What do scientists know about the gardens of Semiramis: Did there ever exist someone who created them and other facts about one of the wonders of the world?

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Which of the wonders of the ancient world are usually called on the fly, without preparation? It is unlikely that all seven, but in the first place in the list, most likely, will be the pyramid of Cheops, and in the second or third, certainly ahead of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus and the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, the Gardens of Semiramis will appear. And how can one forget this - a huge green mountain with terraces on which pear and pomegranate, grapes and figs grow, and all this is in the city in the middle of the desert! The history of these gardens, however, is vague: it is very likely that both they and Semiramis herself were invented, but maybe not.

The Legend of the Gardens of Babylon

They are also called the "Gardens of Babylon" - in this ancient city, the wonder of the world is believed to have been. And the involvement of Queen Semiramis in the construction of this building, it turns out, is very doubtful. First, because the character is mythical, not historical. Semiramis was allegedly the daughter of the goddess Derketo, a fish woman who was worshiped by the Assyrians, and she married King Nin, also, however, a character from legends, and not from real history. After the death of her husband, Semiramis began to rule Assyria alone.

She supposedly ruled for a long time and effectively, went on distant military campaigns, up to India and Ethiopia, erected new buildings, and in general - either founded or reconstructed the city of Babylon. Other features of her biography were attributed to her, complementing ancient myths, for example, a love affair with the Armenian king Ara the Beautiful, which made Semiramis a part of ancient Armenian mythology. Therefore, probably, when the need arose to ascribe to someone the construction of wonderful hanging gardens on the wall of the palace, the ideal candidate was found by itself.

It is believed that the mythical Semiramis had a historical prototype - Queen Shammuramat, who, albeit with more modest achievements, still went down in the history of Assyria as an extraordinary ruler. First of all, the very fact of her reign, at a time when women practically did not have access to supreme power, already provided Shammuramat with a place in the annals. She ruled for only five years, during this period playing the role of regent under the young son of Adad-nirari III. It was in the 9th century BC.

Still, the more popular version of the creation of the gardens was the love story of King Nebuchadnezzar II for his young wife Amitis. The beauty who came to Babylon was sad about the beautiful nature of her homeland, and the ruler built for her a huge green "multi-storey" garden, where fruit trees grew and shrubs bloomed. Nebuchadnezzar was a real historical figure, he ruled for several decades in the 6th century BC, but there is no such certainty regarding the existence of his wife Amitis. As well as confirmation of the fact of the construction of the hanging gardens during his reign, this was not noted in any Babylonian document.

What could these gardens be

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon are mentioned by five ancient authors, the first of which was Josephus, who based his notes on the work of an astrologer from Babylon named Berossus, who lived in the 3rd century BC. BC. It is interesting that the "father of history" Herodotus did not write a word about the gardens, who compiled a detailed description of Babylon, supposedly the most beautiful city of all he visited. What Diodorus of Siculus, Quintus Curtius Rufus, Strabo and Philo of Byzantium later wrote, in essence, became a retelling of the same legends.

The term "hanging gardens" appeared as a result of a not entirely correct translation from Greek; it would be more correct to call this architectural structure "overhanging gardens" - growing on a dais. Plants were probably placed on the terraces of the palace, where soil was poured in an amount sufficient for the growth of small trees. To create terraces impervious to water, they used not only clay bricks (which were not fired, which means they could collapse from moisture and frequent watering), but also other materials, for example, a stone rare for those places. There was hardly any rain in Babylon, so a special structure, a chain pump, was probably provided for irrigating the gardens.

Two wheels, above and below, connected by a chain, provided the movement of buckets of water suspended on a chain - from the Euphrates River to the cascading terraces of the gardens. The wheels were turned by slaves specially assigned for this. It is possible that the supply of water to the soil of the gardens was carried out by a screw pump, although, according to the generally accepted point of view, it was invented only three centuries later in Greece.

Why you can't find out the truth about the Hanging Gardens

What traces of a wonderful garden have been discovered by archaeologists of the modern era? Almost none. At the end of the 19th century, Robert Caldeway began excavations on the territory of Babylon, which was destroyed even before the new era. He established that it was a flourishing, well-maintained city, however, the archaeologist was unable to find material evidence of the existence of the hanging gardens. It was not possible to do this during subsequent expeditions to the ruins of Babylon.

And during the excavations of the city of Nineveh, another Assyrian capital, the remains of a system of ancient aqueducts were found, and a version arose that the true gardens of Semiramis could be located in this city. In this case, the honor of building the palace, turned into a mountain immersed in greenery, belongs to the king Sinacherib, who ruled in the 7th century BC It is currently not possible to conduct any research that could confirm or deny the final existence of the gardens of Semiramis: The places to be explored are in the disadvantaged and unsafe areas of the Middle East.

But its main function - to inspire the creation of beautiful examples of garden art - the legendary hanging gardens have been performing brilliantly for many centuries. Ever since the Renaissance, it was considered a special chic to lay out an orchard on the roof of a palace or mansion, and this was done not only by Italian aristocrats, who were not constrained in their means, but also by the inhabitants of the northern lands.

And here are the lost treasures are still looking for: the tomb of Genghis Khan, the library of Ivan the Terrible, etc.