Who created the hanging gardens of Semiramis. Hanging Gardens of Babylon: myth or ancient engineering marvel
Living in an area with a temperate climate, favorable for many plants, we take for granted the green landscape around us and the comfort that plantings give us. We don't realize how lucky we are! But there are many places on the planet where growing even a small garden requires a lot of effort and expense.
Gift for Amitis
Problems of landscaping have been worrying people since ancient times - an example of this is the legendary Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
At the end of the 80s of the 20th century, work was underway in Iraq to restore ancient Babylon (the capital of Mesopotamia in the 19th-6th centuries BC) and the country's authorities were ready to pay a reward of $ 2 million to anyone who discovers the secret of irrigation in such a way called the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. But hostilities in this area prevented the successful completion of the project. Now one can only guess about the structure and location of one of the seven wonders of the world.
The Greeks called Semiramis the Assyrian queen Shammuramat, who lived in the 9th century BC. e. and founded the famous Babylon, the capital of Mesopotamia (Mesopotamia). It was Queen Shammuramat that ancient Greek historians mistakenly attributed to the creation of the famous gardens of Babylon.
Later it was possible to establish that the beautiful gardens were erected at the beginning of the 6th century BC. e. Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II (605-562 BC) to please his beloved wife Amitis, the Median princess. The climate in Babylon was dry and hot, and it rained mainly in winter. It is not surprising that the queen longed for the fresh mountain air and the greenery of her native Mussels.
At his palace (King Nebuchadnezzar) ordered the construction of stone elevations, completely similar in appearance to mountains, lined them with all kinds of trees and arranged the so-called hanging gardens because of the desire of his wife, who came from Media, to have such a thing that she was used to at home at home.
Berossus (Babylonian historian), early 3rd century BC e.
I found the gardens of Babylon!
As a result of excavations carried out in 1899–1917 under the guidance of the German scientist and archaeologist Robert Koldewey, 90 km from Baghdad, they managed to find the ruins of Babylon during the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar. In the southern part of the city, the archaeologist stumbled upon the remains of an underground vaulted structure with a well, which was very unusual for Mesopotamia and consisted of three shafts. The vaults were lined not only with brick, but also with stone. During excavations, Koldewey met such a stone among the ruins of Babylon only once - near the northern side of the Kasr region. Obviously, an unusual building was intended for some special purpose.
Koldewey suggested that in front of him were the remains of a water intake well with a belt water intake, which at one time was intended for continuous water supply. Ancient sources - starting with the works of ancient writers Joseph Flavius, Ctesias, Strabo and ending with cuneiform tablets - contain only two references to the use of stone in Babylon: when building the northern wall of the Babylonian palace and when creating the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
"I found the gardens of Babylon!" Koldewey reported triumphantly to Berlin. But as soon as there were reports of the discovery, doubts immediately arose. Some scholars, referring to the same old sources, tried to prove that the gardens could not possibly have been located where the archaeologist found them. According to some, the wonder of the world should have been located not in the palace, but next to it. Others believed that the gardens were erected on the very banks of the Euphrates. Still others argued: not just near the Euphrates, but above it, on a special wide bridge thrown over the river. Archaeologists are still collecting facts, finding out the exact location of the gardens, the irrigation system, the true reasons for their appearance and death.
Plan of Babylon: 1.Process road. 2. Gate of the goddess Ishtar. 3. Inner wall. 4. Southern Palace. 5. Hanging gardens. 6. Temple of the goddess Ninmah. 7. Tower of Babel. 8. River Euphrates
eyewitness accounts
The first mention of the hanging gardens was preserved in the "History" of Herodotus, who probably visited Babylon and left us the most complete description of it. The most accurate information about the ancient city comes from other Greek historians, for example, from Verossus and Diodorus, but the description of the gardens is rather scarce: “... The garden is quadrangular, and each side of it is four pletra long (pletra - 30.85 m). It consists of arched vaults that are staggered on cubic bases. Climbing to the uppermost terrace is possible by stairs…”
It is believed that the Hanging Gardens were a pyramid of four terraces located one above the other. The lower tier had the shape of an irregular quadrangle. Inside each floor, the vaults supported powerful columns about 25 m high. The outer parts of the terraces served as galleries, while the inner ones served as grottoes decorated with colored tiles and frescoes. Inside, the arches were hollow, and the voids were covered with fertile soil, and in such a layer that even the branched root system of giant trees freely found a place for itself. The height of the tiers reached 50 cubits (27.75 m) and provided enough light for the plants. The floors of the gardens rose in ledges and were connected by wide, sloping stairs covered with pink and white stone. On the sides of the stairs was a constantly working chain of water lifts.
A marvel of ancient engineering
An important issue that the builders had to solve was to strengthen the foundation, since the flowing water could easily wash it away and lead to collapse. Most of the houses, including the fortress wall, were built of raw brick, which was a mixture of clay and straw. The mass was laid out in forms, then dried in the sun. Bricks were connected to each other with the help of bitumen - quite strong and beautiful masonry was obtained. However, such structures were quickly destroyed by water. For most of the buildings in Babylon, this was not a problem, since it rarely rained in this dry area. Gardens, on the other hand, subjected to constant irrigation, had to have a protected foundation and vaults.
The platform of each terrace was a multi-layer structure. Massive stone slabs lay at its base, on which a layer of reed impregnated with resin (asphalt) was laid. Then there was a double row of fired bricks, fastened with a gypsum mortar. Even higher - lead plates to retain water.
Not only the architectural structure of the gardens was amazing, but also the irrigation system, because water was delivered to a fairly high altitude. It is believed that an irrigation system was used to provide all the plants with moisture, consisting of two large wheels with leather buckets attached to a cable. The wheels were set in motion around the clock by many slaves. The buckets of the lower wheel scooped up water from the Euphrates and were passed along a chain of hoists to the upper wheel, where they overturned, draining the water into the upper pool. From there, through a network of canals, it flowed in streams in different directions along the tiers of the hill to the very foot, irrigating the plants along the way. The empty buckets went down again, and the cycle repeated.
In the summer, when the air temperature reached +50°C, slaves continuously pumped water from underground wells and fed it into numerous small channels, through which moisture was distributed through the entire system from the upper terrace down. The garden was riddled with miniature rivers and waterfalls; ducks swam and frogs croaked in small ponds; bees, butterflies and dragonflies flew from flower to flower.
man-made oasis
All ledges, as well as similarities of balconies, were planted with exotic plants brought to Babylon from all over the world. Not only seeds were delivered, but also seedlings, which were wrapped in water-soaked matting. Magnificent palm trees rose high above the fortress walls of the palace fence. Outlandish shrubs and beautiful flowers adorned the queen's gardens. Trees of the most amazing species were green between the columns.
Each of the numerous terraces was a separate garden, but the general view was perceived as a whole. The stems and branches of thousands of climbing and hanging plants spread to neighboring areas, forming a picturesque park of amazing beauty - a huge green massif with steep slopes overgrown with a wide variety of trees, shrubs and flowers. From a distance it seemed that the plants were hovering above the ground, from this amazing impression the name “hanging” was firmly entrenched in the gardens.
The death of the gardens
In 331 BC. e. Alexander the Great's troops captured Babylon. The illustrious commander was fascinated by the majestic city and made it the capital of his vast empire. It was here, in the shadow of the "hanging gardens", that he died. After the death of Alexander, Babylon gradually fell into decay, and the gardens fell into disrepair. According to one version, the death of this wonder of the world occurred as a result of a powerful flood that destroyed the brick foundation of the columns.
In the century before last, the German traveler I. Pfeifer described in her travel notes that she saw on the ruins of El Kasra one forgotten tree from the Cone-bearing class, completely unknown in these parts. The Arabs call it "atale" and revere it as sacred. The most amazing stories are told about this tree (as if it were left from hanging gardens) and they assure that they heard sad, plaintive sounds in its branches when a strong wind blows.
Hanging gardens in Russia
“Hanging”, or, as they were also called, “riding”, gardens adorned the Kremlin in the 17th century under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. They were arranged on the terraces and roofs of the palace, outbuildings and cellars. Sheet lead served as waterproofing, over which a layer of earth up to 1 m thick was poured. The gardens were preserved until the reconstruction of the Kremlin, which was carried out in the 70s of the 18th century.
In St. Petersburg, hanging gardens were built for Elizabeth Petrovna in the Summer and Anichkov Palaces. The laurels of Queen Semiramis and Catherine II, who ordered hanging gardens to be built at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg and at Catherine's Palace in Tsarskoye Selo, did not give rest.
The garden of the Winter Palace was decorated with flower beds with scarlet and white roses, trimmed bushes and trees. Tropical plants were displayed in containers and kept indoors for the winter. Birches, cherries and apple trees constantly grew in the garden, they were covered from frost. Later, birds were released into the garden and a dovecote was set up, after stretching a wire mesh from above.
Babylon (first mentioned in the 23rd century BC) is a city that existed in Mesopotamia (currently Iraq, 110 km south of Baghdad). Iraq has a subtropical Mediterranean climate with hot, dry summers and warm, rainy winters. The most widespread in Iraq is the subtropical steppe and semi-desert vegetation, confined to the western, southwestern and southern regions and represented mainly by wormwood, saltwort, camel thorn, dzhuzgun, astragalus.
Media (670 - 550 BC) - an ancient state in the western territory of modern Iran from the Araks River and the Elburs mountains in the north to the borders of Persis (Fars) in the south and from the Zagros mountains in the west to the Deshte-Kevir desert in the east. In the mountainous regions of Iran, the climate depends on the altitude of the area. The northern wet slopes of the Elburz up to a height of 2440 m are covered with dense broad-leaved forests with a predominance of hazelnut (hazelnut), oak, hornbeam, maple, beech, plum and ash. Above their border, low-growing shrubs and sod grass vegetation are common.
The second wonder of the world, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, is a luxurious and unusual gift from the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar to his beloved wife. This is where he died. Hanging gardens delighted ancient travelers and to this day do not cease to excite the minds of modern people.
- the largest city of ancient Mesopotamia, the capital of the Babylonian kingdom in the XIX-VI centuries. BC e., the cultural and commercial center of antiquity, which amazed contemporaries with its splendor. Here was located the second wonder of the world - the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
In Search of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon
Time has destroyed the hanging gardens, and now it is even impossible to say exactly where they were. Although archaeologists have repeatedly attempted to find traces of the wonder of the world famous in antiquity.
As early as the end of the 19th century, the German historian Robert Koldewey took up this task. Excavations lasted 18 years. As a result, the scientist stated that he had discovered traces of Ancient Babylon - part of the city wall, the ruins of the Tower of Babel and the remains of columns and vaults, which, in his opinion, once surrounded the famous Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
The excavations he carried out made it possible to get a fairly clear idea of \u200b\u200bwhat Babylon looked like in the 6th century BC. e. The city was built up according to a clearly drawn up plan, it was surrounded by a triple ring of walls, the length of which reached 18 km. The number of its inhabitants was not less than 200,000.
In the old part of the city was the main palace of Nebuchadnezzar, divided into two parts - eastern and western. On the plan, it is depicted as a quadrangle. The entrance was located in the east, and the garrison was also located there. The western part, apparently, was intended for the courtiers; on the north side, according to archaeologists, were the hanging gardens of Babylon. Not all scholars support this view. But after many centuries, it is rather difficult to establish the exact location of the hanging gardens.
Description of Herodotus
A detailed and enthusiastic description of Babylon is available from the ancient Greek historian Herodotus. He visited Babylon in the 5th century BC. e. he was struck by the breadth and regularity of its streets, the beauty and richness of its palaces and temples. Reading the enthusiastic descriptions of Herodotus, it is almost impossible to believe that two centuries before him this city was destroyed and wiped off the face of the earth by the cruel Assyrian king Sennacherib, and the place itself was flooded by the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates.
The death of Babylon
For a long time, rich and flourishing Babylonia was the object of raids by the kings of the militant Assyrian state. In an effort to destroy a recalcitrant rival, the Assyrian king Sennacherib threw countless hordes against Babylonia. The decisive battle took place near the city of Halul, on the Tigris River. The rebellious Babylonians and their allies were defeated. Here is how the chronicler describes these events on behalf of the Assyrian king: “Like a lion, I became furious, put on a shell, and put a battle helmet on my head. In the wrath of my heart, I quickly rushed in a high war chariot, striking enemies ...
Thundering furiously, I raised a war cry against all the evil enemy troops ... I pierced the enemy warriors with a dart and arrows, I pierced their corpses like a sieve ... I quickly killed the enemies, like fat bulls bound together, along with princes girded with golden daggers and with hands, studded with red gold rings. I cut their throats like lambs. I cut off their precious life, like a thread ... Chariots, along with horses, whose riders were killed during the offensive, left to their own devices (fate), rushed back and forth ...
I stopped beating only after two hours (after the onset) of the night. The king of Elam himself, together with the king of Babylon and the princes of the Chaldeans, who were on his side, were crushed by the horror of the battle ... They left their tents and fled. For the sake of saving their lives, they trampled on the corpses of their own warriors ... Their hearts beat like those of a captured dove, they clanged their teeth. I sent my chariots with horses to pursue them, and the fugitives who fled for their lives were stabbed with weapons wherever they were overtaken.
Then the Assyrian king Sennacherib moved to Babylon and, despite the fierce resistance of its inhabitants, took the city. Babylon was given to the soldiers for plunder. Those defenders of the city that were not killed were enslaved and resettled in different regions of the Assyrian state. And he planned to wipe out the recalcitrant city of Sennacherib from the face of the earth: walls and towers, temples and palaces, houses and craft workshops were destroyed. After Babylon was completely destroyed, the king ordered the floodgates to be opened and all that was left of the great city to be flooded.
This happened in the 7th century BC. e. And two centuries later, Herodotus visited Babylon and was amazed by its wealth and magnificence. The ancient city again delighted travelers with the power and impregnability of its walls, the splendor of palaces and temples.
City rebuilding
How could the ruined city be reborn from the ashes and reach unprecedented prosperity? By order of King Esarhaddon, the son of Sennacherib, thousands of slaves were driven to a wasteland flooded with water, on the site of which a majestic city had previously stood. They began to work on the restoration of canals, clearing debris and building a new city on the site of the former. The best craftsmen and architects were sent to build Babylon. In the restored city, its inhabitants, who had previously been resettled in remote areas of Assyria, were returned.
Reborn Babylon
The revived Babylon reached its peak under King Nebuchadnezzar II, who ruled from 605-562 BC. e. He led an active aggressive policy, extended his influence to Phoenicia, Syria, conquered the capital of the Kingdom of Judah - Jerusalem. The city was destroyed, and almost all of its population was moved to Babylon (this event in Hebrew history is called the Babylonian captivity).
Extensive campaigns of conquest made it possible for Nebuchadnezzar to seize vast territories and a large number of prisoners, who were turned into slaves and used in the construction of grandiose structures in the capital. Nebuchadnezzar wanted to surpass all his predecessors with the splendor and splendor of the palaces and temples of the capital.
Babylon represented in terms of a regular rectangle, which was divided by the Euphrates into the Old and New cities, and was surrounded (as already mentioned) by three rows of powerful fortress walls made of mud bricks. In a number of ancient sources, the walls of Babylon are also named among the wonders of the world, since they were distinguished by their unusual width (several chariots could freely pass on them) and a large number of battlements. The space between the inner and outer ring of walls was deliberately not built up, since in the event of an attack it was supposed to become a refuge for the population of nearby villages.
There have always been many travelers in Babylon who want to see with their own eyes its luxury and beauty, majestic palaces and temples. But of greatest interest were the delightful Hanging Gardens of Babylon, which were not found anywhere else in the world.
Description of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon
The first and most complete description of the Hanging Gardens is found in the History of Herodotus. In those days, the construction of gardens was attributed to the legendary Assyrian queen Shamurmat (in Greek, Semiramis). In fact, they were built by order of Nebuchadnezzar II for his beloved wife, the Median princess Amitis (according to other sources - Amanis). In treeless and dry Babylonia, she yearned for the coolness of the forests of her native Media. And, in order to console her, the king ordered to build a garden in which the plants would remind the queen of her homeland.
The gardens were laid out on a four-tiered tower. Platforms were built from massive blocks of stone; they were supported by strong vaults, which in turn rested on columns. The top of the platform was covered with reeds and filled with asphalt. They made a lining of two rows of bricks fastened with gypsum, and lead plates were already laid on them, which protected the lower tiers from water penetration.
Only after that a thick layer of fertile land was laid, which made it possible to grow the largest trees. The tiers of gardens were interconnected by wide staircases lined with white and pink slabs. The gardens were planted with magnificent plants, palm trees and flowers, brought by order of the king from distant Media.
In the desert and arid Babylonia, these gardens with their aroma, greenery and coolness seemed like a real miracle and amazed with their magnificence. In order for plants to grow in hot Babylonia, hundreds of slaves turned the water wheel every day, pumping water from the Euphrates. Water was supplied upward, into numerous channels, through which it flowed down to the lower tiers.
It was in the lower tier of this garden that the legendary commander of antiquity Alexander the Great died. Having defeated the Persian king Darius, he moved to Babylon, preparing for a decisive rebuff from its inhabitants. But the population of the city, tired of Persian rule, met the Macedonians as liberators and opened the gates to Alexander without resistance. The Persians, who were behind the fortress wall, did not dare to resist.
Alexander was greeted with flowers and joyful cries. Priests, representatives of the nobility and many ordinary citizens came out to meet him. Alexander, having heard about the beauty and luxury of Babylon, was amazed at what he saw.
Delighted, Alexander decided to make Babylon the capital of his state. But he appeared in the city only 10 years later, preparing for a campaign against Egypt, from which he intended to move further to Carthage, Italy and Spain. Preparations for the campaign had already been completed when the commander fell ill. The king was put to bed, but he continued to give orders. And although the doctors gave him healing infusions, his health deteriorated. Tormented by fever, he ordered his bed to be lowered into the lower tier of the gardens.
When it became clear that he was dying, he was transferred to the throne room of the builder of the hanging gardens, Nebuchadnezzar II. There, on a dais, the royal bed was placed, past which his soldiers passed in deep silence. This was the last farewell of the king to the army.
And a few centuries later, the once lush and rich city began to decline. New cities grew, trade routes stretched away from Babylon. The flood destroyed the palace of Nebuchadnezzar II. Clay, which served as the main building material for the Babylonians, proved to be short-lived.
Washed out by water, the vaults and ceilings collapsed, the columns supporting the terraces on which the hanging gardens grew collapsed. Everything turned to dust. And only the descriptions of ancient authors and archaeological finds help to imagine what the greatest wonder of the world was, inspired by the love of the Babylonian king and created by the work and art of the Babylonian masters.
If we turn to the history of the construction of the Hanging Gardens, it becomes clear that the reason for their construction, like many other architectural gems of antiquity (for example, the Taj Mahal), was love. The king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar II, entered into a military alliance with the king of Media, marrying his daughter named Amitis. Babylon was a trading center in the middle of a sandy desert, it was always dusty and noisy here. Amitis began to yearn for her homeland, the evergreen and fresh Mussel. To please his beloved, he decided to build hanging gardens in Babylon
The gardens were arranged in the form of a pyramid with four tiered platforms resting on 20-meter columns. The lowest tier had the shape of an irregular quadrangle, the length of which in different parts varied from 30 to 40 meters.
From the Babylonian kingdom of the last period of existence, mainly the remains of architectural structures have come down, including the palaces of Nebuchadnezzar II and the famous "hanging gardens". According to legend, at the beginning of the VI century BC. King Nebuchadnezzar II ordered the creation of hanging gardens for one of his wives, who yearned in the plains of Babylonia for her homeland in the mountainous part of Iran. And, although in reality the “hanging gardens” appeared only during the time of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II, the Greek legend, transmitted by Herodotus and Ctesias, connected the name of Semiramis with the creation of the “hanging gardens” in Babylon.
According to legend, the king of Babylon Shamshiadat V fell in love with the Assyrian Amazon queen Semiramis. In her honor, he built a huge structure, consisting of an arcade - a series of arches stacked on top of each other. On each floor of such an arcade, earth was poured and a garden was laid out with many rare trees. Among the amazingly beautiful plants, fountains murmured, bright birds sang. The gardens of Babylon were through and multi-storey. This gave them lightness and a fabulous look.
So that water does not seep through the tiers, each of the platforms was covered with a dense layer of bound reeds, then a thick layer of fertile land was laid with seeds of outlandish plants - flowers, shrubs, trees
The Gardens of Babylon were located on the territory of the current Arab Republic of Iraq. Archaeological excavations are underway not far from the southern part of Baghdad. Found the Temple of Fertility, the gate and the stone lion. As a result of excavations, archaeologist Robert Koldewey in 1899-1917 discovered city fortifications, the royal palace, the temple complex of the god Marduk, a number of other temples and a residential area.
One of the parts of the royal palace can be rightly identified with the "hanging gardens" of Babylon described by Herodotus with their terraced engineering structures over the vaults and artificial irrigation installations. Only the cellars of this building have been preserved, which in terms of plan was an irregular quadrangle, the walls of which carried the weight of the "hanging gardens" located at the height of the walls of the palace. The ground part of the building, apparently, consisted of a series of powerful pillars or walls covered with vaults, judging by the preserved underground part, which consisted of fourteen vaulted inner chambers. The garden was irrigated with a water wheel.
From afar, the pyramid looked like an evergreen and flowering hill, bathed in the coolness of fountains and streams. Pipes were located in the cavities of the columns, and hundreds of slaves constantly turned a special wheel that supplied water to each of the platforms of the Hanging Gardens. Luxurious gardens in hot and dry Babylon were indeed a real miracle, for which they were recognized as one of the seven ancient wonders of the world.
Semiramis - (Greek Semiraramis), according to Assyrian legends, the name of Queen Shammuramat (end of the 9th century BC), originally from Babylonia, the wife of King Shamshiadad V. After his death, she was regent for her minor son Adadnerari III (809-782 BC).
The heyday of the gardens of Babylon lasted about 200 years, after which, during the hegemony of the Persians, the palace fell into disrepair. The kings of Persia only occasionally stopped there during rare trips around the empire. In the 4th century, the palace was chosen by Alexander the Great as a residence, becoming the last place of his stay on earth. After his death, 172 luxuriously furnished rooms of the palace finally fell into disrepair - the garden was completely abandoned, and strong floods damaged the foundation, and the structure collapsed. Many are interested in where the gardens of Babylon were located? This miracle was located 80 kilometers southwest of modern Baghdad, in Iraq
The legend connects the creation of the famous gardens with the name of the Assyrian queen Semiramis. Diodorus and other Greek historians relate that she built "hanging gardens" in Babylon. True, until the beginning of our century, the "hanging gardens" were considered pure fiction, and their descriptions were simply excesses of poetic fantasy. The first to contribute to this was Semiramis herself, or rather, her biography. Semiramis (Shammuramat) is a historical figure, but her life is legendary. Ctesias preserved her detailed biography, which Diodorus later repeated almost verbatim.
legendary Semiramide
“In ancient times there was the city of Ascalon in Syria, and next to it there was a deep lake, where the temple of the goddess Derketo stood.” Outwardly, this temple looked like a fish with a human head. The goddess Aphrodite was angry with Derketo for something and made her fall in love with a mere mortal youth. Then Derketo bore him a daughter and in anger, irritated by this unequal marriage, killed the young man, and she herself hid in the lake. The pigeons saved the girl: they warmed her with their wings, carried milk in their beaks, and when the girl grew up, they brought her cheese. The shepherds noticed gouged holes in the cheese, followed the trail of the pigeons and found a lovely child. They took the girl and carried her to the caretaker of the royal flocks, Simmas. “He made the girl his daughter, gave her the name Semiramis, which means “dove” among the inhabitants of Syria, and raised her approximately. Her beauty surpassed all." This was the key to her future career.
During a trip to these parts, Onnes, the first royal adviser, saw Semiramis, and immediately fell in love with her. He asked Simmas for her hand in marriage and, taking her to Nineveh, made him his wife. She bore him two sons. “Since, apart from beauty, she possessed all the virtues, she had complete power over her husband: he did nothing without her, and he succeeded in everything.”
Then the war began with neighboring Bactria, and with it the dizzying career of Semiramis ... King Nin went to war with a large army: "with 1,700,000 foot, 210,000 horsemen and 10,600 war chariots." But even with such large forces, the soldiers of Nineveh could not conquer the capital of Bactria. The enemy heroically repelled all the attacks of the Nineveh, and Onnes, unable to do anything, began to be weary of the situation. Then he invited his beautiful wife to the battlefield.
“Setting out on a journey,” writes Diodorus, “she ordered a new dress to be made for herself,” which is quite natural for a woman. However, the dress was not quite ordinary: firstly, it was so elegant that it determined the fashion among the society ladies of that time; secondly, it was sewn in such a way that it was impossible to determine who was in it - a man or a woman.
Arriving to her husband, Semiramis studied the combat situation and found that the king always attacks the weakest part of the fortifications according to military tactics and common sense. But Semiramis was a woman, which means she was not burdened with military knowledge. She called for volunteers and attacked the strongest part of the fortifications, where, according to her, there were the fewest defenders. Having easily won a victory, she used the moment of surprise and forced the city to capitulate. “The king, admiring her courage, gifted her and began to persuade Onnes to give up Semiramis voluntarily, promising to give him his daughter Sosana as his wife. When Onnes did not want to agree, the king threatened to gouge out his eyes, for he was blind to the orders of his master. Onnes, suffering from the king's threats and the love of his wife, eventually went insane and hanged himself. In this way, Semiramis acquired the royal title.
Leaving an obedient governor in Bactria, Nin returned to Nineveh, married Semiramis, and she bore him a son, Niniya. After the death of the king, Semiramis began to rule, although the king had a son-heir.
Semiramis did not marry again, although many sought her hand. And, enterprising by nature, she decided to surpass her deceased royal husband. She founded a new city on the Euphrates - Babylon, with powerful walls and towers, a magnificent bridge over the Euphrates - "all this in one year." Then she drained the swamps around the city, and in the city itself she built an amazing temple to the god Bel with a tower, “which was unusually high, and the Chaldeans watched the sunrise and sunset of the stars there, because such a structure was the most suitable for this.” She also ordered the construction of a statue of Bel, weighing 1,000 Babylonian talents (equal to about 800 Greek), erected many other temples and cities. During her reign, a convenient road was laid through the seven ridges of the Zagros chain to Lydia, a state in the west of Asia Minor. In Lydia, she built the capital Ecbatana with a beautiful royal palace, and led the water to the capital through a tunnel from distant mountain lakes.
Then Semiramis started a war - the first Thirty Years' War. She invaded the kingdom of Media, from there she went to Persia, then to Egypt, Libya and, finally, to Ethiopia. Everywhere Semiramis won glorious victories and acquired new slaves for her kingdom. Only in India she was unlucky: after the first successes, she lost three-quarters of the army. True, this did not affect her firm intention to win at all costs, but once she was lightly wounded in the shoulder by an arrow. On her swift horse, Semiramis returned to Babylon. There a heavenly sign appeared to her that she should not continue the war, and therefore the powerful ruler, having pacified the fury caused by the impudent messages of the Indian king (he called her a lover of love adventures, but used a rougher expression), ruled further in peace and harmony.
Meanwhile, Ninya was bored with her inglorious life. He decided that his mother had been ruling the country for too long, and organized a conspiracy against her: "with the help of one eunuch, he decided to kill her." The queen voluntarily transferred power to her son, “then she went out onto the balcony, turned into a dove and flew away ... straight into immortality.”
However, a more realistic version of the biography of Semiramis has also been preserved. According to the Greek writer Athenaeus from Navcratis (II century), Semiramis was at first "an insignificant court lady at the court of one of the Assyrian kings," but she was "so beautiful that she won royal love with her beauty." And soon she persuaded the king, who took her as his wife, to give her power for only five days ...
Having received the rod and dressed in the royal dress, she immediately arranged a great feast, at which she won the military leaders and all the dignitaries to her side; on the second day, she already commanded the people and noble people to give her royal honors, and threw her husband into prison. So this resolute woman seized the throne and retained it until her old age, having accomplished many great deeds ... "Such are the conflicting reports of historians about Semiramis," Diodorus concludes skeptically.
And yet, Semiramis was a real historical figure, however, we know little about her. In addition to the famous Shammuramat, we know several more "Semiramid". About one of them, Herodotus wrote that "she lived five human centuries before another Babylonian queen, Nitocris" (i.e., about 750 BC). Other historians call Semiramis Atossa, the daughter and co-ruler of King Beloch, who ruled at the end of the 8th century BC. e.
However, the famous "hanging gardens" were not created by Semiramis and not even during her reign, but later, in honor of another, non-legendary woman.
The Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II (605 - 562 BC), in order to fight against the main enemy - Assyria, whose troops twice destroyed the capital of the state of Babylon, entered into a military alliance with Knakxar, the king of Media. Having won, they divided the territory of Assyria among themselves. The military alliance was strengthened by the marriage of Nebuchadnezzar II to the daughter of the Median king Semiramis.
Dusty and noisy Babylon, located on a bare sandy plain, did not please the queen, who grew up in the mountainous and green Media. To console her, Nebuchadnezzar ordered the erection of "hanging gardens". This king, who destroyed city after city and even entire states, built a lot in Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar turned the capital into an impregnable stronghold and surrounded himself with luxury, unparalleled even in those days. Nebuchadnezzar built his palace on an artificially created platform, raised to the height of a four-tier structure.
So far, the most accurate information about the Gardens comes from Greek historians, for example, from Verossus and Diodorus, but the description of the Gardens is rather scarce. Here is how the gardens are described in their testimonies: “The garden is quadrangular, and each side of it is four pletras long. It consists of arched vaults that are staggered like cubic bases. Climbing to the uppermost terrace is possible by stairs...” The manuscripts of the time of Nebuchadnezzar do not have a single reference to “hanging gardens”, although they contain descriptions of the palace of the city of Babylon. Even historians who give detailed descriptions of the "hanging gardens" have never seen them.
Modern historians prove that when the soldiers of Alexander the Great reached the fertile land of Mesopotamia and saw Babylon, they were amazed. After returning to their homeland, they reported about the amazing gardens and trees in Mesopotamia, about the palace of Nebuchadnezzar, about the Tower of Babel and ziggurats. This gave food to the imagination of poets and ancient historians, who mixed all these stories into one whole to produce one of the seven Wonders of the World.
In architectural terms, the Hanging Gardens were a pyramid, consisting of four tiers - platforms, they were supported by columns up to 25 m high. The lower tier had the shape of an irregular quadrangle, the largest side of which was 42 m, the smallest - 34 m. each platform was first covered with a layer of reed mixed with asphalt, then with two layers of bricks, fastened with gypsum mortar, lead slabs were laid on top of everything. Fertile land lay on them with a thick carpet, where seeds of various herbs, flowers, shrubs, and trees were planted. The pyramid looked like an ever-blooming green hill.
The floors of the gardens rose in ledges and were connected by wide, sloping stairs covered with pink and white stone. The height of the floors reached almost 28 meters and gave enough light for the plants. “In carts pulled by oxen, they brought to Babylon trees wrapped in wet matting, seeds of rare herbs, flowers and bushes.” And trees of the most amazing species and beautiful flowers blossomed in extraordinary gardens. Pipes were placed in the cavity of one of the columns, through which water from the Euphrates was pumped day and night to the upper tier of gardens, from where it, flowing in streams and small waterfalls, irrigated the plants of the lower tiers. Day and night, hundreds of slaves turned the lifting wheel with leather buckets, supplying water from the Euphrates to the gardens. The murmur of water, the shade and coolness among the trees, taken out from distant Media, seemed like a miracle.
Magnificent gardens with rare trees, fragrant flowers and coolness in sultry Babylonia were truly a wonder of the world. But during the Persian domination, the palace of Nebuchadnezzar fell into disrepair. It had 172 rooms (52,000 square meters in total), decorated and furnished with truly oriental luxury. Now, the Persian kings occasionally stopped there during their “inspection” trips around their vast empire. In 331 BC. e. Alexander the Great's troops captured Babylon. The famous commander made the city the capital of his vast empire. It was here, in the shadow of the Hanging Gardens, that he died in 339 BC. e. The throne room of the palace and the chambers of the lower tier of the hanging gardens were the last place of stay on earth of the great commander, who spent 16 years in continuous wars and campaigns and did not lose a single battle.
After the death of Alexander, Babylon gradually falls into decay. The gardens were in disrepair. Powerful floods destroyed the brick foundation of the columns, the platforms collapsed to the ground. So one of the wonders of the world perished...
The person who unearthed the Hanging Gardens was the German scientist Robert Koldewey. He was born in 1855 in Germany, studied in Berlin, Munich and Vienna, where he studied architecture, archeology and art history. Until the age of thirty, he managed to take part in excavations in Assos and on the island of Lesvos. In 1887 he excavated in Babylonia, later in Syria, southern Italy, in Sicily, then again in Syria. Koldevey was an extraordinary person, and compared to his colleagues in the profession, he was also an unusual scientist. Love for archeology - a science that, according to the publications of some experts, may seem boring, did not prevent him from studying countries, observing people, seeing everything, noticing everything, reacting to everything. Among other things, Koldewey the architect had one passion: his favorite pastime was the history of sewers. An architect, a poet, an archaeologist and a sewage historian - such a rare combination! And it was this man that the Berlin Museum sent to excavate in Babylon. And it was he who found the famous "hanging gardens"!
Once, during excavations, Koldewey came across some vaults. They were under a five-meter layer of clay and rubble on the Qasr hill, which hid the ruins of the southern fortress and the royal palace. He continued excavations, hoping to find a cellar under the arches, although it seemed strange to him that the cellar would be under the roofs of neighboring buildings. But he did not find any side walls: the shovels of the workers tore off only the pillars on which these vaults rested. The pillars were made of stone, and stone was a rarity in Mesopotamian architecture. And finally, Koldewey discovered traces of a deep stone well, but a well with a strange three-stage spiral shaft. The arch was lined not only with brick, but also with stone.
The combination of all the details made it possible to see in this building an extremely successful design for that time (both in terms of technology and architecture). Apparently, this building was intended for very special purposes.
And suddenly it dawned on Koldeveya! In all the literature about Babylon, starting with ancient authors (Josephus Flavius, Diodorus, Ctesias, Strabo and others) and ending with cuneiform tablets, everywhere where it was a question of the "sinful city", there were only two references to the use of stone in Babylon, and this was especially emphasized: during the construction of the northern wall of the Kasr region and during the construction of the "hanging gardens" of Babylon.
Koldewei re-read the ancient sources. He weighed every phrase, every line, every word, he even ventured into the alien area of comparative linguistics. In the end, he came to the conclusion that the structure found could not be anything other than the vault of the basement of the evergreen "hanging gardens" of Babylon, inside which there was an amazing plumbing system for those times.
But there was no more miracle: the hanging gardens were destroyed by the floods of the Euphrates, which rises by 3-4 meters during floods. And now we can imagine them only according to the descriptions of ancient authors and with the help of our own imagination. Even in the last century, the German traveler, a member of many honorary scientific societies I. Pfeiffer, in her travel notes, described that she saw “on the ruins of El Kasra one forgotten tree from the cone-bearing family, completely unknown in these parts. The Arabs call it "atale" and revere it as sacred. The most amazing stories are told about this tree (as if it was left from the "hanging gardens") and they assure that they heard sad, plaintive sounds in its branches when a strong wind blows "...
Here is a short documentary that clearly describes how everything was arranged in this wonderful complex:
A source stomaster
The term "Hanging Gardens of Babylon" is familiar to any schoolchild, mainly as the second most important structure of the Seven Wonders of the World. According to the legends and mentions of ancient historians, the ruler of Babylon Nebuchadnezzar II built them for his wife in the 6th century BC. Today, the gardens and the palace are completely destroyed by both man and the elements. Due to the lack of direct evidence of their existence, there is always no official version about their location and date of construction.
Description and alleged history of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon
A detailed description is found in the ancient Greek historians Diodorus and Stabo, clear details were provided by the Babylonian historian Beross (3rd century BC). According to them, in 614 BC. e. Nebuchadnezzar II makes peace with the Medes and marries their princess Amitis. Growing up in the mountains full of greenery, she was horrified by the dusty and stone Babylon. To prove his love and console her, the king orders the construction of a grandiose palace with terraces for trees and flowers to begin. Simultaneously with the start of construction, merchants and warriors from campaigns began to deliver seedlings and seeds to the capital. 
The four-tier structure was located at a height of 40 m, so it was visible far beyond the walls of the city. The area indicated by the historian Diodorus is striking: according to his data, the length of one side was about 1300 m, the second - a little less. The height of each terrace was 27.5 m, the walls were supported by stone columns. The architecture was not remarkable, the main interest was the green spaces on each level. To care for them, slaves brought water upstairs, flowing in the form of waterfalls to the lower terraces. The irrigation process was continuous, otherwise the gardens would not have survived in that climate.
It is still not clear why they were named after Queen Semiramis, and not Amitis. Semiramis - the legendary ruler of Assyria lived two centuries earlier, her image was practically deified. Perhaps this was reflected in the works of historians. Despite many contradictions, the existence of gardens is beyond doubt. Mentions of this place are found among the contemporaries of Alexander the Great. It is believed that he died in this place, which struck his imagination and reminded him of his native country. After his death, the gardens and the city itself fell into disrepair. 
Where are the gardens now?
Nowadays, there are no significant traces left of this unique building. The ruins indicated by R. Koldewey (an explorer of ancient Babylon) differ from other ruins only in stone slabs in the basement and are of interest only to archaeologists. To visit this place, you must go to Iraq. Travel agencies organize excursions to the ancient ruins, located 90 km from Baghdad near the modern city of Hill. In the photo of our days, only clay hills covered with brown debris are visible.
An alternative version is offered by the Oxford researcher S. Dalli. She claims that the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were built in Nineveh (modern Mosul in northern Iraq) and shifts the date of construction two centuries earlier. Currently, the version is based only on the decipherment of cuneiform tables. To find out in which country the gardens were located - the Babylonian kingdom or Assyria, additional excavations and studies of the mounds of Mosul are required. 
Interesting facts about the Hanging Gardens of Babylon
- According to the descriptions of ancient historians, stone was used to build the foundations of terraces and columns, which is absent in the vicinity of Babylon. It and fertile land for trees were brought from afar.
- It is not known for certain who created the gardens. Historians mention the joint work of hundreds of scientists and architects. In any case, the irrigation system surpassed all technologies known at that time.
- Plants were brought from all over the world, but planted taking into account their growth in natural conditions: on the lower terraces - terrestrial, on the upper - mountain. Plants from her homeland were planted on the upper platform, beloved by the queen.
- The location and time of creation are constantly disputed, in particular, archaeologists find pictures on the walls with images of gardens dating back to the 8th century BC. e. To this day, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon are among the secrets of Babylon that have not been fully revealed.
When compiling a list of the wonders of the world of the ancient world, an honorable second place was given to the Hanging Gardens in Babylon. This building of a truly grandiose scale was perceived as a real miracle. According to legend, hanging gardens were called because when approaching the city standing in the middle of the desert, blooming green terraces stretched over it. It seemed that the gardens really hung in the air, and many travelers initially mistook them for a mirage.
History of the building
According to legend, the building was erected by order of King Nebuchadnezzar II, who wanted to please his wife Amitis. The queen was from a flourishing mountainous country and greatly yearned for dusty and deserted Babylon. Since the king was very powerful, he not only created a corner of nature that reproduced the area of the queen, he decided to build a monumental structure, which should have been admired not only by contemporaries, but also by descendants.
The building is mistakenly associated with the name of another ruler - Semiramis. Historians believe that this notorious woman could not have had anything to do with the Hanging Gardens, since she died two centuries before they were built.
The date of construction of the gardens is attributed to the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II (approximately 605-562 BC). Of course, such a structure could not be built in one year, and it was necessary to solve not only the problem of "landscaping" by delivering seedlings from distant countries. It was also necessary to water, perhaps, to protect some plants from the scorching sun, so it was not only an architectural, but also an engineering and technical structure.
Design features
Hanging Gardens of Babylon - interesting facts about the design features. The technologies that are indicated in the description of the building were many years ahead of their time. These facts still excite and give rise to numerous disputes. Many experts generally question the very existence of the second wonder of the world, because in their opinion, it was simply impossible.
It is believed that the legendary building was in the form of a four-tier pyramid, each side of which was about 1300 meters long. Each tier was supported by 25-meter hollow columns. The terraces were reinforced with baked bricks and covered with special lead plates. From above, fertile soil, brought from distant places, fell asleep. The lower tiers were filled with plain plants, and mountain species grew on the uppermost tiers. The presence of ponds and reservoirs is mentioned throughout the territory.
The garden irrigation system deserves special attention. According to the description, water from the Euphrates River was scooped up by buckets attached to a lift. The lift itself looked like two wheels with chains stretched over them. The wheels turned with the help of the labor of numerous slaves, buckets on chains scooped up water and delivered it to a special reservoir built above. From there, water entered numerous channels. The slaves turned the wheel continuously, only this made it possible to do the incredible: to ensure the growth of plants that are not typical for the area.
Destruction of the second wonder of the world
After the death of Queen Amitis, the most beautiful gardens fell into disrepair without proper care. This continued until the conquest of Babylon by Alexander the Great. The famous commander was fascinated by the Hanging Gardens. There is evidence that he even refused military campaigns, not wanting to leave the shadow of a beautiful garden. After an illness received on a campaign in India, Alexander returned to Babylon. Here, in the coolness and shade of the trees, he spent his last days. When Alexander went to another world, the gardens fell into desolation, like Babylon itself. During the next flood, the water washed away the foundation and the structure collapsed.
Various facts about the Hanging Gardens are currently being questioned. Disputes about who, for whom and when built them do not subside. The researcher of ancient Babylon, Koldewey, believes that he found them in Iraq, not far from Baghdad. Another scientist, who is engaged in unraveling the mysteries of the gardens of Babylon from Oxford, by the name of Dally, claims that the structure was located near another Iraqi city - Mosul.
While uncertainty exists and new theories are put forward regarding the gardens in Babylon, they can safely be called one of the most mysterious structures of that time.