L OCATION : City of Babylon (modern day Iraq)

T HE HANGING GARDENS OF BABLYON The Gardens were built by King Nebuchadnezzar for one of his wives. It was built around 610 B.C. It was constructed of bricks made from sun-dried mud and clay from the Earth. King N. ruled from 605 B.C to 562 B.C. Located near (modern day) Baghdad, Iraq. The gardens were laid out over a 400 foot brick terrace. There were brick columns spread out on the terrace with different plants in each. Slaves took shifts turning screws that would pump water from the Euphrates river into the columns a few times a day. The Gardens were built by King Nebuchadnezzar for one of his wives. It was built around 610 B.C. It was constructed of bricks made from sun-dried mud and clay from the Earth. King N. ruled from 605 B.C to 562 B.C. Located near (modern day) Baghdad, Iraq. The gardens were laid out over a 400 foot brick terrace. There were brick columns spread out on the terrace with different plants in each. Slaves took shifts turning screws that would pump water from the Euphrates river into the columns a few times a day.

The wife it was particularly built for was named Amystis. The terraces were vaulted and raised one above the other, resting on cubes. They were filled with earth (soil) to let nutrients into the plants. This also allowed trees of the largest size to grow freely on top. The entire structure was constructed out of asphalt and baked brick. Unfortunetly, the structure was destroyed in an earthquake sometime around 515 B.C. So there are only drawings of the structure. Because of this earthquake, Babylon is also no longer standing.

D IAGRAM 100 feet = 75 ft. terrace

This is an image created off of detailed records of the hanging gardens. ( There are replicas).

A BOUT THE GARDENS Although the plants were not recorded, there are a few that are very commonly grown in that region: *Hawthorns *Palm tree *Bulrushes *Licorice plants *Willows *Tamarisks *Junipers *Wild pears

S OURCES : *Krystak, Lee Copyright 2010< 1, November, 2012 *World book S-Sn-17 (vol.17) 2003 edition * [0ik /Iraq * ( sounds from Word 2007 software)