Hanging garden of Babylon

The first known historical references to manmade gardens above grade appear to be ziggurats of ancient Mesopotamia, built from the fourth millennium until about 600 BC located in the courtyards of temples in major cities.

It was an age of cultural, scientific, and, philosophical enquiry and technological inventiveness.

Hanging garden in all probability rose through the rebuilding of Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar II. Babylonia was the capital city of the land of Babylonia, situated in the river Euphrates, some 400 miles north-west of the Persian Gulf, and over 600 miles east of the Mediterranean in what is now Iraq.

Hanging garden of Babylon

Hanging Garden of Babylon is considered as one of the Seven Wonders of the World and more than likely were the world’s very first roof garden. These terraced structures m constructed around 600 BC, were built over arched stone beams and waterproofed with layer of reed and thicker tar.

A hidden mechanism fed the terraces with water to support the trees, and there were pavilions among the vegetation.

According to Philo of Byzantium (250 BC), the Hanging Garden has plants cultivated at a height above ground level and the roots of the trees are embedded in an upper terrace rather than in the earth. Exotic flowers and plants covered the terraces.

An ancient story says Long Nebuchadnezzar built the garden for his homesick wife, Amyitis who had come from green, rugged land with mountain. His wife was an Iranian princess, a daughter of Cyaxares (king of the Medes) a lady unused to the sun and dust of Babylon.
Hanging garden of Babylon