The Hanging Gardens probably did not really “hang” – sounds quiet funny but amazing its actually being suspended from cables or ropes. The name “hanging gardens” comes from an inexact translation of the Greek word kremastos, or the Latin word pensilis, which means not just “hanging”, but “overhanging” as in the case of a terrace or balcony.
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were considered to be one of the Seven Wonders of the World, and the only one of the Wonder of world that may have been purely legendary. They were purportedly built in the ancient city-state of Babylon, in Iraq. The Hanging Gardens were not the only World Wonder in Babylon; the city walls and were also featured in ancient lists of wonders.
If tourists of the past were drawn to the pyramids (another wonder of world), it is likely that their ‘travel guides’ would urge them on to Hanging gardens. According to certain traditions, both that city’s huge walls and its Hanging Gardens were among the ancient world’s “Seven Wonders of the world”
Babylon’s walls were constructed by King Nabopolassar belonging tp the seventh century B.C.E. who ruled the city for 43 years starting in 605 BC and his successor King Nebuchadnezzar II (624-581 B.C.E.). The city was built on both sides of the Euphrates River, and there were walls with a number of gateways along the river’s banks. Additionally, some stories indicate the Hanging Gardens towered hundreds of feet into the air, but archaeological explorations indicate a more modest height.
Here are some quick facts about the Hanging gardens it was destroyed in an earthquake, 2nd Century BC Inside the walls were temples and fortresses containing immense statues rich of solid gold. The Greek geographer Strabo, who described the Hanging gardens in first century BC, wrote, “It consists of vaulted terraces which were raised one above another”. Diodorus Siculus, a Greek historian, stated that the platforms on which the hanging garden stood consisted of huge marvelous slabs of stone. Question arises how big were the Hanging gardens? Diodorus tells us it was about 400 feet wide by 400 feet long and more than 80 feet high.
One can only wonder if Queen Amyitis was happy with her fantastic present or not.