The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

1. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon By: Sofia Gonzalez

2. Location • The Gardens were built in the city state of Babylon which is modern day Iraq • In 600 BC the gardens were built • There is still speculation about whether or not the gardens actually existed. • If they did exist, the gardens would be in non recognizable ruins now

3. Purpose • King Nebuchadnezzar II built the gardens for his homesick wife, Amytis • To remind Amytis of her homeland • Amytiswas princess of Media, a very mountainous and green nation • Babylon was dry and flat • Used as a garden/greenhouse

4. Uniqueness • The structure had a lot of plants, but since Babylon was very dry it was rare to see green. It was also very hard to irrigate the all the plants in the gardens. • It took 42 – 43 years to build the gardens • The structure was made out of mud bricks and was waterproofed with lead.

5. Ancient foresight • Some similar structures include… • Angkor Wat in Angkor, Cambodia • Ananda Temple in Pagan, Myanmar • If the gardens were real, they would be the second oldest wonders of the ancient world • The only wonder whose archaeological remains cannot be verified

6. Ruins from 1932

7. Ananda Temple The Angkor Wat

8. Sources • http://www.unmuseum.org/hangg.htm • http://www.personal.psu.edu/amp5364/HangingGardens.html • http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/seven-wonder-ancient-world2.htm • http://www.uen.org/utahlink/activities/view_activity.cgi?activity_id=6195 • http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Ananda-Temple-2.JPG • http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Qgy4BlYTpzo/Tg9ICaD5eVI/AAAAAAAABXg/DWmO93BaTPA/s1600/AngkorWat.jpg