The Mystery of the Hanging Garden of Babylon: An Elusive World Wonder Traced

by Stephanie Dalley

Recognized in ancient times as one of the Seven Wonders of the World, the legendary Hanging Garden of Babylon & its location remain to this day a mystery steeped in shadow & puzzling myths. Now offering a brilliant solution to a question that has challenged archeologists for centuries, The Mystery of the Hanging Garden of Babylon is an exciting story of detection as well as a lavishly illustrated & vividly written description of a little-known civilization.
In this remarkable volume, Stephanie Dalley, a world expert on ancient Babylonian language, gathers in one place for the first time all the material on this enigmatic wonder. Tracing the history of the Garden, she describes how deciphering an ancient Assyrian text--& comparing it to sculpture in the British Museum--provided the clues that enabled her to pin down where the Garden was positioned (it was not the Babylon we know today) & to describe in detail what it may have looked like. The author also offers a groundbreaking description of the technology behind the Hanging Garden's water supply, highlighting a very early occurrence of the "water-raising screw." Thru her reconstruction of the Garden, Dalley is also able to follow its influence on later garden design.
Unscrambling the many legends that have built up around the Garden, including questions about the roles played by Semiramis & Nebuchadnezzar, this intriguing volume shows why this Garden, with its remarkable innovations, deserves its place alongside the Pyramids & the Colossus of Rhodes as one of the most astonishing technical achievements of the ancient world.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Ancient History, Archaeology, Middle East, Science, Historical

279 pages, Hardcover

First published May 23, 2013

About the author

Stephanie Mary Dalley (b. March 1943) is a British Assyriologist and scholar of the Ancient Near East. Prior to her retirement, she was a teaching Fellow at the Oriental Institute, Oxford. She is known for her publications of cuneiform texts and her investigation into the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, and her proposal that it was situated in Nineveh, and constructed during Sennacherib's rule.

Reviews

[Lois Bujold · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, hm.

This book is as much argument as history, of the author's theory that the Hanging Garden of Babylon was not built by Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon (where it has never been found) but by Sennacherib in Nineveh, where likely remains exist. There are paragraphs where every single sentence is footnoted.

It is not Ancient History 101, and does not stop to coddle the novice. It would offer the most to a reader already well-versed in the history of Mesopotamia. For a reader who is not (like me), there are still many gleanings of interest, but the academic style was heavy slogging at times.

If had not first seen the TV show, I would have been even more at sea in the desert, so to speak. I actually looked up the book because the show was rather frustrating, by BBC standards, since camera crews were unable to get in to film the area with their usual quality and detail due to its being a war zone, and had to make do with whatever they could cobble together instead.

The book references another show from the late 90s, a BBC documentary titled Secrets of the Ancients which I think would be just the ticket but, frustratingly, I do not seem to be able to find it on DVD.

The fascinating engineering and technology of the past in that region seems to have been underestimated, historically, with a lot of its inventions later attributed to the Greeks or Romans (Archimedes's Screw, a clever device for raising water, seems to predate the era of Alexander the Great by several centuries, ferex), which is what happens when you let your rivals write your history, I suppose. Also, the overlap of people well-versed in technology and well-versed in reading cuneiform is very, very small, and figuring this stuff out requires both kinds of expertise.

The disciplines of history make much of documentation, which certainly beats making stuff up out of the air, but really, I don't see how the writings of the past are any more likely to be accurate than the writings of the present. Archeological sites and other physical remains seem to embed their own less malleable truths, but even they can be and are misread by investigators starting out with preconceptions created by their reading, as Dalley discusses. The lessons for the modern reader are inherent.

The video is presently here, for the quick version:

http://video.pbs.org/video/2365240618/

Ta, L.

(There was a name that went by when discussing prior digs in the region, "Mallowan", that I was only able to recognize from watching the extra bits on the Miss Marple DVDs, as being Agatha Christie's archeologist second husband. Cross-connection turn up in the most unexpected places...)

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I received and read an uncorrected proof via Netgalley.

There really is no other way to start, so here goes.

I never thought that reading about a screw so could be so engrossing.

Get your mind out of the gutter. I’m talking about Archimedes’ screw. And I’m not being sarcastic. Stephanie Dalley makes reading about the screw absolutely fascinating. I know it sounds unbelievable, but it’s true.

The screw is important because the time and use of the device are central to the idea of how the famous Hanging Garden could’ve have been constructed. I should not that I do not hold a degree in ancient history. I have layman’s knowledge of the subject. Scholar might discuss and debate Dalley’s thesis on a deep level, but I cannot do this. Dalley’s book is well documented; her thesis is well supported and apparently sound.

Dalley traces her book to a statement that an older audience member gave after a talk – the audience member had wanted to hear about the Hanging Garden and was rather disappointed that it had not been mentioned. This sparks Dalley’s quest to try to discover what the Garden might have looked like and how it might have been built as well as who might have built it.

Perhaps the least interesting part of the book is the first chapter that deals with the historical sources that mention the Garden. A necessary part, true, but the book really gets interesting when Dalley moves into her discussion of whom and how. The discussion about the screw takes place here. It is part of a wide ranging look at where and which ancients might have invented those devices. The answer isn’t always the Ancient Greeks. Dalley succulently challenges and debunks the overused idea of the Greeks inventing everything. While such argument relies on an almost minute detail, Dalley makes her discussion of such detail not only easy to follow, and, if not riveting, engrossing. The same is true when Dalley takes a look at who built the garden. Perhaps not a romantic story, but Dalley move her thesis and take the reader with her as she builds her argument. It makes her points easy to follow and is to convincing.

The book concludes with the idea that the Garden might have formed the basis for famous gardens in literature, in particular the idea of the Garden of Eden as expressed in various literature, and not only the Bible. The Garden of Eden idea is rather interesting and does make one think. She also made me look at Milton in a different way, and considering how I feel about Milton, that’s saying something.

I have to say thanks to both Netgalley and Oxford Press for allowing me to read this. I would’ve read it eventually; most likely long after it came out in paperback. I would have been the poorer for that. This book really does change a layman reader’s view of one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

[Bettie · Rating 4 out of 5]

ancient history - mesopotamia> euphrates> babylon
pdf
read feb 2013
non-fic

Disclaimer: I received and read an uncorrected proof.

This book is dedicated to the memory of my parents
Denys and Katie Page
who packed me off to Nimrud in northern Iraq in 1962
for the first of many adventures in archaeology and epigraphy.

Acknowledgements (it is always nice when the author decides to put this section at the front - shows a pleasant bowing of ego.)
Contents
List of Colour Plates
List of Figures
Timeline (I love maps and timelines)
Opening quote:

Not all our power is gone—not all our Fame—
Not all the magic of our high renown—
Not all the wonder that encircles us—
Not all the mysteries that in us lie—
Not all the memories that hang upon
And cling around about us as a garment
Clothing us in a robe of more than glory.
Edgar Allen Poe, ‘The Coliseum’ (1833)

Introduction

East India House inscription of Nebuchadnezzar II

Opening: Drawing a Blank in Babylon

Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at a shadow - Aesop, Fable of the Dog and his Shadow

When a German team led by Robert Koldewey excavated in Babylon from 1898 to 1917, it made a thorough excavation of the citadel on which the royal palaces stood, along with the splendid processional way, the great temples, and the Ishtar Gate. Of course those archaeologists were keen to discover at least the site of the Hanging Garden, both out of interest and because further funding would follow from the resulting publicity. They treated Josephus’ information as correct,
and expected to find inscriptions of Nebuchadnezzar confirming that
he built the garden.



Page 30: Diodorus’ description is especially significant for stating that the water-raising mechanism was not visible. This eliminates the possibility of a water wheel or any type of shaduf, both of which are highly visible.

Shaduf

p. 47

The chapter about Confusion of Names was particularly enlightening; all that was lumped together in my history education now starts to take on a more lucidly individual view.

Page 121: The name Sammu-ramat in the form Semiramis—by which the Greeks knew her—was used also for later historical Assyrian queens of great repute, causing much confusion among Greek historians who tried to trace the history of Assyria at a time when stories had already merged.


There goes our childhood image and as usual, the emerging facts of a landscaped earth dump is far more satisfactory.

And I do not mind the flowery language of the ancient scribes at all.

[Richard Derus]

I have to return this to the library at 46%. Darn it! I'll get it back one day soon.

[Iset · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating read; in fact, I can hardly believe that I was ignorant about this topic for so long. Of all the wonders of the ancient world, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon are the most elusive. Archaeology at the site could not conclusively find it, the ancient sources mentioning the wonder contradict one another, and while some scholars stretch the available evidence unconvincingly to try and locate it, others simply declare that the Gardens did not exist at all. The truth of it? Well, it did and it didn’t. Stephanie Dalley presents convincing evidence – agreed upon by peer review – that the Hanging Gardens were not at Babylon, they were at Nineveh, constructed by the Assyrian King Sennacherib, not the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar, and had the appearance of a tiered semicircle, not a temple ziggurat covered with plants. You’ll have to read the book if you want to find out more, but I for one thoroughly enjoyed finding out about the Hanging Gardens of Nineveh.

8 out of 10

[Vaishali · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting ! Dr. Daley posits that Nineveh - not Babylon - as the home of the famed Hanging Gardens, and King Sennacherib their architect. This region - not Rome - first invented concrete and building arches. In one inscription, Sennacherib brags about his automatic gates… another world first.

Elaborate gardens appear to be a uniquely Mesopotamian thing ; at least 2 early kings from Ur built temple gardens atop citadels.

Notes :
————

“A long tradition of water engineers in Mesopotamia is represented by the profession sekiru , who had his own seal…”

“Often modular units were repeated, with standard types that seemed to imply the use of a pattern book, and the discovery in different cities of several palace courtyards paved with alternating black and white squares of river pebbles, precursors of mosaics, seems also to imply a centralized approach to design.”

“More than 2000 years of accumulated expertise lay behind the engineering required for the supply of water to Ninevah, it’s orchards and it’s citadel with the Hanging Garden.”

“As conqueror of Babylon, (King) Tiglathpilesar I had a huge labor force at his disposal… so much of the landscape of the citadel was already in place when Sennacherib [worked] on a more ambitious scale… Sennacherib took over a citadel already high from the debris of more than 2000 years of building.”

“The king explained how such floods in the past had damaged the palace of his predecessors and had washed away some old royal tombs.”

“The phenomenon of the named inventor or culture hero in Greek tradition stands in sharp contrast to the anonymity of non-royal inventors and high achievers in the Ancient Near East.”

“Another system collected sewage from comfortable lavatories consisting of a stone or brick seat with a central hole; the effluent fell down a pipe into a sewer, big enough for a man to walk upright along its length.”

“Sennacherib’s wonderful new casting, designed to lift water all day long, was some form of screw… large castings were made successfully long before the lifetime of Sennacherib.”

“The method is quite similar to the one which people throughout China, c. 1500-1200 or earlier, had practiced since the Shang period … news of the casting method, if not independently invented, could have reached Assyria at least indirectly by the time of Sennacherib, because soon after the Western Zhou period of Chinese history, c 1150-770 BC, chariotry and archery had become common in China.”

“The long but damaged Bavian inscription, engraved into the rock high up overlooking the first stretch of canal, gives an overall account of all the different networks. Each scheme had reservoirs, dams, weirs, and sluices associated with it for regulating the flow and making the bed possible use of the water at different times of year, at seasons of excess and seasons of shortage.”

“… Sennacherib had an aqueduct constructed, so magnificent that much of it survives to this day. From the air it looks like a stretch of motorway: using more than 2 million blocks of smooth limestone, it stood 9 m high at its maximum…”

“Administrative records show that door keepers were regularly allocated oil to keep the socket wel lubricated , allowing the doors to open easily.”

“… Sennacherib shows his enthusiasm for a new automatic mechanism for opening and closing sluice gates.”

“…The Jerwan aqueduct alone required two million smoothed, close-fitting stones…”

“Two titles taken by the Assyrian king in his official inscriptions reflect his responsibility for cultivating land : ikkaru ‘ploughman’ and issakku ‘steward, farmer’… Ceremonially the king in person must perform actions appropriate to the titles he claimed… His claim that people made cloth from the cotton plants he introduced, and used olive oil from the olive trees he had planted, showed that horticulture was not simply an extravagant prestige project, but benefited the people…”

“The royal wonder garden at Ninevah was the show piece of an extensive scheme which brought great benefits to other parts of the city. The copious supply of water allowed all kinds of orchards to be planted around the city, improving the supply of fresh food to its inhabitants. Good drinking water reached… the city walls. Fresh mountain water would have flowed into the palace as well… then flushed through the drainage systems … Ninevah was now the finest city in the world.”

“Sennacherib transformed Ninevah together with its surrounding orchards, irrigated all year round by the network of canals, into a garden city.”

“So sturdily constructed were its canals, dams, and aqueduct that they were able to survive … conquests of Medes, Babylonians, and Persians.”

“… The great satrap Arshama owned estates near to Ninevah and collected revenue from them. There continued to be a great incentive to repair and maintain the canals…”

“Nippur was exceptional for being a leading religious and educational center of Mesopotamia… Priests in temples, rather kings in palaces, held sway there. It did not boast conquering kings, nor is it found in any version of the Sumerian King-List.”

“… The manipulation of a traditional text shows clearly a central plank in Sennacherib’s policy of making Ninevah supersede Babylon.”

“… Various Babylonian cities in southern Mesopotamia could be called Babylon. It was an indigenous tradition dating from at least the 12th century BC, and perhaps even earlier.”

“If you were an Assyrian early in the 8th century BC, you would have known about Sammu-ramat [Semiramis]… because she was the most powerful woman in the world of that time. .. It was Semiramis who conquered the first world empire alongside her consort, the eponymous founder of Ninevah. Hers was an empire that was to endure… for 1300 years.”

“Less than 12 years elapsed during which the building work was planned, and carried out, using thousands of foreign captives as the labor force…”

“There was part of a crystal throne, a most magnificent article of furniture…”

“We know that there were knotted carpets at this time, from evidence of a much earlier period.”

“Tiny colored glass beads were sewn in patterns onto leather and textiles… shining and resistant to rain and dust, and the man in charge of such work was a top courtier.”

“…In provincial palaces there was a fashion for patterned flooring using black and white river pebbles.”

“From inscriptions of Sargon we know that 8 colossal lions, cast in bright copper, each weighing some 17 tons, guarded in pairs the entrance to his palace doors.”

“… Men with sprinklers kept the dust down in hot weather.”

“The collection of foreign plans showed the king’s mastery over the landscape… Cotton was planted.. indigenous to India and Pakistan and was cultivated at a very early date in the Indus Valley… Indian rosewood was introduced into Assyria likewise…”

“… by the time of Alexander, people in Assyria could no longer read cuneiform, so the name of the builder passed into legend.”

[Gretchen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Hanging Gardens of Nineveh? I was skeptical at first of the argument that Dalley puts forth in this book, transposing the location of the World Wonder to a different city than tradition establishes. Could the contemporaries of the building project be so silly as to make such a significant geographical mistake? However, I left the book persuaded that the marvel did truly exist, and most likely in Nineveh. Recommended for those interested in the Ancient Wonders, Ancient Near East history, or engineering.

Dalley explains the lack of documentation in Babylon for a building project as significant as the Hanging Gardens, a notable change from the norms of the times, which tended to document in detail any significant building project underway during a king's reign. She goes on to discuss the fairly common imposing of place names on one another as kingdoms conquered one another and took dominion over new territories--same with king names. The association was one that was meant to be metaphorical--Nineveh called Babylon is a city of the same grandeur as Babylon (which was remarkable in its own right, just not with gardens). Archeological evidence does suggest waterways sufficient to irrigate a garden of the scope described in the Hanging Gardens, and this capability is lacking in Babylon. Engineering knowledge to build a water screw was also present in Nineveh. All together, the case for the Hanging Gardens of Nineveh is pretty compelling.

I did find it comical how hard Dalley worked to avoid biblical support for or against the culture of Nineveh at the time (and surrounding ANE areas), except where descriptions supported her case. I think it is safe to say that biblical writers used similar language to their contemporaries with similar understandings applied, and I also think it is possible to recognize that as kings imposed themselves on different regions, they may have wanted to preserve the best parts of the conquered kingdom to associate their own names with them. The last third of the book focused on getting around historical/biblical assumptions that Nineveh was destroyed in 612 BC, which was not only distracting from the main point, but tried too hard to accomplish something that didn't need to be accomplished. Other than that, this would have been a five-star read for me, as Dalley is a clear writer, with the ability to make specialized content accessible to a casual reader.

[Mer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing read! The beginning can glaze the eyes with the industry-specific terms and details but it blows me away at how detailed the research can be! I'm glad I hung in there and made the effort to understand some of the references becuase I really got excited around chapter 4 with the information about water management and chapter 5 where the garden is actually described!

I had to bookmark a bunch of the graphics to refer back to and so glad there were quite a few photos and images.

The drawback is from now on, and I've already experienced this, is cringing when I see a reference to the urban legend.

[Bertie Brady · Rating 2 out of 5]

The mystery of the Hanging Garden of Babylon is less a historical overview of the garden and more so a defence of Dalley's belief that the garden was instead from Nineveh and built by Sennacherib.

The book has some interesting points, especially in the second chapter, where Dalley discusses the ancient (mostly Greek) accounts and their possible confusions and mistakes. There is also a detailed discussion on the mechanics of the garden, such as the Assyrian invention of the screw, and a look at the symbolic/religious significance of gardens in Ancient Mesopotamian society. Every page of the book is also filled with dozens of citations, which is a testament to it's level of detail and research.

On the other hand, I found this book at times a bit too academic, which caused my interest to wain in certain chapters, especially when Dalley delved more into defending her theories than actually discussing the garden itself. In some chapters, it felt like the purpose of the book had been forgotten, as she often branches out so drastically that there is only a tenuous link to the subject of the book.

Still, The Mystery of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon raises some interesting questions and is well-researched, although it may be tailored more for those who already have a great deal of knowledge of ancient Mesopotamia.

[Mary Z · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up because I saw a BBC special about the topic and wanted more information.. this is an interesting topic but a bit dry.. it is really a scholarly defense of her theory that the Hanging Gardens were really built in Nineveh.. and not Babylon.. sad that archeology in the past messed up a lot of the digs and now so much is either inaccessible due to the political situation and/or destroyed.. I think the tv program is better for the average person rather than this book.

[B.G. Brainard · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought the book hoping to find out more about the hanging garden of Babylon, because I was researching the subject for a book I was writing. Her conclusions did not help much with my research about the ancient city of Babylon, but did open my eyes to the Assyrian King Sennecherib's queen, garden, and palace in Nineveh.

[Claudia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writer did a phenomenal job researching into the existence, the location as well as the possible creator of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. An incredible job searching through Assyrian, Babylonian and Sumarian records - as sparse and incomplete as they may be - in order to find some elusive facts regarding this long-lost wonder of the ancient world.

And she found quite a bit. Unfortunately, in providing the proof of her suspicions to make facts, she goes into far more detail than the general reader would ever want to know about the civilizations of the Mesopotamian area. Yes, it was interesting to read about how one word would change and modify over time and culture. How the gods would change their names as a different people and culture would gain control. The question of whether the Bible's Garden of Eden was just wistful remembrances of the gardens of the king. How early archaeologists ignored what was before them because they fervently believed Roman and Greek historians who, in turn, were telling tales they were told and several never even travelled to the areas they were reporting on. The detail about architecture and the gearing of the water screw that was already in use centuries before Hero of Alexandria. Comparing water screws verses shaduf as used even to today. How to water the gardens - especially the large trees - when the main construction material was sun-baked mud bricks along with even getting the required amounts of water into the gardens in this dusty, dry region. How several cities in the area were called Babylon or 'the other Babylon' or the southern Babylon just added to the confusion

But the detail, although a wonderful reference for those researchers and experts in Middle Eastern history - specifically Babylonian, Assyrian, Levant and other cultures of those times - languages, religions, architecture and horticulture, was far beyond what the masses would likely ever be interested in. Am I glad I read it? Certainly. It supplied an answer to a curiosity as well as provided in-depth insight on some ancient history which I do enjoy reading about.

Oh, as for her decision regarding who and where - King Sennacherib of Assyria, around 700 B.C. in the city of Ninevah. One of those other Babylons.

2020-203

[Brad Dunn · Rating 2 out of 5]

this book is perfect, I suspect, for those doing diligent research on Babylon, Mesopotamia, or Assyria. I was really just looking for a book on the old garden. As a book, it can be a little dull to read. there is some interesting stuff in here, and I learnt a few things, but only as I floated in and out of consciousness. There is a lot of technical engineering details about inventions of the era which are not exactly enthralling. Important - yes. Im probably just the wrong audience for this book. It has value, just not with me.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author tries very hard to make her case however it is unconvincing. I even watched the special she made on amazon and it too was a bit of a let down. There is just not enough evidence to cast out all of the eye witness support for the traditional location and story of the hanging gardens. There also is not quite enough evidence to prove the garden’s existence in Nineveh. At best it lends support that there was also a magnificent garden in Nineveh but not exclusive to a later one in Babylon.

[Adam Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely interesting and compelling case for the location, layout and structure of arguably the most famous of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

[Peter Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are some books that jump out and grab youfrom the first sentence and the opening paragraph. This book is not one of those types of books, and i will admit that i originally read the introduction and then put the book down and read a couple of others before returning for the first chapter.

This as it happens was to my advantage because i came back with a clear mind and perception of what i wanted from the book. I hadn't read a book on ancient history or any history for that matter and so my needs had been deprived for longer than expected.

Stephanie Dalley was first introduced to me through SBS (Special Broadcasting Service) in the program of a similar name; The Lost Gardens of Baylon. This was the BBC made version of the book and i was first introduced to the book through this program. The Mystery of the Hanging Garden of Babylon goes into the depths that the documentary only touches upon. That is not to deny the show, because it inspired me to find and buy the book.

The Mystery of the Hanging Garden of Babylon only got better as it went along and the value of the academic research was evident through every stage of the book. Dalley constantly and consistently revealed alternate perspectives to the accepted historical narrative. She broke down the errors in translation and why there were errors and what the significance was with the changes in location, kings, strategies and applied technologies.

The thing i enjoyed the most was the importance of the gardens as a key part of the king's display of wealth, knowledge, culture and cultivation skills and knowledge. I was surprised and reassured to see that the Assyrian kings were not only keen gardners but were botanical collectors while off conquering other kngdoms and taking the native plant species of the conquered peoples back to their own gardens for their pleasure and opportunity to skite about their gardening skills.

Stephanie Dalley does not just tell the story of the gardens, she works her academic skill-set of stripping back the myths from the truths and then adding the element of evidence. This delivered a book with an intrigueing who done it mixed in to a story of relived history, which brought a conclusion of satisfied historical absolution.

If you enjoy your ancient history then read this book. Alternately if you thought you should try reading a book on ancient history then make this your first and you will be hooked for life.

[Leon McNair · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Mystery Of The Hanging Garden Of Babylon

Thoroughly enjoyed reading what seemed like a journey through the ancient Assyrian and Babylonian practices of architectural, engineering, and horticultural feats which stood as the "World Wonders" of their time, as each king boastfully proclaimed in their clay tablets and prisms to have masterfully outdone their predecessors.

Stephanie Dalley analyses these clay tablets, sculptures, and prisms in their original language to trace the evidence of the one ancient Wonder that has been lost to myth, with the aide of several Greco-Roman sources, some independent of each other, that also provide valuable information on what this Wonder even looked like - such as the appearance of a Greek Amphitheatre - included are; Strabo, Curtius Rufus, Diodorus, Philo of Byzantium, and the Bible as some of her historiographical sources.

Some of the treasure from this disclosed trove include; the meaning behind the Greek use of 'Hanging' versus the English; the features involved in creating the garden that would lead to wonderment; such as the use of bronze water-screws, the Jerwan aqueduct, foreign planted trees, volume of water for the irrigation system, and many others; why Assyria may have been known as 'Babylon'; and the Greeks' predisposition to sign in their name, or to their god(s), a design or invention not of their own making - Archimede's screw being one example.

[Joshua Gross · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was recently learning about the ancient world and revisited the topic of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It was then that I discovered that of all the ancient wonders, only the Garden of Babylon is unverified. There is no archeological evidence to support a huge fanciful garden in Babylon, nor written records from Babylon mentioning this supposed world wonder in their midst. Some scholars question where it ever existed. That's when I found the documentary referenced in this book about Stephanie Dalley and her new assertion that the Hanging Garden of Babylon actually existed at Ninevah. This led to me finding this book to read more.

The book is a fascinating exploration of early Mesopotamia and other ancient places, solid evidence to support the idea that the garden was at Ninevah and built by Sennacherib, not Nebuchednezzer. It also describes the garden and engineering marvels that helped it to exist, bringing to life a world wonder I had never understood or knew much about. It was sometimes easy to get bogged down by academic details and historical facts, but all in all this was a fascinating and informative read.

[Sage · Rating 2 out of 5]

Published in 2013, idk what scholarship has happened since, so caveat. But.

Mostly I hate the way this book is organized. The argument is poorly presented. There's a clear bias against Persian sources, despite Nineveh spending a lot of time under Persian rule, and no indication of looking at sources beyond the Greco-Roman, Josephus, Germans, and, of course, the British. I haven't read such an anglocentric history of a place thousands of miles from the UK in a while. Kinda weird.

Most hilarious is when Dalley can't imagine plants surviving the terrible heat of the heinously low latitude of Nineveh, which is 36N. Um. WTAF?! 😆

Guess what. Horticulture exists south of Britain. It exists at the equator with year-round growing seasons and massive trees. The heat isn't the problem as long as there's water.

Yeah, I know, quibble. But where was the editor saying: refocus this argument on the desert topography and go get some soil cores to prove your theory. Spoiler: there are no soil cores & climate change is flatly dismissed. Um.

I'm especially annoyed because there is otherwise some good scholarship and a profound amount of research. But this book is a mess.

[Winnie Y · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably closer to 3.5
Picked up this book after visiting an exhibit containing Babylonian/Assyrian artifacts and wondered " did we ever find out more about the Hanging Gardens of Babylon?". While the book starts off slow, the arguments and re-analysis of classical text/ cylinders was quite informative and convincing. This reader is glad that diagrams and copies of original drawings are labelled and referred to in the text, or else as a casual reader with little to no previous knowledge of ancient architecture would be quite lost. The way the water screws is described to work still is a bit confusing, but perhaps excavating the documentary and seeing it in motion might help.

Sennacherib, you will forever be remember by this reader as the water screw/bronze casting enthusiast who built a giant garden theater.

[Bryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely well researched, coming from an expert in the field, this heavy but short book on the mystery of the unaccounted for seventh wonder is a fabulous read. Almost every paragraph was pointedly written with an interesting perspective or fact.

While the writing is rather academic, I found it reassuring to be learning from a reliable source and the mystery and intrigue of the subject made this an absorbing book--if you pace yourself well. It brought to life some of the characters of Ancient Mesopotamia and has made me hungry for more knowledge about the history of that region in that time.

[May Phoenix · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,75⭐️

An amazing archaeological investigation on the traces and history of the Hanging Garden - not of Babylon, but Nineveh!

The book was well written, thorough and it covered every aspect of the debate about the location of the Hanging Garden. It was easy to understand regardless of one's knowledge of history and it had plenty of pictures and plans to help understand. It was also well referenced. The last two points are often missing in history or archaeology books for general audiences so I was very pleased.

I recommend it to anyone who might be even a little curious about the history of the Hanging Garden and the Assyrians or even how archaeology can help correct history!

[Dylan Rudling · Rating 5 out of 5]

An ancient mystery solved! Very compelling research backed up with plenty of evidence that continually makes me more intrigued with the world of the Neo-Assyrians. The book even helped out with my own mini research project - surely it must be useful.

[Zoe Meyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am doing a research paper on the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and this was immensely helpful. It has lots of information for the avid reader. Not for quick facts however, pretty long...

[Joshua Horvath · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting material, a little dryly presented though.

[Rob Crompton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read. Prof Dalley cuts through the dead weight of hitherto unquestioned assumptions and makes a truly exciting discovery.

[Katarina Richter · Rating 5 out of 5]

A demanding, intruguing and convincing read.
Equipped with plenty of footnotes from a wide range of sources.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhat dry at times, but sufficiently interesting to be well worth persevering with.

[El-Jahiz · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of those books where the digressions are as interesting as the main topic! Thoroughly enjoyed.

[Miss Magenta · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so satisfying! Well executed research with a very clear line of reasoning makes this book very exciting and enjoyable to read. I also watched the BBC documentary that's mentioned in the book and I very much recommend watching that as well to help in visualizing the technical details discussed in the book.