Babylonians and Enormous Gardens? Maybe. Maybe Not.
Babylonians and Enormous Gardens? Maybe. Maybe not.
Articles:Hanging Gardens of Babylon?
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon? or Nineveh?
The first article [Hanging Gardens of Babylon?] goes a little in depth about how Babylon might not actually be the start of these infamous "hanging gardens" but it might be another city all together. The name of the city that is now thought to have had these "hanging gardens"is called Nineveh. Many think it is Nineveh now because of new uncovered evidence of the area.
Recent excavations around Nineveh, near the modern-day Iraqi city of Mosul, have uncovered evidence of an extensive aqueduct system that delivered water from the mountains.It is also true in nature that the area around Babylon is flat land so getting water to the gardens would take quite a bit more effort than a place like that of Nineveh. Now to discuss the mistake identity. As you all know History is a combination of who conquered what and who. We know that the Babylonians conquered a lot.
The confusion of the location of the gardens could be due to the Assyrian conquering of Babylon in 689 B.C. Following the takeover, Nineveh was referred to as the “New Babylon,” and Sennacherib even renamed the city gates after those of Babylon’s entrances.Another strong case shown in the second article I linked [The Hanging Gardens of Babylon? or Nineveh?] is that for the Assyrians this type of building the gardens is (shown below) recorded in the written accounts from the Assyrian king Sennacherib around 700 BCE who not only boasted about the grand structure but their is remnants of the building to back up his boasting. So why did so many think that the city of Babylon held the mystical gardens when the city near their has the stories, remnants and boasting of such a structure when Babylon does not? We go back to the conquered aspect that could've happened.
The Gardens were not only to show power but were said to have been created to resemble the mountain Amanus scenery. Though much of the evidence goes toward the Assyrians for building the gardens the history is still tightly wound to Babylon and that isn't the only time that history has confused the two cities.
So maybe instead of just a conquering label mistake it happened to be an honest mistake of facts being wrong. Like the game telephone. There are many mysteries surrounding the mystical gardens and even more of a wonder to think about how they were built in that time and what the wonders actually were. Thinking of the irrigation and the planning that had to go into the garden just from the descriptions given in the kings stories of the garden make it sound almost surreal.As to why most of the classical authors put the gardens in Babylon, well, classical authors got Babylon and Assyria confused in lots of other ways, such as putting the Assyrian queen Semiramis in Babylon -- some accounts even make her the builder of the Hanging Gardens.
One detail contained in some of the classical accounts in that the Hanging Gardens included trees growing on top of columned porticoes
Sources:
Klein, Christopher. “Hanging Gardens Existed, but Not in Babylon.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 14 May 2013, www.history.com/news/hanging-gardens-existed-but-not-in-babylon
John. “Bensozia.” The Hanging Gardens of Babylon? Or Nineveh?, 20 Sept. 2013, benedante.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-hanging-gardens-of-babylon-or.html.
I'm very confused after reading this article, because I didn't even know that there was such a thing as hanging gardens. Why was there such a mistake about where they were besides the simple facts stated above? What was so special about Nineveh, besides the hanging gardens that were allegedly there? Why did the gardens symbolize power?
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting that the people of Nineveh actually used aqueduct system from the mountains, it sounds like a lot of work and shows how intelligent they were. Overall, this was a totally interesting article that not only peaked my interest, but made me learn something I didn't even know existed.
The idea of gardens symbolizing power makes sense to me. I guess if the garden contains resources that would equal more power because they would have more resources. I am confused about how this was a mix up. It seems like the facts given aren't very disputable in a logistics sense. Why did they think it was the Babylonians?
ReplyDeleteIt's always fascinating what people back then did to make work a little easier. I think its cool that they had an aqueduct system. The society was definitely smart, and had some really good ideas. over all this article confused me but it's a really neat concept.
I found this very interesting how it was just discovered that Nineveh was the first creator of the hanging gardens. What evidence pointed toward Babylon being the creator in the first place? This is so unique and also shows how intelligent the people of Nineveh were.
ReplyDeleteIt fascinates me that such a monumental structure could be completely hidden because of a mistranslation in the texts mentioning it. To me it really showcases how little we really know about the language and culture of these ancient civilizations. I think there is a lot we could uncover if only we could confidently translate these ancient texts
ReplyDeleteVery informative blog post but I do have a question, how do classical authors get a queen confused as a ruler of a completely different land AND confuse that same queen as the builder of the Babylon Hanging Gardens that aren't even in Babylon?
ReplyDeleteMy mind is blown because I have always thought that the Hanging Gardens were in Babylon and obviously they aren't. This post was very interesting and informative.
This is a very well chosen topic. It gets you thinking and questioning, what if it were assyrians behind these hanging gardens? Even though some thought Assyrians, evidence points to Babylonians, but could there be a chance? It is interesting that you did compare the game telephone, because I have been questioning that about a lot of things when it comes to history. You have to rely on certain evidence and sources and hope that it correct.
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ReplyDeleteThis whole time I thought the "Hanging Gardens " where in Babylon!
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