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

About the seven wonders of the Ancient World, familiar to everyone since school days, for thousands of years there were legends. Not all unique man-made monuments have reached descendants, many are destroyed by ruthless time, but the memory of amazing creations is still alive today.

Researchers of the ancient world are arguing about the reality of many of them, and not only modern scientists doubt it. For example, the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, who traveled through Mesopotamia, never mentioned a unique work, which will be discussed today, although it should amaze him with his greatness.

Myths about finding hanging gardens

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

Loud statement by Dr. Dally

One of the high-profile statements in this regard was made by the archaeologist S. Dally of Oxford who spent twenty years of her life searching for the legend. The fact is that the history of hanging gardens is full of any inaccuracies. It was believed that they relate to the mythical queen Semiramide, who ruled in Assyria.

But according to the written sources that reached us, it became known that they were allegedly built during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, the king, who decided to entertain his beloved wife Amitis in this way. She could not get used to life in a noisy and dusty metropolis, and the husband who was worried for her ordered to build a green oasis in which his wife would rest all year.

Monument created in the name of love

And then, by the wave of the ruler's hand, a monument created in the name of love - the gardens of the Semiramis. In what city were they? Until recently, it was believed that they were located in the middle of the desert of Babylon, and the queen, who came from pure and green Media, was extremely afflicted by a lack of fresh air.

It is known that the hanging gardens were placed on a high tower with four tiers, connected by pink and white staircases and propped up by wide columns. On the tightly connected platforms put so powerful a layer of earth that it was possible to plant even ancient trees. By the way, because of the effect of floating in the air of climbing plants, smoothly passing to different levels of terraces, the gardens were called hanging.

The Second Wonder of the World

As the scientific men of antiquity wrote, the erected Amity shrinking gardens were staggering with incredible dimensions: the height of the building reached 250 meters, and the length and width exceeded one kilometer.

More than 37,000 liters of water were used for irrigation on the territory of plants every day, and even an original irrigation system was invented, which allows supporting the life of green plantations with the help of various mechanisms.

The technology of water supply was not new for the city, but it is believed that here it has reached its perfection. Something similar was in the world-famous Babel tower. The huge wheel was rotated by slaves, and thus the water rose to the very top of the garden, from which it streamed along the terraces, greeted with greenery. Outside the palace thousands of poor people died of thirst, because water in those times was worth its weight in gold, and here it flowed river to delight the look of Amitis.

The Conquest of Babylon

It is believed that the formidable winner Alexander of Macedon, 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 murmuring water, giving himself up to the memories of his native Macedonia. After the death of the ruler in his hands, the city ceased to be considered the capital of the world and fell into decay.

Assumptions about the destruction of gardens and the palace

Unfortunately, the second miracle of the world, as it is customarily called, has not reached us, and no one knows whether the element destroyed it, or it is a human hand. There are suggestions that all the vegetation died after the slaves stopped pumping water. And the terrible flood that happened happened to destroy the once magnificent palace, whose clay walls were soaked, and the massive pillars supporting them collapsed.

The Find of Koldewey

After several centuries of interested to find a legendary landmark archeologists long searched for the erected gardens of the Semiramis in Mesopotamia. The well-known scientist R. Koldeway devoted his life to this. Since 1898, he was engaged in excavations near Baghdad and found stone ruins, declaring them the remnants of the Babylonian sights.

Found ruins

An extensive network of branched out trenches in different directions led him to the idea that it could be those very long-awaited gardens. A German archaeologist discovered the remnants of a water pipe, with the help of which the green plants, brought especially for the queen from various countries, were irrigated.

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

Years of searching

Dr. Dalley, inspired by the absence of any mention of the construction in written sources of the times of Nebuchadnezzar, began her own investigation, which lasted for several decades. She painstakingly studied the ancient artifacts and deciphered the cuneiform manuscripts in the British Museum to answer the question of where the Semiramis Gardens are actually located.

After a long search, scientific works were rewarded. In 2013, after analyzing all the data collected, Dalley established the location of the ancient garden that had become mythical. She found references to the constructed "miracle for all people" near the Assyrian capital of Nineveh. The erected magnificent palace together with the broken garden has been erected in VIII century BC.

Where are the gardens of Semiramis really?

The fact is that Nineveh, now in the territory of modern Iraq, is mentioned in all manuscripts as ancient Babylon, which led to a distortion of historical facts about the true location of the grand structure. According to the Oxford archaeological group, a massive mound in the north of Iraq near the city of Mosul keeps a strange miracle of the world - the gardens of Semiramis.

As Dr. Dulley says, the excavations in this place will necessarily confirm her theory of 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 theory of specialists.

However, skeptical researchers disagree with this version, stating that other parks will be found in Nineveh, only similar to the gardens of the Semiramis. The country of Iraq and, in particular, the city of Mosul, captured by the militants of IGIL, do not allow conducting large-scale studies to confirm or disprove the theory of Dr. Dalley.

Unanswered Questions

So, now it is impossible to say exactly where the gardens of Semiramis are. Yes, our drawings did not reach a single picture depicting the second miracle of the world, and all the pictures that appeared are just a figment of the imagination of artists.

The mystery of the huge construction erected many centuries ago, excites the minds of modern researchers and ordinary inhabitants, but there is no direct evidence of the exact location of the great structure. Continuing disputes between scientists have proved that there were indeed hanging gardens, but the main question remains unanswered.