HANGING GARDENS OF BABYLON: HISTORY AND CHARACTERISTICS - HISTORY - 2025

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were a series of gardens of great beauty arranged on elevated structures in the city of Babylon, striking for their elevated position relative to the common gardens.

They are considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, but unlike the other six, they are the only one that generates doubts about their own existence.

Hand engraving depicting the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, probably made in the 19th century after the first excavations in the Assyrian capitals

Despite certain illustrations and records throughout history that can evidence the existence of these gardens, they have always been met with a strong debate as to whether they really existed as described, since at the time the Greeks made the list Of wonders of the ancient world, Babylon was already in ruins and there were no remains of these gardens.

However, the idea that these gardens could exist under other forms has always been maintained, since researchers have found vestiges in the ruins of Babylon where they infer that the roots of many of the trees, shrubs and plants that adorned the site could be planted. mythical city.

Today there is nothing that can provide a notion of these gardens, other than idealized ancient illustrations whose representations of these gardens can be as close to reality as exaggeration.

History of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon

There are several versions about the origin of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, some with more or less historical support. The truth is that they were within the city of Babylon, on the banks of the Euphrates.

According to some historical records from 200 BC, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were built during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II, who was in power between 605 and 562 BC It is estimated that the construction of the gardens began in 600 BC

According to one version, King Nebuchadnezzar II built the gardens in honor of his wife, Queen Amitis, who missed the green and lush mountains of her homeland.

The King then ordered the construction of a series of raised gardens in columns and blocks of mud that protruded between the corners of the city and that could be appreciated by his queen.

There are not many more physical details or evidence about the exact location of the gardens or their duration in time; neither the records of Alexander the Great nor other characters who crossed Babylon mention them.

It is known, among so many versions, that they contained highly attractive plant species, as well as typical Eastern fruit plants.

The subsequent decline and ruin of Babylon led to the gardens in a state of constant neglect, until according to certain sources, they were totally destroyed during the first century AD.

Other versions, with graphic and carved supports, attribute that the true hanging gardens were those that existed in a kingdom near Babylon, ruled by the Assyrian King Sennacherib, in the city of Nineveh, near the Tigris river.

This consisted of a large body of vegetation raised around the palace in the middle of a desert landscape, and possessing the same characteristics as those described in the city of Babylon.

One of the aspects that added to the doubt of the existence of the hanging gardens was the fact that, when Alexander the Great crosses Babylon for the first time, he makes no mention of them, which apparently were already destroyed by then.

Hanging Garden of Nineveh

Sometimes considered the truest version of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, this gigantic plant site was built under the orders of King Sennacherib, and its showiness and lushness contrasted with the desert in which the city of Nineveh was located. In spite of everything, the Tigris River was close by and allowed for the care of the hanging garden.

There are much more records about this garden than about those that could have existed in Babylon. Apart from murals and illustrations depicting the majesty of the hanging garden, King Sennacherib left traces of the techniques and materials used to ensure its preservation.

Like Babylon, eventually the city of Nineveh fell into ruin and with it its own hanging gardens.

According to Stephanie Dalley, of the University of Oxford the Gardens of Nineveh may have been the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

Characteristics of the Gardens

Apart from all the versions that are handled around the existence of these gardens, it should be noted that they did not really "hang" from the places where they were.

They were located in raised and stepped structures, where certain spaces were adapted for the earth, towards the edges of the structure. In this way, all the planted vegetation tended to protrude, and the larger plants could drop some of their branches to lower levels.

This gave the impression that vegetation was hanging from the structures. In the highest part there was an irrigation system that distributed the water through all the large planters.

The most recent archaeological finds have also made it possible to demonstrate, according to traces found, that the location of the gardens was perhaps not so close to the Euphrates River, as previously stated, but a little further inland, and that they were not distributed throughout the city of Babylon, but in the vicinity of the King's palace.

In this way, visitors could appreciate the gardens on their way to the palace, since by then entering the popular areas was prohibited for foreigners. All formalities were done strictly and directly with royalty.

One of the aspects that gives the Hanging Gardens of Babylon its place among the seven wonders of the ancient world was its idealization of an oriental garden by the Greeks, who in none of their cities had such a harmonious rapport between their buildings and the domesticated nature.

It is difficult to say, however, that any Greek of great importance could have seen them with their own eyes, due to the temporal differences between their records and the destruction of the gardens.

References

1. Clayton, PA, & Price, MJ (2013). The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. New York: Routledge.
2. Jordan, P. (2014). Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. New York: Routledge.
3. Müller, A. (1966). The seven wonders of the world: five thousand years of culture and history in the ancient world. McGraw-Hill.
4. Reade, J. (2000). Alexander the Great and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Iraq, 195-217.
5. Woods, M., & Woods, MB (2008). Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Twenty-Firts Century Books.