Where are the gardens of Semiramis? Legends, facts, history

On the seven wonders of the ancient world, familiar to everyonesince school times, thousands of years have been legendary. Not all unique man-made monuments have reached their descendants, many are destroyed by ruthless time, but the memory of amazing creations is still alive today.

Researchers of the ancient world are arguingabout the reality of the existence of many of them, and not only modern scientists doubt it. For example, the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, who traveled through Mesopotamia, never once mentioned the unique work that will be discussed today, although it should have amazed him with its greatness.

Myths about finding hanging gardens

In our article we will talk about where areThe gardens of Semiramis are one of the most significant wonders of the world that have not survived to our days. Ancient historians claimed that they were located in the first megalopolis of humanity, Babylon. However, modern scholars have recognized the theory as erroneous, stating that the real homeland of the extraordinary garden city is 400 kilometers from its intended location.

Dr. Dally's loud statement

One of the loud statements about thismade the archaeologist S. Dally of Oxford, who spent twenty years of her life searching for a legend. The fact is that the history of the hanging gardens is full of inaccuracies. It was believed that they are related to the mythical queen Semiramis, who ruled in Assyria.

But according to written sources that have come down to usit is known that they were allegedly built during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar - the king, who thus decided to entertain his beloved wife Amitis. She could not get used to life in a noisy and dusty metropolis, and her husband, who was worried about her, ordered to build a green oasis in which his spouse would have a rest all year round.

Monument, created in the name of love

And so, by the wave of the ruler’s hand,The monument created in the name of love is the gardens of Semiramis. What city were they in? Until recently, it was believed that they were located in the middle of the desert Babylon, and the queen, who came from clean and green mussels, was extremely suffering from a lack of fresh air.

It is known that the hanging gardens were located on a hightower with four tiers connected by pink and white staircases and supported by wide pillars. On firmly connected platforms, they laid such a thick layer of earth that even ancient trees could be planted. By the way, precisely because of the effect of climbing plants in the air, which smoothly transfer to different levels of the terraces, the gardens were called hanging.

Second wonder of the world

As the scholars of antiquity wrote, the erected hanging gardens of Amitis shook an incredible size: the height of the building reached 250 meters and the length and width exceeded one kilometer.

For irrigation of plants located on the territoryMore than 37 thousand liters of water were spent every day, and even the original irrigation system was invented, which allows maintaining the life of green spaces with the help of various mechanisms.

Water technology was not new to the city,but it is believed that it was here that she reached her perfection. Something similar was in the world-famous Tower of Babel. The huge wheel was turned by slaves, and thus the water rose to the very top of the garden, from which flowed along the terraces, overgrown with greenery. Outside the palace, thousands of poor people died of thirst, because water at that time was worth its weight in gold, and here it flowed like a river to delight Amitis' eyes.

Conquest of Babylon

It is believed that the formidable winner AlexanderMacedonian, who conquered Babylon, was conquered by the amazing beauty of the erected palace. Away from the turmoil and noise, he enjoyed the silence, interrupted only by the sound of bubbling water, giving himself the memories of his native Macedonia. After the death of the ruler who held in his hands all the power of the ruler, the city ceased to be considered the capital of the world and fell into decay.

Assumptions about the destruction of the gardens and the palace

Unfortunately, the second wonder of the world, as it is acceptedcall, did not reach us, and no one knows, the elements destroyed him, or this is the work of human hands. There are suggestions that all the vegetation died after the slaves stopped pumping water. And the terrible flood that had happened destroyed the once magnificent palace, whose clay walls were soaked, and the massive columns supporting them collapsed.

The find of Koldewey

After a few centuries, interested to findArcheologists have long searched for the legendary sight of the erected gardens of Semiramis in Mesopotamia. The famous scientist R. Koldewey devoted his life to this. Since 1898, he was engaged in excavations near Baghdad and found stone ruins, declaring them the remains of the Babylonian sights.

Found ruins

An extensive network of branched in different directionsthe trenches brought him to the idea that these might be the most long-awaited gardens. A German archaeologist discovered the remains of the aqueduct, through which green plants were irrigated, brought specifically for the queen from various countries.

The found ruins were not perceived by many scholars as the ruins of the Babylonian gardens, and some continued their search, claiming that the wonderful structure was in a completely different place.

Long years of searching

Dr. Dally, inspired by the lack ofany mention of the construction in written sources from the time of Nebuchadnezzar, began its own investigation, which lasted more than a dozen years. She painstakingly studied ancient artifacts and deciphered the cuneiform manuscripts in the British Museum to answer the question that tormented everyone about where the Gardens of Semiramis are actually located.

After a long search, scientific papers wererewarded. In 2013, after analyzing all the collected data, Dalli established the location of the mythical structures of the ancient garden. She found references to a “miracle for all people” built near the Assyrian capital Nineveh. Built a magnificent palace with a broken garden was built in the VIII century BC.

Where are the gardens of Babylon really?

The fact is that being in the territoryModern Iraqi Nineveh is referred to in all manuscripts as ancient Babylon, which has led to a distortion of historical facts about the true location of the grandiose structure. According to the Oxford archaeological group, a massive mound in the north of Iraq near the city of Mosul keeps a strange wonder of the world - the gardens of Semiramis.

As Dr. Dally says, excavations at this sitewill surely confirm her theory about the existence of the structure, and the bas-relief found in the city with the image of a wonderful palace with hanging terraces of flowers once again convinces the experts of the theory.

However, skeptical researchers are notagree with this version, stating that other parks will be found in Nineveh, only similar to the Gardens of Semiramis. The country of Iraq and, in particular, the city of Mosul, captured by ISIS militants, do not allow conducting large-scale studies to confirm or refute Dr. Dalli’s theory.

Unanswered Questions

So, now it is impossible to say exactly where the gardens of Semiramis are located. Yes, not a single drawing depicting the second wonder of the world has come down to our days, and all the paintings that have appeared are just a figment of the artists' imagination.

The riddle of the huge construction, erected a lotcenturies ago, the minds of contemporary researchers and ordinary citizens are concerned, but there is no direct evidence of the exact location of the great structure. Non-extinguishing disputes between scientists have shown that there were indeed hanging gardens, but the main question remains unanswered.