The location of the Gardens is thought
to be on the east bank of the River Euphrates, about 50 km south of what
is now Baghdad, in modern day Iraq.
The hanging Garden was built by the
king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar II (604-562 BC), the son of King Naboplashar
(605-625 BC).
During the reign of the great Nebuchadzzer
II, King of Babylon around 600 BC, he married Amyyis of Persia for a political
alliance. He built the gardens as a consolation to his wife who missed
the natural surroundings of her homeland. She
had been "brought up in Media and had a passion for mountain surroundings".
Some
also associate the Gardens with the mythical Assyrian queen, Semiramis.
The exact date that the gardens were
built was unknown. It
was probably around 600 BC.
Technically, the hanging Garden of
Babylon did not hang, but grew on the roofs and terraces of the royal palace
in Babylon. The garden is quadrangular, and each side is 4 plethra long.
It consists of arched vaults which are located on checkered cube-like foundations.
The ascent of the uppermost terrace-roofs is made by a stairway. it was
about 400 feet wide by 400 feet long and more than 80 feet high.