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. It was here that Alexander the Great himself died. The Hanging Gardens delighted ancient travelers and to this day they do not cease to excite the minds of modern people.
Ancient Babylon - the largest city of ancient Mesopotamia, the capital of the Babylonian kingdom in the XIX-VI centuries. BC e., cultural and trade center of antiquity, which amazed contemporaries with its splendor. Here the second wonder of the world was located - the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
In search of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon
Time destroyed the Hanging Gardens, and now it is even impossible to say exactly where they were. Although archaeological scientists have repeatedly attempted to find traces of the wonder of the world, famous in antiquity.
Back at the end of the 19th century, the German historian Robert Koldewey took up this task. The excavations lasted 18 years. As a result, the scientist stated that he had found 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 carried out by him made it possible to form a fairly clear idea of what 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 at least 200,000.
In the old part of the city there was the main palace of Nebuchadnezzar, divided into two parts - east and west. On the plan, it is depicted as a quadrangle. The entrance was located in the east, and the garrison was 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 scientists support this point of view. But after many centuries, it is rather difficult to establish the exact location of the hanging gardens.
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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 wealth of 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 out by the cruel Assyrian king Sinaherib, and the place itself was flooded by the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates.
The fall of Babylon
For a long time, the rich and flourishing Babylonia was the target of raids by the kings of the warlike Assyrian empire. In an effort to destroy the rebellious rival, the Assyrian king Sinaherib threw countless hordes into 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: “It was as if I was furious, put on a shell, and put a battle helmet on my head. In the anger of my heart, I quickly rushed in a high war chariot, striking enemies …
Rattling furiously, I raised a battle 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 interrupted the enemies, as if bound by fat bulls, together with the princes, girded with golden daggers and with hands, studded with rings of red gold. I cut their throats like lambs. I cut off their precious life like a thread … The chariots, along with the horses, whose riders were killed during the attack, left to their own devices (fate), rushed back and forth …
I stopped the beating only after two hours (after the onset) of the night. The king of Elamite himself, together with the king of Babylon and the Chaldean princes 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 soldiers … Their hearts beat like those of a captured pigeon, they clanged their teeth. I sent my chariots with horses to pursue them, and the fugitives who fled to save their lives were stabbed to death with weapons wherever they were overtaken."
Then the Assyrian king Sinacherib moved to Babylon and, despite the fierce resistance of its inhabitants, took the city. Babylon was given to the soldiers to plunder. Those defenders of the city who were not killed were enslaved and resettled in different areas of the Assyrian state. And the rebellious city of Sinaherib itself planned to wipe out 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 flooding of the floodgates and flood all that remained of the great city.
This happened in the 7th century BC. e. And two centuries later, Herodotus visited Babylon and was struck by its wealth and splendor. The ancient city again delighted travelers with the power and inaccessibility of its walls, the splendor of palaces and temples.
Rebuilding the city
How could the ruined city be reborn from the ashes again and reach an unprecedented prosperity? By order of King Esarhaddon, son of Sinaherib, thousands of slaves were driven to the wasteland filled with water, on the site of which the majestic city had previously stood. Work began to restore the canals, clear the rubble and build a new city on the site of the previous one. The best craftsmen and architects were sent to build Babylon. In the restored city, its inhabitants, who had previously been resettled to the remote regions of Assyria, were returned.
Reborn babylon
The revived Babylon reached a special flourishing under the king Nebuchadnezzar II, who ruled in 605-562 BC. e. He led an active policy of conquest, extended his influence to Phenicia, 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 enabled Nebuchadnezzar to seize vast territories and a large number of prisoners who were turned into slaves and used to build 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 a regular rectangle in plan, which was divided by the Euphrates into the Old and New City, and was surrounded (as already mentioned) by three rows of powerful fortress walls built of mud bricks. In a number of ancient sources, the walls of Babylon are also named among the wonders of the world, since they differed in their unusual width (several chariots could freely disperse on them) and a large number of cogged towers. The space between the inner and outer ring of the walls was deliberately not built up, as 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 the greatest interest was caused by 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 the 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 lay out a garden in which the plants would remind the queen of her homeland.
The gardens were laid out on a four-tiered tower. The platforms were made of massive boulders and were supported by strong vaults, which in turn were supported by columns. The top of the platform was covered with reeds and covered with asphalt. They made a gasket of two rows of bricks fastened with plaster, and already on them lead plates were laid, which protected the lower tiers from water penetration.
Only after that was a thick layer of fertile land laid, which made it possible to grow the largest trees. The tiers of the gardens were connected by wide staircases lined with white and pink slabs. In the gardens, magnificent plants, palms and flowers were planted, brought by order of the king from distant Media.
In the desert and arid Babylonia, these gardens, with their aroma, greenery and coolness, seemed a real miracle and amazed with their splendor. In order for plants to grow in hot Babylonia, hundreds of slaves turned a water-lifting wheel every day, pumping water from the Euphrates. Water was supplied upstairs, into numerous channels, through which it flowed down to the lower tiers.
It was in the lower tier of this garden that the legendary military leader 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 the 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 shouts of joy. 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 were already over 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 worsened. Tormented by the heat, 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, a royal box was set up, past which his soldiers walked in deep silence. This was the last farewell of the king to the army.
And after several centuries, the once lush and wealthy city began to decline. New cities sprang up, trade routes stretched away from Babylon. The flood destroyed the palace of Nebuchadnezzar II. The clay, which served as the main building material for the Babylonians, turned out to be short-lived.
The vaults and ceilings, washed out by water, collapsed, the columns supporting the terraces on which the hanging gardens grew. 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 labor and art of Babylonian masters.
L. Antonov