By Lindsey M.
Neduchadnezzar II made the capital of Babylon just like it was before the Assyrians took over. The capital of Babylon was once very beautiful and magnificent. The Assyrians were a tribe who had taken over Babylon and destroyed the city but it was rebuilt. People who lived in Mesopotamia were rich. You could tell by the way they decorated their homes. You can see this by looking at how their ruler decorated the palaces and temples with lavish gold and silver.
The Babylonians had a bunch of terraced gardens called “The Hanging Gardens.” They kept an irrigation, or water, system with lush and greens involved. This garden was considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It is possible that the gardens were built by King Nebuchadnezzar, who ruled the city for 43 years starting in 605 BC. This was the height of the city's power and influence. In his reign, King Nebuchadnezzar constructed an amazing collection of temples, streets, palaces, and walls.
Back then, people say Neduchadezzar built the garden just to please his wife. His wife was from a place called Mede and she missed the forested mountains of her homeland. Some people say the gardens were built to cheer up Nebuchadnezzar's homesick wife, Amyitis. Amyitis, was the daughter of the King of the Medes. She was married to Nebuchadnezzar to create an alliance between the nations. The land she came from was green, rugged and mountainous. She thought the flat, sun-baked terrain of Mesopotamia was depressing. The king decided to recreate her homeland by building a fake mountain with rooftop gardens.
These gardens did not really hang, they probably are just propped up on high land like a big hill. The Babylons woked very hard on trying to get a water path up to the garden. They didn’t have much stone down in Mesopotamia because most of Mesopotamia is desert. The workers instead used bricks. The bricks were made of clay mixed with chopped straw and then they were baked in the sun. One problem the Babylonians had using these bricks was that they dissolved very quickly when soaked with water. For other buildings this wasn’t a problem because it never rained. But because the water was always running to water the plants, the bricks had to be supported. The gardens were square in shape. They were built like a ziggurat. There were stair like roofs that were supported by stone columns that hung plants over the steps. The gardens had lots of fountains that kept the area where people relaxed nice and cool. The shade of the trees also kept areas cool from the sun’s heat.
The beauty of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon shows King Nebuchadnezzar’s strong leadership, vision, and peacefulness. Even if the gardens didn’t help his wife, Amyitis, with her homesickness, at least the rest of the people in the ancient world got to enjoy them.
Bibliography:
1. Mesopotamia
Kids Discovery
Pg. 10 & 11
Copyright date 2000
2. http://ce.eng.usf.edu/pharos/wonders/gardens.html
3. http://www.unmuseum.org/hangg.htm
4. http://www.angelfire.com/ny/anghockey/hanginggardens.html