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 The
hanging Gardens of Babylon are known in the history as the one of the luxury
gifts that a man offered to a woman ever in the world. This is the magnificent ancient
structure deeply sank back in the history and deserts of Babylon, and is the
great symbol of love apart from being the memorial of the architectural
artwork. A lot many emperors tried to copy the follies of Shamshi-Adad V and
they failed. Yet, only Babylon Gardens are considered as one of the prominent
and proven Wonders of the World.
Possible is impossible
Why
the gardens appeared hanging, all because they seem to hang in air if looked at
them at some distance. Actually the gardens were supported by columns. As the
structure, the green complex was presented as the four-deck pyramid. The upper
level allowed seeing the splendid view to Babylon castle and the city. The lower
levels were spacious enough to accommodate several carts.
Each
terrace was planted with magnificent exotic flowers and trees, and in the
neighboring of all the improvised flower bed were springs flowing, fountains
splashing, birds and wonderful butterflies flying and fish and ducks swimming.
All along the garden the marble statues were installed, the expensive tiles
were laid on stairs and the basement was made from stones. It is still a secret
how Shamshi-Adad V managed to transport so many stones from abroad, so far
away, since that was the time when Babylon people used only the fired brick
from clay. As reported by the scientists, the soft brick was the reason of the
soonest destroy of the gardens. Should the garden be made from stone it would be
partially kept.
It
is widely known that Alexander of Macedon, The Conqueror, spent his last
minutes of life in the shades of Babylon gardens. The base for plants was the specific
earth stratum with the layer of asphalt and lead to stop leaking of water and
prevent damaging bricks. The above layer was made of the rich soil with planted
greenery, flowers and trees. The soil was in sufficient volume for trees with
the many-year old roots.
The Miracle of Babylon Gardens
As
the legend says, the Babylon ruler created this masterpiece of architecture for
his wife, the Persian Princes Amitis who was homesick for her motherland with
the green mountains and the scent of flowers and trees. We do not know whether the
Princess liked the gift. There are some many legends about this princess, and
they say that her name is not Amitis but Semiramis while the others assume that
the Assyrian Queen Semiramis created the gardens, and she reigned two centuries
before Shamshi-Adad V. We do not know the precise facts, though.
Hundreds
of slaves were working hard pumping water from lower levels to upper layers of
the gardens to water gardens. The irrigation system consisted of many pumps supplying
water from the river Euphrates. Some scientific experts stated that the river was
too far away from the gardens to provide water supply, thus, the ruins of
Semiramis gardens discovered in 1989 by Robert Koldewey, the German
archeologist, were not the gardens of Babylon but something else. However, the authenticity
of discoveries are proven by the arc forms of some levels, tranches and holes
that are likely to be the irrigation system back in the time of Babylon. And the
fort Al-Hill situated in 90 km from Bagdad is offered to tourists as the ruins
of the legendary gardens, though currently the tourists just observe the big
sandy and stony mountain.
The
other researchers believed that the gardens were located above the river
Euphrates and by the time the garden aches were buried in the river forever.
Nobody knows the truth.
Modern Semiramis gardens
The
mastership of ancient architects provoked the designers of our time to create unique
things as well. So, the majestic greenhouses on sky-scrapers are now projected
by designers in New York and Singapore.
«Green»
buildings are assumed to improve the ecology of the area and the landscape on
one part and on the other part they will be the place of peaceful relaxation
for urban citizens who feel themselves a little bit tired of seeing only glass
and concrete building, even if they are strikingly beautiful.
In
XVII the hanging gardens were available in Russia as well; particularly in
Moscow at the arcs of the Kremlin corner building and St. Petersburg in
Anichkov Palace, Winter Palace. They did notexist for longer, though.
Semiramis
Gardens were not the first in the world
Some
rulers made attempts to create hanging gardens long before the reign of Shamshi-Adad
V (1127-1105). Thus, the wild King of Assyria Sinahherib reigning between 705-682
B.C. tried to make the garden on the high hill to surround the temple to Assura
God in Ninevia with greenery.
Here
is another romantic history of Abd al-Rahman who lived in X century B.C. and
who grieved from melancholy and unreasonable cry of his wife, Azahara. Questioned
on her cry, she confessed once that she was sad for the snow of mountains in
her native Sierra Nevada. Then the caliph said that he would bring the snow to Cordoba.
And the ruler placed the beautiful and splendid almond garden and when the
trees started blooming, the white flowers appeared as the snow covering the
earth of Cordoba.
This
garden known as Medina Azahara is widely popular in the world. Even emperors and
kings arrived here to look at the artificial snow made by the caliph. And he was
famed as the most romantic lover in the world.
And
I wonder if the present men in love are that adventurous to do the same.
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