The Hanging Garden of Babylon portrays a beautiful picture of colorful flowers with lush greenery and must have been very inspiring to be considered as one of the seven wonders of ancient world though the Hanging Gardens are not seen today. Many are speculating about its existence due to the absence of any documentation of the Babylon history though ancient writing mention that the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were first described by a Chaldaean priest, Berossus, living in the 4th century BC. According to the priest, he attributes the garden to King Nebuchadnezzar II who had it built around 600 BC for his wife Amytis who came from Media and married him for political reasons and after marriage became homesick living in the flat and arid Babylon territory. She began missing her verdant and mountainous dwelling at Media and to replicate her lush green dwelling, he constructed the Hanging Garden to cheer her up. The Hanging Gardens built by Nebuchadnezzar did not really hang and the name was derived from a translation of the Greek word kremostos, or the Latin word pensilis, meaning not just hanging but overhanging, which is normally applicable in case of a balcony or a terrace. The Hanging Garden was made up of stimulated mountain having rooftop gardens and could have been multi level terraces and supported by baked brick columns. The columns in turn could have been filled with waste to permit large plantings and trees to develop and grow and the plants hanging down over the years gave the effect of a lush mountain landscape which seems to be hanging in mid air giving the eye of a beholder, a spectacular view of the overall landscape.
According to a Greek geographer Strabo, the garden in the first century BC; consisted of vaulted terraces raised one above the other, resting on cube shaped columns which were hollow and filled with earth for large size trees to be planted while the vaults, pillars and the terraces were constructed of baked brick and asphalt. One could ascend the story by the use of the stairs with water engines by their side and people appointed to raise water from the Euphrates River into the garden for the growth of the plants. Since Babylon rarely received rain and for the purpose of the survival of the plants, irrigation was necessary and the water from the Euphrates River was put to the maximum use. One of the solutions of supplying water for the garden could have been done with the use of the chain pump where two large wheels placed one above the other joined by a chain with buckets on it. Below the lower wheel was the pool and while the wheels rotated the buckets would get filled with water and get emptied in the upper pool and the cycle of irrigation continued in this manner. The upper pool could then release the water by gates of channels which were like artificial streams to water the gardens. The wheels could be operated with the handle or a shaft on turning it to provide power to run it. Another option of getting the water to the top of the garden could have been through the screw pump which looked like a trough having its lower end in the pool from which the water is taken and the other end towards the upper end of the pool. It worked on the mechanism when the screw is fitted tightly into trough and on turning the screw, water is caught between the blades of the screw and lifted upwards till it reaches the top and empties into the upper pool. Though many speculate on the reality of the Hanging Gardens, it is not outside the realm of possibility of its existence since recent archaeological excavations of the palace in Iraq have uncovered discoveries of building with vaults and a well meant for irrigation.
According to a Greek geographer Strabo, the garden in the first century BC; consisted of vaulted terraces raised one above the other, resting on cube shaped columns which were hollow and filled with earth for large size trees to be planted while the vaults, pillars and the terraces were constructed of baked brick and asphalt. One could ascend the story by the use of the stairs with water engines by their side and people appointed to raise water from the Euphrates River into the garden for the growth of the plants. Since Babylon rarely received rain and for the purpose of the survival of the plants, irrigation was necessary and the water from the Euphrates River was put to the maximum use. One of the solutions of supplying water for the garden could have been done with the use of the chain pump where two large wheels placed one above the other joined by a chain with buckets on it. Below the lower wheel was the pool and while the wheels rotated the buckets would get filled with water and get emptied in the upper pool and the cycle of irrigation continued in this manner. The upper pool could then release the water by gates of channels which were like artificial streams to water the gardens. The wheels could be operated with the handle or a shaft on turning it to provide power to run it. Another option of getting the water to the top of the garden could have been through the screw pump which looked like a trough having its lower end in the pool from which the water is taken and the other end towards the upper end of the pool. It worked on the mechanism when the screw is fitted tightly into trough and on turning the screw, water is caught between the blades of the screw and lifted upwards till it reaches the top and empties into the upper pool. Though many speculate on the reality of the Hanging Gardens, it is not outside the realm of possibility of its existence since recent archaeological excavations of the palace in Iraq have uncovered discoveries of building with vaults and a well meant for irrigation.
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