Hanging Gardens of Babylon

Considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World, the Hanging Gardens are still a mystery today. The story goes, around 600 BC, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (now modern day Iraq) created these wondrous gardens to appease his new homesick wife the Princess Amytis of Persia (now northern Iran). She missed the green hills of her homeland and the King who was considered to be a great builder of his time, thought nothing about building lush green gardens for her. Now that’s love. The garden was terraced with arched vaults and stood 75 feet high (22.5 M) and 100 feet square (30 M). It was built of stone and brick and was capable of growing large trees. A well with conduits provided the irrigation.

One of many suggested looks to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon

Unfortunately the evidence of its existence is poor. The gardens may have been the creation of a later King Sennacherib or of an earlier king for his Persian courtesan.

The typical garden of this time period for Babylon, Assyria and Egypt was laid out in a formal manner. The gardens were usually walled with a fountain or a pool in the center. From the pool the garden was divided into four quadrants. This pattern shows up over and over through out history and is extremely important to the Arab cultures. In each quadrant a tree would be planted and around the garden edge trees would be planted regularly spaced along with arbours holding grape vines. Flower gardens were planted near the house and this is where we are first to find a woman’s influence in the garden. The gardens were cool and shady places for the family to relax and dine al fresco.

The palm tree held enormous importance for these people. Beside the obvious shade it provided trees did not grow easily in these arid countries. Water was always a concern and getting water to the gardens was utmost on their minds. The palm or date palm  gave timber, its fruit gave milk, from its sap wine, from its syrup sugar. Its tender tips were cooked for a vegetable and its fruit was a staple in the national diet.

1 comment

  1. Hello,
    My name is Dr. Kamiar. I am a professor emeritus of Geography and Middle Eastern Studies. Please see my following comment and request:
    (1) The word “Garden” in the title is miss-spelled. If possible, please correct it.
    (2) If I want to use the drawing, the picture of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, to whom should I give credit? I propose to give credit to the “Women History Blog.”
    (3) I am writing a short paper about the HGB that King Nebuchadnezzar built as a gift for his Kurdish Queen Amyitis. I want to submit it to your blog for possible publication. Please let me know.

    Sincerely,
    Dr. Kay

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