Hanging Gardens of Babylon - Historum

**Son of Cathal** · October 28th, 2008, 11:39 PM

Any ideas on what this wonder may have looked like? If anyone has read Matthew Reilly's Seven Ancient Wonders(a work of fiction), he speculates that perhaps the Hanging Gardens were actually an enormous subterranean stalactite? Stalagmite? Whichever hangs down, which was covered in plants of various types. I quite like this suggestion but I realise that for the plants to grow they would have required sunlight which wasn't present in the cave

**Son of Cathal** · October 28th, 2008, 11:44 PM

Some representations I found

16th century

20th century

Ancient

**Rosi** · October 28th, 2008, 11:49 PM

Stalactite. I've read that book. Never thought the hanging gardens would literally be hanging down, but then that book is full of weird, almost impossible things.

Personally, I think the gardens might have been a myth to begin with.

**Son of Cathal** · October 28th, 2008, 11:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rosicrucian

Stalactite. I've read that book. Never thought the hanging gardens would literally be hanging down, but then that book is full of weird, almost impossible things.

Personally, I think the gardens might have been a myth to begin with.

There's that possibility too. What did you think of the book?

**Rosi** · October 29th, 2008, 12:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Son of Cathal

There's that possibility too. What did you think of the book?

A fantastic read. One of the (what I call) unputdownable genre. Loved the character of Jack West (A man after my heart

). Of all the impossible adventures, I liked the Gitmo prison break the most. Wanted to get hold of the 'Six Sacred Stones' as well but haven't gotten around to doing it so far.

**Son of Cathal** · October 29th, 2008, 12:27 AM

I think that Six Sacred Stones is better than seven wonders, I'm reading it again now.

**Edgewaters** · October 29th, 2008, 02:12 AM

I think the ancient representation is probably closest to the truth - a mound watered by an aqueduct.

If so, it would bear a striking similarity to the gardens at Texcotzingo.

Thomaz · October 29th, 2008, 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Son of Cathal

Some representations I found

16th century

20th century

Ancient

Seing all these diffirent 'genres' of the same image, you might recognize the diffirent times representing the pictures. It would be very unlikely to look like the pictures from the 16th and 20th century, though the ancient one looks maybe a bit too little flattering. It might have been a gigantic wonder for the people coming from the West, though, the best shot I would give it, wouldn't be stalactites, though, a more powerfull version of the ancient version. With the green everywhere from the buildings, it might have been 'mistranslated' later, to be stalactites, though maybe just aqueducts making it look like stalcatites

Point is, it should really have been an good ingeneers work to make stalcatites in the middle of the city. Though, it is an interessting theory.

Voskhod · October 30th, 2008, 01:29 AM

Reilly's Seven Ancient Wonders was awesome! The third book is coming out next year. I can't wait.

On Hanging Gardens, I agree with Edgewaters: probably a terrace watered by an aqueduct.

turds mcpoop · November 6th, 2008, 12:39 PM

I saw this documentary where they found reliefs depicting a hanging garden in nineveh.

Don't know if it's the same as the one in bablyon, or if there were two different ones, but the reliefs showed what looked like giants archimedes screws, carrying water up to the top of a leveled mound.

Anyone else seen this documentary/ heard about this?