As we have related when speaking of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world, these come from a selection that was made by chroniclers of Ancient Greece, in the time of Alexander the Great. One of these constructions, some of which are believed to not even have been real, are the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. As we say, there are those who even doubt its real existence. Myth or history is a truly fascinating work of architecture.
The origin of the doubt about the veracity of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon arises from the fact that at the time of preparing the list of Seven Wonders of Worldduring the fourth century BC, the city Babylon and its population were already in ruins. Hence, historians and archaeologists handle two possible hypotheses or theories about its construction.
One of the theories -the most widespread- is that Hanging Gardens of Babylon were built by Nebuchadnezzar II (king during the Empire Neo-Babylonian) as a gift for his wife in the 6th century BC. The second hypothesis -based on a legend- assigns the work of this Wonderful to the assyrian queen Semiramis or Shammuramatduring the century 9th BC
According to the chronicles that have transpired, the hanging gardens of babylon They would have consisted of a building made up of stepped terraces, built with large stones. The stones were the structure in which the earth was placed and trees, flowers and shrubs would have been planted there.
It is estimated that for the irrigation of the gardens they used a machine similar to a hydraulic wheel that allowed the elevation of the water. Archaeologists have found in the ruins of the south palacea well that they estimate due to its characteristics could be associated with the irrigation of gardens.
As a tireless traveler and disciple of Ctesibius of Alexandria, the engineer Philo of Byzantium (280-220 BC), narrates what the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were like in his work ‘Seven Wonders of Antiquity’:
Broad-leaved trees and palms grow there, flowers of all kinds and colors, and, in a word, everything that is more pleasing to the eye and more pleasant to enjoy. The place is tilled as it is done on farmland and the care of the shoots is carried out more or less as on the mainland, but the arable is above the heads of those who walk through the columns below.
The water pipes, coming from the fountains that are at the top, to the right, some run straight and in slopes, others are propelled upwards in a spiral, forced to spiral up by means of ingenious machines. Collected above in solid and extensive ponds, they water the entire garden, permeating deep into the roots of the plants and keeping the soil moist, so that, naturally, the grass is always green and the leaves of the trees that sprout from tender branches they are covered with dew and move in the wind. The root, never thirsty, absorbs the love of the waters that run everywhere and, wandering underground in inextricably intertwined threads, ensures a constant growth of the trees. It is a caprice of art, luxurious and regal and almost entirely forced by the work of growing plants suspended above the heads of the spectators.
However, due to Lack of evidence, more conclusive testimonies and archaeological legacies; many have suggested that hanging gardens of babylon They are nothing but legends. We only know of its green expanses from descriptions found in ancient Greek and Roman writers, such as; Strabo, Diodorus of Sicily, and Quintus Curtius Rufus. All in all, they are limited to representing a romantic ideal of an oriental garden, and not hanging gardens worthy of being universal wonders. Only the excavations of the German Robert Koldewey in one of the areas of the southern fortress of babylonrevealed vaults with a deep well that could be the “roots” of the hanging gardens.
The disappearance of the hanging gardens of Babylon
Although their conquests have trampled and subdued all the neighboring kingdoms, the dominion and the shining light of the Babylonian empire did not reach very far. The insurmountable and omnipotent kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar and his father, (taken after a rebellion against the Assyrians) had his days numbered. Less than 25 years had passed since the death of King Nebuchadnezzar and the fall of Jerusalem in 562 BC, and the great empire was already falling apart.
The fragmentation of the empire was becoming more and more evident, and the cities of the south (the old Sumerian) fell like dominoes. The guilty; the Persians. The Persians advanced like a steamroller conquering everything they saw on the horizon. That, together with the desperation of the Babylonians and the inability of King Nabonidus, made the conquest of the city one of the easiest in history.
Cyrus II the Great He heard that Babylon was submerged in a crisis that was removing the foundations of a more than possible civil war, so he did not hesitate to seize the moment. When he came to Babylon, Cyrus he promised to respect the city, its people and its wealth; he guaranteed the safety and order of the people, if the King agreed to hand over his throne to the Persian people. The nobles and priests did not doubt the acceptance, since Nabonidus was a usurper and a blasphemer.
In October 539 BC, a gigantic army showed up at the gates of Babylon to watch as the people betrayed Abondo and cleared the throne for Cyrus. Everything was carried out without opposition or resistance, so it was a mere transit without wars or losses of any kind.
The disappearance of the Gardens was with the passage of time and an unstoppable enemy: the fire caused by Evemero at conquer Babylon in 125 BC That reduced the historic city to mere ruins and ashes before the arrival of Alexander the Great.
Controversy over the Hanging Gardens of Babylon
Did the Hanging Gardens of Babylon Really Exist? Nothing remains to us about its construction, not a single manuscript, plan or map detailing anything. The paucity of contemporary Babylonian sources means that controversies pepper even Nebuchadnezzar’s wife Amyitis.
herodotus (Greek geographer and historian closest to the time of Nebuchadnezzar II) he never mentions the hanging gardens when writing about Babylon. Evidence may exist under the Euphrates, West Asia’s largest river along with the Tigris, although it cannot be safely excavated at present. A different theory also suggests that the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were actually built by the Assyrian king Sennacherib (704-681 BC) in his palace at Nineveh.