Hanging gardens of Babylon. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon: a myth or an ancient engineering miracle

People have been fascinated by creating “best of” lists for thousands of years. The most famous of the ancient tops that have come down to us is the list of seven wonders of the world. There are different variations of this list, but all ancient authors, without exception, considered it their duty to mention in it Hanging Gardens Semiramis.

This is the legendary queen of Assyria, few reliable facts about which have been preserved, but in Akkadian mythology she plays a fairly prominent role. Some ancient authors attribute to Semiramis the founding of Babylon and dominion over all of Asia.

Despite the abundance of legends associated with the name of the legendary queen, historians managed to establish her historical prototype. He is considered to be Queen Shammuramat, who single-handedly ruled Assyria at the beginning of the 9th century BC. However, most researchers are confident that the named ruler had nothing to do with the Hanging Gardens that bear her name.

Who initiated the creation of the Hanging Gardens?

Until recently, it was generally accepted that the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were built by Nebuchadnezzar II (605–562 BC). He actually built many of the towers and gardens of Babylon. According to a widespread hypothesis, the Babylonian king ordered the creation of a garden of unprecedented beauty for his wife Amytis, daughter of the Median king Cyaxares. The grandiose gift should be to help the queen cope with longing for her mountainous homeland.

There is another version. Thus, according to Oxford University doctor Stephanie Delli, the famous wonder of the world was built in Nineveh by order of the Assyrian king Sennacherib (705–680 BC). Indirect evidence of this version is the absence of mention of miraculous gardens in sources from the reign of Nebuchadnezzar.

Where were the Hanging Gardens of Babylon?

Scientists have repeatedly made attempts to determine the location of this wonder of the world. The first person to take this task seriously was the German historian Robert Koldewey. The research he carried out at the end of the 19th century provided a very comprehensive idea of ​​what Babylon was like in the 6th century BC. e.

And most importantly, to the north of Nebuchadnezzar’s palace, Koldewey discovered a structure that was very atypical for the area, equipped with a water supply system from three mines. The scientist believed that these were the famous Hanging Gardens. Not everyone agreed with him. Some researchers believed that the location was on the banks of the Euphrates, others argued that they were created on a wide bridge spanning the river.

In the 90s of the last century, the above-mentioned Stephanie Delli proposed a version about the location of the gardens on the territory of Nineveh. One piece of evidence supporting her theory is a bas-relief from the palace of Sennacherib with an image similar to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Stephanie Delli suggests that the ruins of the buildings are located in a massive mound near Mosul (northern Iraq). This is where Nineveh was once located.

In addition, a text was found that stated that the palace of Sennacherib, together with its garden, was “a miracle for all people.” It is worth noting that in many ancient sources Nineveh is often referred to as “Ancient Babylon,” which could well lead to misconceptions about the location of the wonder of the world.

What they looked like

The description of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon has come to us thanks to the efforts of ancient authors, who with great pleasure described various wonders in their works. According to their testimony, wonderful gardens were broken on a 4-tier tower. The structure resembled a flowering hill. Its construction required an engineering approach.

Massive stone platforms were supported by strong vaults supported by columns. The terraces were tiled and filled with asphalt. Lead plates protected the lower tiers from water penetration. Thick layer land allowed to grow the most different plants, from flowers to large trees.

The tiers were connected to each other by wide staircases. Water was supplied to the top and then flowed through numerous channels to the lower tiers. The terraces also had small ponds and waterfalls. The sources mention that from a distance the gardens seemed to float in the air.

• According to legend, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were the favorite vacation spot of Alexander the Great. According to some contemporaries, the death of the great commander occurred here.
• A number of researchers believe that the buildings should actually be called “protruding”. The Greek word kremastos, used by ancient authors, can be translated not only as “hanging”, but also as “protruding beyond.”
• Researchers suggest that the wonderful gardens existed in ancient Babylon for no more than two centuries. At first they stopped caring for them, and then the gradual destruction was accelerated by floods.
• What is the meaning of the phraseological unit “Gardens of Babylon”? The meaning of the expression indicates something wonderful, beautiful, magnificent.

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, also called the gardens of Babylon, are the second wonder of the world, which, unfortunately, has not survived to our time. Although today researchers cannot say exactly their location, vaguely pointing to one of the hills, it is known for sure that they existed. There is numerous evidence of this, reflected in ancient writings.

The period of creation of the gardens of Babylon

Presumably the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were created in the 6th century BC. at the request of Nebuchadnezzar II, the Babylonian ruler. Then Babylon was experiencing a period of its decline. The once powerful state, constantly competing with Egypt, was noticeably losing ground. The gardens appeared at the time when the first Greek buildings were erected. But in spirit they are still closer to Egypt than to Greece or Rome.

Reasons for creating one of the wonders of the world

The Gardens of Babylon were erected by order of King Nebuchadnezzar, who with such a gesture wanted to show his love to his wife and become famous throughout the world. The Median princess Amytis missed her homeland very much. There she walked among the luxurious gardens, inhaled Fresh air and listened to the murmur of the stream. There was nothing to breathe in Babylon, just sand, heat, not a single living tree around. To make the princess feel at home, the ruler decided to create an artificial green hill for her.

Technology for creating gardens

In order for the Hanging Gardens of Babylon to appear, the knowledge of many mathematicians and builders was used. The hill consisted of four tiers, each of which was supported by columns. The platforms were made of flat bricks, which were fired at local brick factories. The stone slabs were covered with reeds, filled with something like asphalt and covered with lead. All this was done so that the water upper tiers did not flow onto the lower ones. poured onto the stone fertile land, brought from the banks of the Euphrates. Exotic shrubs, herbs, flowers and trees were brought from all over the world. Some were grown from seeds, but also huge trees were used and carried on carts.

Green garden in the desert

To prevent the Hanging Gardens of Babylon from drying out under the scorching sun, slaves turned a wheel with leather buckets day and night. Water was supplied from the Euphrates through a specially designed and built system. The soil in the flower beds always remained wet.

Collapse of the Babylonian Kingdom

Babylon was no longer powerful at the time when the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were created. The photo of the hills on which the second wonder of the world was supposedly located today only evokes regret about the irretrievably lost beauty. After the death of Alexander the Great, who made Babylon his residence, there was no one to look after the gardens. First, the flowers and trees died - there was no one to water them, then the columns collapsed and the bricks crumbled. Earthquakes also did their job. There are many hills on the territory of the Babylonian kingdom, and researchers cannot determine exactly where the gardens were. But there is no doubt that they really existed.

The existence of one of the wonders of the world - the Hanging Gardens of Babylon - is questioned by many scientists and they claim that it is nothing more than a figment of the imagination of an ancient chronicler, whose idea was picked up by his colleagues and began to be carefully copied from chronicle to chronicle. They justify their assertion by the fact that the Gardens of Babylon are most carefully described by those who have never seen them, while historians who have visited ancient Babylon are silent about the miracle erected there.

Archaeological excavations have shown that the Hanging Gardens of Babylon still existed. Naturally, they did not hang on ropes, but were a four-story building, built in the shape of a pyramid with a huge amount of vegetation, and were part of the palace building. This unique structure received its name due to incorrect translation from the Greek word "kremastos", which actually means "hanging" (as in from a terrace).

The unique gardens were erected by order of the Babylonian ruler Nebuchadnezzar II, who lived in the 7th century. BC. He built them especially for his wife Amytis, daughter of Cyaxares, king of Media (it was with him that the Babylonian ruler entered into an alliance against the common enemy, Assyria - and won the final victory over this state).

Amitis, who grew up among the mountains of green and fertile Media, did not like dusty and noisy Babylon, located on a sandy plain. The Babylonian ruler was faced with a choice: move the capital closer to his wife’s homeland or make her stay in Babylon more comfortable. They decided to build hanging gardens that would remind the queen of her homeland. Where exactly they are located, history is silent, and therefore there are several hypotheses:

1. The main version says that this wonder of the world is located near the modern city of Hilla, which is located on the Ephrat River in the center of Iraq.
2. An alternative version, based on re-decipherment of cuneiform tablets, states that the Hanging Gardens of Babylon are located in Nineveh, the capital of Assyria (located in the north of modern Iraq), which after its fall was transferred to the Babylonian state.

What the gardens looked like

The very idea of ​​​​creating hanging gardens in the middle of a dry plain seemed simply fantastic at that time. The local architects and engineers of the ancient world were able to accomplish this task - and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, which were later included in the list of the Seven Wonders of the World, were built, became part of the palace and were located on its north-eastern side.

The structure created by ancient masters resembled an ever-blooming green hill, since it consisted of four floors (platforms), which rose above each other in the shape of a stepped pyramid, connected by wide staircases made of white and pink slabs. We learned the description of this wonder of the world thanks to the “History” of Herodotus, who quite possibly saw them with his own eyes.

The platforms were installed on columns about 25 meters high - this height was needed so that the plants growing on each floor had good access to sunlight. The lower platform had an irregular quadrangular shape, the most big side was 42 m, the smallest was 34 m.

To prevent the water used to water the plants from seeping onto the lower platform, the surface of each tier was laid as follows:

1. First, a layer of reed was laid out, which was previously mixed with resin;
2. Next came two layers of bricks, fastened together with gypsum mortar;
3. Lead slabs were laid on them;
4. And already on these slabs such a huge layer was poured fertile soil that trees had the opportunity to calmly take root in it. Herbs, flowers, and shrubs were also planted here.

The gardens had quite complex system irrigation: in the middle of one column there was a pipe through which water flowed into the garden. Every day, slaves non-stop spun a special wheel to which leather buckets were attached, thus pumping water, according to one version - from the river, according to another - from underground wells.

Water flowed through a pipe to the very top of the structure, from there it was redirected into numerous channels and flowed down to the lower terraces.

Regardless of what floor a visitor to the garden was on, he could always hear the murmur of water, and near the trees he found shade and coolness - a rare phenomenon for stuffy and hot Babylon. Despite the fact that such gardens could not compare with nature native land Queen Amytis, they were quite good at replacing her native area, representing a real miracle.

Death

After the death of Nebuchadnezzar, Babylon was captured some time later by Alexander the Great (IV century BC), who set up his residence in the palace and met his death there. After his death, Babylon began to gradually collapse, and with it one of the wonders of the world: gardens with artificial system irrigation and without proper care could not exist for long. After some time, they fell into disrepair, and then powerful floods of the nearby river took their toll, the foundation was washed away, the platforms fell, and the history of the amazing gardens ended.

How a unique creation of nature was found

A unique structure was discovered relatively recently, in the 19th century, by the German scientist Robert Koldewey, when during regular excavations under a multi-meter layer of clay and rubble he discovered the remains of a fortress, a palace complex and pillars made of stone (the inhabitants of Mesopotamia almost did not use this material in their architecture ).

After some time, he dug a network of intersecting canals near the city of Hilla, in the sections of which one could see traces of destroyed masonry. Then a stone well with a strange shaft, having a three-stage spiral shape, was discovered. It became obvious that the structure he discovered was erected for a specific purpose.

Since Koldewey was quite familiar with ancient literature, he knew that it only mentioned the use of stone twice in ancient Babylon - during the construction of the northern wall of the Qasr region and during the construction unique garden. He decided that the remains of architecture he discovered were the vault of the basement tier of the gardens, which were later called the Hanging Gardens of Babylon (despite the fact that this Assyrian queen was an enemy of the Babylonians and lived two centuries before the unique miracle of the ancient world appeared in Babylon).

90 km from Baghdad are the ruins of Ancient Babylon. The city has long ceased to exist, but even today the ruins testify to its grandeur. In the 7th century BC. Babylon was the largest and richest city Ancient East. There were many amazing structures in Babylon, but most striking were the hanging gardens of the royal palace - gardens that became a legend.

The second of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World is the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, which are also known as the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Unfortunately, this beautiful creation no longer exists, but debate about it continues to this day.

Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II, whose reign spanned the period between 605 and 562. BC, famous not only for the capture of Jerusalem and the creation of the Tower of Babel, but also for the fact that he made his beloved wife dear and unusual gift. By royal order, a palace-garden was created in the center of the capital, which later received the name Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

Having decided to get married, Nebuchadnezzar II chose a bride - the beautiful Nitocris, the daughter of the king of Media, with whom he was in an allied relationship. According to other sources, the queen's name was Amytis.

The king and his young wife settled in Babylon. Nitocride, accustomed to life among forest thickets and lush vegetation, quickly became intolerable to the boring landscape around the palace. In the city - gray sand, darkened buildings, dusty streets, and outside the city gates - the endless desert brought the queen to melancholy. The ruler, noticing the sadness in the eyes of his beloved wife, inquired about the reason. Nitocrida expressed a desire to be at home, take a walk through her favorite forest, enjoy the smell of flowers and the singing of birds. Then Nebuchadnezzar II ordered the construction of a palace, which would be turned into a garden.

Construction of the palace proceeded at a rapid pace. The queen watched the progress of the work. The slaves laid stone slabs on 25-meter supports and installed low walls on the sides. The stone floor on top was filled with rock tar and bitumen, and lead sheets were laid on top. The palace was created by ledges. To extensive terraces connected by staircases made of pink and white stone, fertile soil was poured. It is not known exactly how many tiers it was supposed to have in the palace, but information about four has reached our days.

Planting material - flowers, trees and shrubs - was brought from Media and planted in the ground. Water for irrigation was brought by slaves from the Euphrates. On the tiers there were special lifts with leather buckets attached to them, necessary for supplying water. Nests were made in the trees for songbirds.

Ancient chronicles indicate that a wonderful castle with green spaces and bright colors towered above the city walls and was perfectly visible from the deserted valley of Mesopotamia many kilometers away. Historical chronicles have not preserved information about the further life of Queen Nitocrida. But another Assyrian queen Semiramis (in Assyrian - Shammuramat), whose reign was in the 9th century BC, gained great fame. e., i.e. much earlier than Nebuchadnezzar II, but which gave its name to the Hanging Gardens.

According to legend, Semiramis, as a reward for her love, asked King Nin to give her power for three days. The king fulfilled her wish, but Semiramis immediately ordered the guards to seize Nin and execute her, which was carried out. So she received unlimited power. Subsequently, she waged wars with neighboring kingdoms, and when her life came to an end, she flew away from the royal palace, turning into a dove. This legend in the 5th century during the time of Herodotus became intertwined with stories about the hanging gardens due to the mistakes of travelers, which gave rise to the name - the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

After Nebuchadnezzar II, Babylon was captured by the Persians and later passed into the hands of Alexander the Great, who wanted to make the city the capital of the empire, but died suddenly. Gradually the city fell into oblivion. The royal palace was almost completely destroyed by the wind and the flooded waters of the Euphrates. But the German archaeologist Robert Koldway conducted excavations and studied the records of historians Ancient Greece, thanks to which the world learned about the Hanging Gardens and the Tower of Babel.

About seven wonders Ancient world, familiar to everyone since school days, legends have been formed for thousands of years. Not all unique man-made monuments have reached their descendants; many have been destroyed by merciless time, but the memory of amazing creations is alive to this day.

Researchers ancient world There are debates about the reality of the existence of many of them, and not only modern scientists doubt this. For example, the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, who traveled through Mesopotamia, never mentioned the unique work that will be discussed today, although it should have amazed him with its greatness.

Myths about finding the Hanging Gardens

In our article we will talk about where the Gardens of Babylon are located - one of the most significant wonders of the world, which has not survived to this day. Ancient historians claimed that they were located in the first metropolis of mankind, Babylon. However, modern scientists recognized the theory as erroneous, saying that real homeland of the extraordinary garden city is located 400 kilometers from its intended location.

Dr. Dalli's loud statement

One of the loudest statements on this matter was made by archaeologist S. Dalli from Oxford, who spent twenty years of her life searching for the legend. The fact is that the history of the Hanging Gardens is full of all sorts of inaccuracies. They were believed to be related to the mythical queen Semiramis, who ruled in Assyria.

But according to written sources that have reached us, it became known that they were allegedly built during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, a king who decided in this way to entertain his beloved wife Amytis. She could not get used to life in a noisy and dusty metropolis, and her husband, who was worried about her, ordered to build a green oasis in which all year round his wife was resting.

A monument created in the name of love

And so, with a wave of the ruler’s hand, a monument created in the name of love arose - the Gardens of Babylon. What city were they in? Until recently, it was believed that they were located in Babylon, located in the middle of the desert, and the queen, who arrived from clean and green Media, suffered extremely from a lack of fresh air.

It is known that the hanging gardens were located on high tower with four tiers connected by pink and white staircases and supported by wide columns. Such a thick layer of earth was placed on tightly connected platforms that even centuries-old trees could be planted. By the way, precisely because of the effect of floating in the air climbing plants, smoothly transitioning to different levels of terraces, the gardens were called hanging.

Second wonder of the world

As scholars of antiquity wrote, the erected hanging gardens of Amitis were stunning in their incredible size: the height of the building reached 250 meters, and the length and width exceeded one kilometer.

More than 37 thousand liters of water were spent every day on watering the plants located on the territory, and an original irrigation system was even invented that made it possible to maintain the life of green spaces using various mechanisms.

Water supply technology was not new to the city, but it is believed that it was here that it reached its perfection. Something similar happened in the world-famous one: a huge wheel was rotated by slaves, and thus the water rose to the very top of the garden, from which it flowed along terraces entwined with greenery. Outside the palace, thousands of poor people were dying of thirst, because water in those days was worth its weight in gold, but here it flowed like a river to please the eyes of Amytis.

Conquest of Babylon

It is believed that the formidable winner Alexander the Great, who conquered Babylon, was captivated by the amazing beauty of the erected palace. Far from the hustle and bustle, he enjoyed the silence, interrupted only by the sounds of rushing water, giving in to memories of his native Macedonia. After the death of the ruler who held all the power in his hands, the city ceased to be considered the capital of the world and fell into decay.

Speculation about the destruction of the gardens and palace

Unfortunately, the second wonder of the world, as it is commonly called, has not reached us, and no one knows whether the elements destroyed it or whether it was the work of human hands. There are suggestions that all the vegetation died after the slaves stopped pumping water. And the terrible flood that happened destroyed the once luxurious palace to the ground, the clay walls of which became soaked, and the massive columns supporting them collapsed.

Koldewey's find

Several centuries later, archaeologists, interested in finding the legendary landmark, searched for a long time for the erected Gardens of Babylon in Mesopotamia. The famous scientist R. Koldewey dedicated his life to this. Since 1898, he had been excavating near Baghdad and found stone ruins, declaring them the remains of a Babylonian landmark.

Found ruins

An extensive network of branches in different sides trenches gave him the idea that these could be those long-awaited gardens. A German archaeologist discovered the remains of a water pipeline, with the help of which green plants brought especially for the queen from various countries were irrigated.

The ruins found by many scientists were not perceived as the ruins of the Babylonian gardens, and some continued their search, claiming that the wonderful structure was located in a completely different place.

Many years of searching

Dr. Dalli, inspired by the absence of any mention of the structure in written sources from the time of Nebuchadnezzar, began own investigation, which lasted for decades. She painstakingly studied ancient artifacts and deciphered cuneiform manuscripts located in British Museum, to answer the question that has tormented everyone about where the Gardens of Babylon are actually located.

After a long search, scientific works were rewarded. In 2013, after analyzing all the collected data, Dally established the location of the now mythical structures ancient garden. She found references to a “miracle for all people” built near Nineveh. The luxurious palace, along with a laid out garden, was erected in the 8th century BC.

Where are the Gardens of Babylon actually located?

The fact is that Nineveh, now located on the territory of modern Iraq, is mentioned in all manuscripts as ancient Babylon, which led to distortion historical facts about the true location grandiose building. According to an Oxford archaeological team, a massive mound in northern Iraq near the city of Mosul contains an outlandish wonder of the world - the Gardens of Babylon.

As Dr. Dalli says, excavations in this place will certainly confirm her theory about the existence of the structure, and a bas-relief found in the city depicting a wonderful palace with hanging terraces of flowers once again convinces of the correctness of the theory of experts.

However, skeptical researchers do not agree with this version, stating that other parks will be found in Nineveh, only similar to the Gardens of Babylon. The country of Iraq and, in particular, the city of Mosul, captured by ISIS militants, does not allow large-scale research to confirm or refute Dr. Dalli's theory.

Unanswered Questions

So, now it is impossible to say exactly where the Gardens of Babylon are located. Yes, not a single drawing depicting the second wonder of the world has survived to this day, and all the paintings that have appeared are only a figment of the imagination of artists.

The mystery of a huge structure, erected many centuries ago, excites the minds of modern researchers and ordinary people, but there is no direct evidence of the exact location of the great structure. Continued debate between scientists proved that there really were hanging gardens, and main question remains unanswered for now.