest herbs. Alexander, still great, still alive, at the last stop on the path to immortality, ordered himself to be transferred to the Hanging Gardens...
Nebuchadnezzar, who created these gardens, was guided by the noble whim of a despot, for despots also have noble whims - for some, but never for everyone. Nebuchadnezzar loved his young wife, a Median princess, who yearned in dusty and superfluous Babylon for fresh air and the rustle of trees. The Babylonian king did not move the capital to the green hills of Media, but did something that is inaccessible to other mortals. He brought here, to the center of the hot valley, the illusion of those hills.
All efforts were devoted to the construction of gardens, a shelter for the queen. ancient kingdom, all the experience of its builders and mathematicians. Babylon proved to the whole world that it could create the world's first monument in honor of love. And the name of the queen was magically mixed in the memory of descendants with the name of another, Assyrian ruler, and the gardens became known as the gardens of Semiramis - maybe it was human jealousy
- They are no longer there. And they were in Babylon
- Hanging Gardens of Babylon in Babylon
The ruins of Babylon are located 90 kilometers from Baghdad. Although the ancient city has long ceased to exist, its former grandeur is evidenced by the ruins that can still be seen today.
In the 7th century before i. J. Babylon was the largest and richest city of the Ancient East. There were many amazing structures in Babylon, but most striking were the hanging gardens of the royal palace, gardens that became a legend.
Legend associates the creation of the famous gardens with the name of Semiramis, Queen of Assyria, at least Diodorus and other Greek historians talk about this.
Semiramis Shammuramat is a historical figure, but her life is legendary. According to legend, the daughter of the goddess Derketo Semiramis grew up in the desert, in a flock of pigeons. Then the shepherds saw her and gave her to the caretaker of the royal flocks, Simmas, who raised her as my own daughter. The royal governor Oann saw the girl and married her. Semiramis was amazingly beautiful, smart and brave. She charmed Darya, who took her away from the governor. Oannes took his own life, and Semiramis became queen. After the death of her husband, she became the heir to the throne, although they had a son, Nnnii. It was then that her abilities in peacefully governing the state manifested themselves. She built the royal city of Vavilov with powerful walls and towers, a magnificent bridge over the Euphrates and the amazing temple of Bel. During her time, a convenient road was laid through the seven ridges of the Zagros chain to Lydia, where she also built the capital Ekba-tana with a beautiful royal palace, and led water to the capital through a tunnel from distant mountain lakes. The courtyard of Semiramis shone with splendor. Pinia got bored inglorious life, and he organized a conspiracy against his mother. The queen voluntarily transferred power to her son, and she herself, turning into a dove, flew away from Deorn with a flock of doves. From that time on, the Assyrians began to honor her as a goddess, and the dove became a sacred bird for them.
However, the famous Hanging Gardens were not laid out by Semiramis and not even during her reign, but later, in honor of another, alas. , not a legendary form. They were built by order of Nebuchadnezzar for his beloved wife Amytis, an Indian princess who yearned for the green hills of Media in dusty Babylon. This king, who destroyed city after city and even entire states, built a lot in Babylon. He turned the capital into an impregnable stronghold and surrounded himself with luxury unparalleled, even in those days.
Nebuchadnezzar built his palace on an artificially created platform, raised to the height of a four-tiered structure. Hanging gardens were laid out on the embankment terraces resting on the vaults. The vaults were supported by powerful tall columns located inside each floor. The terrace platforms were a complex structure. At their base lay massive stone slabs with a layer of reeds covered with asphalt. Then there was a double row of bricks connected with plaster. Even higher are lead plates to retain water. The terrace itself was covered with a thick layer of fertile soil, in which large trees could take root. The floors of the gardens rose in ledges and were connected by wide canopy staircases covered with pink and white stone. The height of the floors reached 50 cubits (27.75 m) and provided enough light for plants.
In carts drawn by oxen, trees wrapped in wet matting and seeds were brought to Babylon rare plants, grass and bushes. Gradually amazing gardens grew and beautiful flowers bloomed. To irrigate the greenery, day and night, hundreds of slaves supplied water from the Euphrates in leather bags.
Magnificent gardens with rare trees, beautiful fragrant cysts and coolness in sultry Babylonia were truly a wonder of the world. In June 323 BC. e. in the chambers of the lower tier of these sadozes spent his last days Alexander the Great.
The Hanging Gardens were destroyed by constant floods of the Euphragus, which rises by 34 meters during the flood. Ancient Babylon ceased to exist long ago, but the legend about the unique gardens of the city lives on today.
- Babylon.
- Near the hanging gardens of SIXRAMIDS =)
- There are a lot of typos in the text!!!
- Babylon, the city of which no longer exists ((
- It would be more accurate to say that they were there!
In 331 BC. e. Alexander the Great's troops captured Babylon. The famous commander made the city the capital of his huge empire. It was here, in the shadow of the hanging gardens, that he died. After the death of Alexander, Babylon gradually fell into decay. The gardens were in disrepair. Powerful floods destroyed the brick foundation of the columns, and the platforms collapsed to the ground. Thus one of the wonders of the world perished.
Hanging Gardens of Babylon. One of the seven wonders of the world. From school we know everything and nothing about them. What did they look like? Who was their brilliant creator? What idea did you want to convey to your descendants with your immortal creation?
JUST A LEGEND
The ancient historian Ctesias told the world the following legend: in time immemorial, the city of Ascalon stood in Syria, not far from it there was beautiful lake, on the banks of which stood the temple of the goddess Derketo. Derketo's beloved was a beautiful young shepherd. Derketo bore him a daughter, and they lived in peace and harmony. But one day, in anger, the goddess killed her husband, and she herself, unconscious from grief, disappeared into the waters of the lake.
Baby. left an orphan and was saved by birds. They warmed her with their warmth and brought milk in their beaks. When the baby grew up, they began to feed her cheese.
One day, the shepherds, suspecting something was wrong, followed the trail of the pigeons and soon found a beautiful child. They took the girl to the caretaker of the royal herds named Simmas. He raised her as his own daughter and named her Semiramis, which means “dove.” With her beauty, the girl eclipsed everyone in the great kingdom of the formidable Assyrians! which determined her future fate.
First, Semiramis became the wife of the royal advisor Onnes. But when the ruler saw her, he fell madly in love and took her away from her unfortunate husband. Onnes, unable to bear the separation from his beloved, lost his mind. But the royal husband of Semiramis did not live long. Died after 3 months. It was then that Semiramis ascended the throne.
This amazing woman became the inspirer and organizer of the construction of many brilliant architectural structures and, above all, the hanging gardens. But while the queen was busy building grandiose palaces and temples, her son Niny was also making... plans to seize power. Realizing that she would die by hand own son, or rather, his mercenaries, the queen turned into a dove and flew away.
Here's the story. However, she is nothing more than a legend. The historian Ctesias himself emphasized this more than once.
SACRED Z LESSONS ABOUT THE SEVEN WORLDS
In fact, the famous Hanging Gardens were built by King Nebuchadnezzar for his beloved wife Amytis, who was suffocating in dusty and stuffy Babylon. It was he who destroyed Jerusalem, captivating almost all the inhabitants of Judea, it was he who captured the territory of Syria and Palestine, and conquered the Assyrian state.
However, Nebuchadnezzar was not only a warrior, but also a creator. Having brought order to his vast empire, he set about building magnificent palaces, temples and canals. The Gardens of Babylon became the crowning achievement of the architectural structures created during his reign.
But when erecting them, Nebuchadnezzar thought not only about pleasing Amytis with the murmuring streams and lush greenery that were dear to her heart.
The greatest city belonged to him Ancient world, famous for his sages. And the main mystery of Babylon was associated with the names of Tammuz and Ishtar. Tammuz. being the sun god, he was both the son and husband of the goddess Ishtar. The essence of the mysteries was this. that Ishtar resurrected Tammuz, who was killed by evil forces. Esoterically, this meant the immortality of the soul, its exit from dead body, a journey through another existence and a new incarnation.
The myth of Ishtar symbolizes the journey of the soul through the seven worlds, seven heavens, and seven sacred planets. After which she falls into physical body, in which her ordeal begins. And then again take off and strive towards your divine beginning.
Naturally, the king of Babylon was familiar with these mysteries. That is why, when starting to build the gardens, he decided to embody in them sacred knowledge about the seven worlds and the ascent of the soul.
GARDEN OF EDEN
The Hanging Gardens were laid out in the north-eastern part of the palace, on seven earthen terraces that rested on huge vaults. The vaults were supported by massive columns located inside each floor. Special lead plates were designed to retain water.
The terraces were covered with a thick layer of the most fertile soil, in which even very large trees could take root. The floors of the gardens rose in ledges and were connected by gentle staircases covered with pink and white stone. The height of the floors reached 28 meters and provided enough light for plants.
Each of the seven terraces was an independent garden, but together they formed a single whole. In the summer, when the air temperature in Babylon exceeded 50 degrees, slaves continuously pumped water from wells and fed it into canals through which it flowed down from the upper terrace, forming systems of miniature waterfalls and streams.
From all parts of the Babylonian kingdom, carts drawn by oxen were drawn to the capital. They contained trees, seeds of rare herbs, flowers and shrubs...
IN SEARCH OF BABYLON
For a long, long time, serious researchers doubted the existence of the Gardens of Babylon. They were considered just a continuation of the legend. And so it was before late XIX century.
In 1898, on the banks of the ancient Euphrates, about 100 kilometers from Baghdad, the German archaeologist Robert Koldewey began his search for Babylon. And imagine - I found it! And the remains of the Tower of Babel, and the ruins of powerful fortress walls that surrounded the city, and... the hanging gardens.
It was these three structures that the German Oriental Society commissioned Koldewey to find. The scientist spent 18 years completing this task. In order to remove mountains of garbage and rubble from the excavation site, he even ordered a portable railway. It was impossible to do without her.
He dug up the Tower of Babel and the fortress walls relatively quickly. The scientist spent most of his time searching for the legendary gardens. And I had completely despaired of finding them, when suddenly one day in the northeastern corner of the vast palace complex came across a structure unlike any he had ever seen before. The foundation consisted of 12 chambers, which were lined with hewn stones. The massive vaults of the chambers, made of baked brick, were designed to withstand heavy loads. The thickness of the walls and supports reached 7 meters.
Along with this unusual structure for Babylon, Koldewey also came across a source, which he dug up at the very base of the vaulted structure. A scoop lift made of wood and thick ropes was connected to the source. The lift itself, of course, has not survived.
Koldewey thought for a long time about the purpose of this basement arcade, and came to the idea of the reality of the hanging gardens. After all, both ancient sources and the cuneiform tablets of Mesopotamia said that in Babylon, hewn stones were used in the construction of two structures: the northern wall of the Babylonian palace and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. stone wall he discovered it earlier, which means that in front of him was a great monument from an ancient legend...
...Why are the gardens called the Gardens of Babylon? Yes, because human memory has one amazing property: it connects events of the distant past, separated in time. So the real Semiramis and the gardens of Nebuchadnezzar are separated by 200 years. The memory of them has survived thousands of years. Apparently, they really were a miracle.
2102
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon are the second most important Wonder of the World. Unfortunately, this amazing architectural structure has not survived to this day, but the memory of it is still preserved.
The attraction is located not far from Baghdad, and today its stone ruins can only impress an ordinary tourist with its scale. However, history shows that the structure was one of the most beautiful creations of mankind.
There is a report that they were destroyed by an earthquake in the second century BC. The remains of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, mostly made of mud brick, were probably slowly eroded by infrequent rains over the centuries.
Amazing gift for wife
The gardens were discovered by Robert Koldewey, who carried out excavations near Al Hill in 1989. During archaeological research, an extensive network of trenches was discovered, and in their sections the scientist immediately recognized the legendary architectural monument.
Evidence suggests that the Hanging Gardens were built at the behest of Nebuchadnezzar II, whose reign dates back to the 6th century BC. The best engineers, mathematicians and inventors of Mesopotamia worked day and night to satisfy the king's request to create a gift for his wife Amytis.
The latter was of Median origin, and those lands, as you know, were filled with the aromas of flowering gardens and green hills. The queen had a hard time in stuffy Babylon; she became homesick for her native land. That is why the ruler decided to lay out an unusual park that would at least slightly remind his wife of her home.
Controversy surrounding the Babylonian Miracle
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were described by many ancient historians. But there are still some doubts about the reality of this piece of engineering art. For example, Herodotus, who traveled through Mesopotamia somewhere in the 5th century BC, did not say a word about this structure. Although, apparently, it was the most majestic and beautiful in Babylon.
Even the chronicles of the city itself do not mention the Gardens. However, Berossus, a Chaldean priest who studied chronicles at the end of the 4th century BC. very clearly and clearly outlined the building in his works. There is even an opinion that all historians, including modern scientists, relied precisely on his descriptions, and they are too much embellished with the author’s conjectures and judgments.
Some even believe that the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were confused with similar parks that were created in Nineveh, located on east coast Tiber. But the basis of the irrigation system of this monument was the design of Archimedean screws, which was invented in the 2nd century BC, while the construction of the Gardens dates back to the 6th century.
However, perhaps the Babylonians already had an idea about the special thread of such a screw, although they called the device differently. And be that as it may, the mystery of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon still excites the minds of scientists, archaeologists and historians.
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