The hanging gardens were believed to be located near the east of the Euphrates river in Babylon. It was built between 605-562 BCE as a gift to a homesick Amyitis. Amyitis was King Nebuchadnezzar II's wife. They married to create an alliance between their nations. Amyitis's homeland was green and full of mountains. In comparison, Mesopotamia was flat and dry, which made Amyitis depressed. Nebuchadnezzar attempted to make it more green, and in that attempt he created the hanging gardens. Since there is no trace of the hanging gardens today, some believe that it was destroyed by an earthquake in the second century BCE. It was estimated to be about 80 feet tall (24 meters)
This is a model of the hanging gardens. As you can see from the model, there are many terraces and floors on the hanging gardens.
Top Terrace
Top Terrace
- assorted trees
- plane, date, pines, and cedars
- cultivated trees of Mesopotamia
- consists of cypresses
- (similar to a Christmas tree)
- 13 meters high
- less vast
- anemones, tulips, lilies, irises, and roses
But how did they water the plants?
There are two types of pipes they could have used to carry the water up: a screw pipe or a chain pipe. The pipes job was to take the water from the Euphrates river and use its hydraulic screws to push the water up the hanging gardens.
While there are many good arguments that the hanging gardens actually existed, we will never know for sure, which is why the Hanging Gardens of Babylon are one of the seven wonders.
This is a map of Babylon, the city in Iraq.
Primary Source
Babel, Babylon (2), Literature, note 27:
[If the smaller, northern palace [see Koldewey's excavations] has been correctly identified by archaeologists, then it would be] the palace shown in the Assyrian saloon at the British Museum — a building apparently protected by three walls, and adorned with columns resting on the backs of lions in an attitude of walking. On the adjoining slab is a representation of a small building — also with columns—on a hill. A figure of a king sculptured on a stele is seen on the left, with an altar in front of it, showing that divine honors were paid to him. The hill is thickly wooded with trees which may be olives, poplars, etc., and on the right is a series of arches on which other trees are planted. Irrigation channels stretch in a long stream to the left and in shorter streams to the right. As this belongs to the time of Ashur-bani-apli, about 650 BC, and refers to that king’s operations against his brother Samas-sum-ukin, the king of Babylon, it is clear that something similar to the Hanging Gardens existed before the time of Nebuchadrezzar, and therefore, if it was his queen who had them made, before the time of their reputed founder. This would be the point first reached by the Assyrian army when advancing to the attack. Such a park as is represented here with its hills and streams, and thickly planted trees, must have made the palace in the vicinity the pleasantest, in all probability, in all Babylonia, and excited the admiration of everyone who visited the sights of the city.
[If the smaller, northern palace [see Koldewey's excavations] has been correctly identified by archaeologists, then it would be] the palace shown in the Assyrian saloon at the British Museum — a building apparently protected by three walls, and adorned with columns resting on the backs of lions in an attitude of walking. On the adjoining slab is a representation of a small building — also with columns—on a hill. A figure of a king sculptured on a stele is seen on the left, with an altar in front of it, showing that divine honors were paid to him. The hill is thickly wooded with trees which may be olives, poplars, etc., and on the right is a series of arches on which other trees are planted. Irrigation channels stretch in a long stream to the left and in shorter streams to the right. As this belongs to the time of Ashur-bani-apli, about 650 BC, and refers to that king’s operations against his brother Samas-sum-ukin, the king of Babylon, it is clear that something similar to the Hanging Gardens existed before the time of Nebuchadrezzar, and therefore, if it was his queen who had them made, before the time of their reputed founder. This would be the point first reached by the Assyrian army when advancing to the attack. Such a park as is represented here with its hills and streams, and thickly planted trees, must have made the palace in the vicinity the pleasantest, in all probability, in all Babylonia, and excited the admiration of everyone who visited the sights of the city.