According to historians, Antipater traveled extensively and wrote down their impressions. Babylon smote him, first of all, the Hanging gardens of Babylon.

Start the search.

In 1898 on the banks of the Euphrates, a hundred kilometers South of modern-day Baghdad, on request of the German Oriental society archaeologist Robert Koldewey began a search of the legendary Babylon.

Having studied a lot of literature on the ancient city, Koldewey wanted to find this miracle of architecture, the glory of which was the tower of Babel, Grand city walls, and the Hanging gardens of Babylon. According to historical sources, the luxury and splendor of the city drew merchants, travelers, and just the fortune seekers from all over the world. Motley crowd of merchants, led here caravans with unprecedented goods, strolling musicians, soldiers, hadliku, healers, the selling of women and pocket thieves, filled the streets of Babylon.

Since then has passed many centuries. It seemed, from a great civilization is not gone. In those places where there could be once Babylon, stretched hills with steep slopes Yes stunted vegetation. Exactly here, on the plain of Sakha (Pans) and headed Robert Koldewey to the spring of 1899 to start looking. In large-scale excavation was attended two hundred workers. In order to take out the mountains of rubble and gravel from Europe was discharged portable railway.

Success came almost from the first days, and after a few months of work Koldewey got an idea of the scale of Babylon.

Mysterious civilization.

The attention of archeologists opened a wall of mud bricks with width of 7 and 12 meters high, close to it under the ground was another wall with a width of almost 8 meters, followed by another three-meter wide, encircling the ditch, covered with bricks. On the inner wall, which had a length of more than 18 kilometers rose 360 castle towers. Thus, according to Koldewey, city, who for such a grandiose walls, on the right could be considered to be the largest man-four thousand years ago.

Every day brought new finds is a unique bas-reliefs, winged lions, upholstered in copper city gates, household items, jewelry, ancient burial places... apparently, here in ancient Mesopotamia, in his time flourished greatest known civilization. What? Specialists studying the artifacts recovered at the site, suggested that this could be the Sumerians, who, as is known, erected from stone town, had a unique writing system, and many of their buildings are still a mystery to modern engineers.

According to some historians, the Sumerian civilization was destroyed as a result of some global natural disaster. However, surviving representatives of this people could establish Babylon, which revived the grandeur of a bygone forever the Sumerians.

"The Botanic grandeur".

Luck did not leave arheologov, they opened more and more new secrets of the past centuries. However, Dogslave had a dream that he is not yet implemented. Archaeologist knew that king Nebuchadnezzar II (605-562 years BC) built in Babylon unique construction - the Hanging gardens.

Phoenician writer Antipater called these gardens by the name of Babylon, though, as is known, Semiramis was the legendary Assyrian Queen. If it existed in fact, lived much earlier than had been built the Hanging gardens. The name of the Medes Princess, the wife of Nebuchadnezzar, for which he created this miracle, is unknown. Perhaps her name was also Semiramis. According to legend, she longed for his homeland and, in an effort to comfort her husband was ordered to create among monotonous landscape of the valley of the Euphrates area, which would resemble the Queen of the Medes.

The soldiers Nebuchadnezzar was ordered to dig in their campaigns and to bring to Babylon all unknown plants. Caravan and ships arriving from distant countries, too, were obliged to bring different Botanical rarities. Next to the Royal Palace, like stage giant ladder appeared seven terraces. Each of them was a wonderful garden, which were built with unprecedented grass, flowers filled the air intoxicating aroma, in the branches of exotic trees twittered colorful birds, on the surface of the transparent ponds slid graceful swans, and all the terraces were a single entity. They were United by climbing plants, situated at the edges of the terraces and the crossing with sonoe to another. From a distance it seemed that antastika motley mountain, as if descended from heaven, hovering over a lifeless plain.

In summer, when, as if trying to destroy all life, cruelly beating down the sun, slaves, shaking water from wells, drove her to multiple channels, which thanks to a special irrigation system, water from the upper terraces ran down, wetting it "the Botanic grandeur".

So there was Liv actually Hanging gardens of Babylon, or is it just a fairy tale?

12 underground premises.

One day in the North-Eastern part of the Palace complex Koldewey unearthed 12 underground areas with a very massive arches, as if calculated on a huge load. These premises were built of hewn stone and located ledges, and between them was the passage. Thickness of walls reached seven meters. Near these amazing buildings were all well, and with the two sides of it is a rectangular wells smaller. Near the well towered building, resembling cherpak-a new ski lift, which could be used for a continuous supply of water to the top.

According to Koldewey, it probably looked the underground part of the Hanging gardens. Over their powerful arches, apparently, was in the Central part of the terraces, and each terrace-meters for a five-towered above the previous one and was lined with thick beams. Beams covered cane. The next layer was asphalt, then the plaster, and the top - lead, to prevent leakage of moisture in the basement. Already in the lead floor was poured three-meter layer of the ground on which felt perfectly even large trees.

Hence, found cellars, most likely, was the arch Hanging gardens of Babylon. And the system providing water giant garden structure was unique for its time!

Unfortunately, the system of underground structures - the only thing that remained and has reached our days from the magnificent terraced gardens. However, there are also a legend that by passing the throne to his son, Semiramis, who owned a magical knowledge, rushed from the upper terrace, but not broken, and that turned into a white dove flew to his beloved homeland.

The tower of Babel.

Besides many of the findings shed light on the history of the ancient Kingdom, Robert Koldewey found the Foundation of the colossal edifice, which, apparently, is the remains of the legendary tower of Babel. Its width is 90 meters. The tower served as an enormous sanctuary, at the top of which stood the temple of the God Marduk. Archaeologists have found and cuneiform clay tablets, which brought us the history of the Assyrian-Babylonian Kingdom and the second wonder of the world - the Hanging gardens of Babylon.

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