WikiWorks at 14:23, 9 April 2007

2007-04-09T14:23:57Z

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[[Image:Hanging_Gardens_of_Babylon.jpg|right|thumb|300px|A [[16th century]] depiction of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon (by [[Martin Heemskerck]]). The [[Tower of Babel]] is visible in the background.]]
[[Image:Ogrody_semiramidy.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Gardens of Semiramis, [[20th century]] interpretation]]

The '''Hanging Gardens of [[Babylon]]''' (also known as '''Hanging Gardens of [[Semiramis]]''') and the walls of Babylon (near present-day Baghdad in [[Iraq]]) were considered one of the [[Seven Wonders of the World]]. They were both supposedly built by [[Nebuchadnezzar II]] around [[600 BC]]. He is reported to have ordered the construction of the gardens to please his wife, Amyitis of Media, who longed for the trees and beautiful plants of her homeland.
The lush Hanging Gardens are extensively documented by [[Greece|Greek]] [[history|historians]] such as [[Strabo]] and [[Diodorus Siculus]], but otherwise there is little evidence for their existence. In fact, there are no Babylonian records of any such gardens having existed. Some circumstantial evidence gathered at the excavation of the palace at Babylon has accrued, but does not completely substantiate what look like fanciful descriptions. Through the ages, the location may have been confused with gardens that existed at [[Nineveh]], since tablets from there clearly show gardens. Writings on these tablets describe the possible use of something similar to an [[Archimedes' screw]] as a process of raising the water to the required height.

{|width=480px|[[Image:Hanging_Gardens_of_Babylon.gif|right|thumb|300px|Hanging Garden, [[Assyria]]n interpretation]] <br />
|[[Image:Hanging_Garden.gif|A hanging garden, [[21st century]] interpretation|thumb]]
|}

==See also==

* [[Seven Wonders of the World]]
* [[History of Iraq]]
* [[Babylon]]
* [[Tower of Babel]]
* [[Semiramis]]
* [[Terraces (Bahá'í)]]: also known the Bahá'í Hanging Gardens; Haifa; Israel
* [[Gardening]]
* [[History of gardening]]

== External links ==
{{Commonscat|Hanging Gardens of Babylon}}
* [http://ce.eng.usf.edu/pharos/wonders/gardens.html Seven Wonders of the World: The Hanging Gardens of Babylon]
* [http://muse.jhu.edu/cgi-bin/access.cgi?uri=/journals/technology_and_culture/v044/44.1dalley.pdf ''Technology and Culture'' Volume 44, Number 1, January 2003] Dalley, Stephanie. Oleson, John Peter. "Sennacherib, Archimedes, and the Water Screw: The Context of Invention in the Ancient World"

{{MEast-hist-stub}}

[[Category:Gardens]]

Hanging Gardens of Babylon - Revision history

WikiWorks at 14:23, 9 April 2007