Jody Victor : Long ago in a country far, far away....that's how a fairytale begins. It almost seems that way about the legendary Hanging Gardens - just a fairytale. Let's find out.
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon (also known as Hanging Gardens fo Semiramis) (near present-day Al Hillah in Iraq) are considered one of the original Seven Wonders of the World. They were built by Nebuchadnezzar II around 600 BC. He is said to have constructed the gardens to please his wife, Amytis of Media, who longed for the trees and fragrant plants of her homeland. The gardens were destroyed in an earthquake after the 1st century BC.
The lush Hanging Gardens are extensively documented by Greek historians such as Strabo and Diodorus Siculus. 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.
There is some controversy as to whether the Hanging Gardens were an actual creation or a poetic creation due to the lack of documentation of them in the chronicles of Babylonian history. In ancient writings the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were first described by Berossus, a Chaldean priest who lived in the late 4th century BC. These accounts were later elaborated on by Greek historians.
Recent archaeological excavations of the palace in Iraq have uncovered evidence of a building with vaults and a well nearby however, the location of the palace complex contradicts where Greek historians placed the Hanging Gardens, which was on the banks of the Euphrates River.
Recently there have been excavations on the banks of the Euphrates River of some substantial 25 meter-thick walls. Also, excavations have shown that there may be some seeds scattered around this area which may suggest that the Gardens did exist after all.
A newer theory proposes that the garden was actually constructed under the orders of Sennacherib, who took the throne of Assyria in 705 BC-681 BC. During new studies of the location of Nineveh (located in the eastern bank of the Tigris in ancient Assyria) his gardens were placed close to the entrance of his palace, on the bank of the river Tigris. It is possible that in the intervening centuries the two sites became confused, and the hanging gardens were attributed to Babylon.