Unveiling the Majestic Secrets of the Lost Gardens of Babylon: A Journey Through Time and Wonder.

   Imagine a lush oasis filled with exotic plants and towering greenery, said to be one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Isn't it intriguing? Let me introduce you to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. These gardens were like a green paradise, with plants stacked on top of each other in terraces, making it look like they were hanging. People back then thought it was mind-blowing, and honestly, it still sounds pretty amazing today. But here's the twist, some historians are still debating if they actually existed or not. It's like the ultimate mystery of the ancient world. Legend has it that King Nebuchadnezzar II, back in the day around 600 BC, built these incredible Hanging Gardens next to his fancy palace, which they called "The Marvel of Mankind." Why? Because his wife, Queen Amytis, was feeling homesick for the lush landscapes of her homeland. Can you imagine? So, he decided to surprise her with this epic garden paradise, complete with all sorts of plants and waterworks. Some stories even say it was Queen Semiramis who pulled off this botanical feat. Either way, it's like the ultimate romantic gesture from ancient times!

   The exact location of this garden is still a mystery. There are no ancient texts or solid proof chilling in Babylon to confirm their existence. Some folks think they were just a myth, cooked up by ancient storytellers who had a thing for exotic gardens. Others reckon they were real but got wrecked way back in the day, like around the first century AD. There's even a wild theory suggesting they might've been mixed up with this epic garden built by another ancient king near Mosul.

   Whether the Hanging Gardens were real or just a poetic dream is still up in the air as there's no ancient Babylonian posts confirming their existence, and even Nebuchadnezzar's epic inscriptions don't give them a shoutout. Plus, his wife Amyitis, who's supposed to be the reason behind these green marvels, is nowhere to be found in the records. And get this, even Herodotus, who spilled the tea on Babylon, didn't mention these gardens. Archaeologists haven't found squat either. Some experts think the whole Nebuchadnezzar connection was just a political move by a guy named Berossus, and the legend might've been pinched from somewhere else.

   So, Josephus, a dude from way back in the day, quotes Berossus, this Babylonian priest who spilled the beans about Nebuchadnezzar II being the mastermind behind the gardens. Then there's Diodorus Siculus, who seems to have raided the history books of Cleitarchus and Ctesias. He dishes out details like how the garden was shaped like a big old square, with tiered levels towering up to 50 cubits high. Quintus Curtius Rufus jumps in, backing up the Syrian king angle and saying the gardens were perched atop a fortress. And then there's Strabo, who might've gotten his info from this lost dude named Onesicritus. He says the gardens were watered using this cool gadget called an Archimedes' screw, which brought water from the Euphrates river right to the plants. Lastly, Philo of Byzantium, gives props to the engineering marvel of raising all that soil and keeping the plants hydrated.

   There's this Oxford scholar named Stephanie Dalley who's got a wild theory about the Hanging Gardens. She's saying that maybe, just maybe, they weren't actually in Babylon at all. Instead, she thinks they were the fancy gardens built by Assyrian king named Sennacherib way back then. Basically, she reckons that over time, people got their stories mixed up, and the lush gardens at Sennacherib's palace got credited to Nebuchadnezzar II's Babylon.

   Archaeologists found traces of a massive aqueduct system linked to Sennacherib, with inscriptions confirming it. Stephanie suggests these aqueducts were part of this huge waterworks system stretching over 80 kilometers, all to keep the gardens at Nineveh nice and hydrated. She's basing all this on some fancy analysis of ancient Akkadian writings.

   King Sennacherib's garden was renowned not only for its stunning appearance, offering a lush oasis amidst arid surroundings, but also for its impressive water management systems. This tradition of grand gardens was established by King Ashurnasirpal II, who engineered a canal through mountains and cultivated various fruit tree orchards, including pines, cypresses, junipers, almonds, dates, ebony, and more. Detailed depictions of the garden, such as a sculptured wall panel from Assurbanipal's era, offer insights into its matured state, although these artifacts are not currently on public display at the British Museum.

   So, in short, the Garden of Babylon was like the ultimate flex of ancient times, showing off humanity's knack for creating something truly jaw-dropping. Even though it's long gone, it still blows our minds and reminds us how awesome our ancestors were at making things that stand the test of time.

Image References:

Invastor. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Invastor Blog.

https://www.invastor.com/blog/4241-The-Hanging-Gardens-of-Babylon/

The Gardens Trust. (2021, January 2). The Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The Gardens Trust Blog. https://thegardenstrust.blog/2021/01/02/the-hanging-gardens-of-babylon/