Monthly Archives: May 2013
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
I’ve always wondered about the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, but the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were the most interesting to me.
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon are said to be built by King Nebuchadnezzar, who ruled over Babylon for 43 years starting in 605 BC. They were built to cheer up Nebuchadnezzar’s homesick wife, Amyitis. Amyitis was the daughter of the king of the Medes, she had married Nebuchadnezzar to create alliance between the nations. She came from a place with green, mountainous, rugged terrain and move to an area of very flat and hot land so she could be with her husband, but she grew very depressed. The king decided to build a huge building with rooftop gardens so she would feel more at home.
Another theory is that the gardens were built 300 miles away in Nineveh, Babylon’s greatest enemy, by the great Assyrian ruler Sennacherib.
http://www.unmuseum.org/hangg.htm
http://www.history.com/topics/seven-ancient-wonders-of-the-world