The Seven Wonders of The Ancient World
The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World were:
- the Great Pyramid at Giza, Egypt.
- the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
- the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, Greece.
- the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus.
- the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus.
- the Colossus of Rhodes.
- the Lighthouse at Alexandria, Egypt.
The Hanging Gardens Of Babylon
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only one whose location has not been definitely established. The Hanging Gardens were a distinctive feature of ancient Babylon. They are the second oldest of the seven wonders, the only older wonder being the Pyramid of Giza. These gardens were made by King Nebuchadnezzar in 605 BC, to his Persian wife, Amytis, who was homesick for the rich flora of her homeland. Babylon was situated in the desert and thus not many plants were able to grow in the harsh conditions. Only hints remain today of what the gardens might have been. The Hanging Gardens did not in fact hang but there were terraces built on top of each other. The plants weren’t rooted in the ground but on these layered terraces. The plants that grew on the upper levels over the years hang down mid-air created the illusion that the gardens were hanging, hence their name. One could also walk underneath the gardens. The Greeks left no drawings, but describe them as being circular and triangular plots built in stages at the highest point of the city, some 22 meters overhead, with water fed to trees and plants by primitive irrigation systems. Brick columns filled with dirt might have supported the terrace plots to allow trees to grow inside them. The whole garden was around 120 meters long.
quick facts
- The Hanging Gardens are the only one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world that may not even have existed.
- There is no documentation in Babylonian sources that the gardens ever existed. There is also no solid archaeological evidence that they existed.
- Many believe that if the gardens did exist they would have been located south of Bagdad in Iraq.