The Hanging Gardens of Nineveh?

By | June 22, 2019

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Reconstruction of the hanging gardens of Babylon. Source: (gettyimages.com)

Of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon remain the most elusive and intriguing. Of the Wonders, the Hanging Gardens is the only one with no archaeological evidence of its existence. In fact, the only records of it are mostly from the accounts of Greco-Roman writers. This mystery may finally be over with recent evidence revealing that the Hanging Gardens were not located in Babylon but in a different city entirely.

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Another reconstruction of the Hanging Gardens. Source: (gettyimages.com)

Ancient writers vary somewhat in a description of the gardens, but it is important to note that none of those who described the gardens visited them first hand and relied on older accounts.

The essentials are generally the same. The gardens were on a tiered structure, probably next to, or on top of a palace. One ancient source indicated that it was 75 feet high with walls of brick some 22 feet thick. Each level had a deep bed of soil which could handle the root system of large trees.