By Liliana Usvat
Blog 217-365
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. According to one legend, Nebuchadnezzar II built the Hanging Gardens for his Median wife, Queen Amytis, because she missed the green hills and valleys of her homeland. He also built a grand palace that came to be known as 'The Marvel of the Mankind'.
he descriptions found in ancient Greek and Roman writers including Strabo, Diodorus Siculus and Quintus Curtius Rufus represent a romantic ideal of an eastern garden. If it did indeed exist, it was destroyed sometime after first century AD.
Alternatively, the original garden may have been a well-documented one that the Assyrian king Sennacherib (704-681 BC) built in his capital city of Nineveh on the River Tigris near the modern city of Mosul.
In ancient writings the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were first described by Berossus, a Babylonian priest of Marduk who wrote around 290 BC, although his books are known only from quotations by later authors (e.g., Flavius Josephus). There are five principal writers (including Berossus) whose descriptions of Babylon are extant in some form today. These writers concern themselves with the size of the Hanging Gardens, why and how they were built, and how the gardens were irrigated.
Diodorus Siculus (active ca. 60–30 BC) seems to have consulted the early 4th century BC texts of Ctesias of Cnidus for his description of the Hanging Gardens:
...and there was one gallery which contained openings leading from the topmost surface and machines for supplying the gardens with water, the machines raising the water in great abundance from the river, although no one outside could see it being done.
Strabo (ca. 64 BC – 21 AD) described of the Hanging Gardens as follows:
The garden is quadrangular in shape, and each side is four plethra in length. It consists of arched vaults, which are situated, one after another, on checkered, cube-like foundations. The checkered foundations, which are hollowed out, are covered so deep with earth that they admit of the largest of trees, having been constructed of baked brick and asphalt – the foundations themselves and the vaults and the arches. The ascent to the uppermost terrace-roofs is made by a stairway; and alongside these stairs there were screws, through which the water was continually conducted up into the garden from the Euphrates by those appointed for this purpose, for the river, a stadium in width, flows through the middle of the city; and the garden is on the bank of the river.
The rules of ancient Egypt, such as Queen Hatshepsut (1503-1482 BC), and Ramses III (1198-1166 BC) used pots to bring back to Egypt new kinds of trees and flowers discovered during their conquests in Libya, Syria, and Cyrenia
In the eighth century BCE the works of Homer contain one reference to gardens,
In Athens, the first private pleasure gardens appear in literary sources in the fourth century.
Sacred groves were never actively planted, but simply existed from time immemorial and were recognized as sacred
Helennistic Gardens
The great Hellenistic garden was that of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Alexandria, a grand, walled paradise landscape that included the famous Library, part of the Musaeum. Water-powered automata and water organs featured in Hellenistic gardens, playthings devised by technicians such as Hero of Alexandria, who, not incidentally, also devised machinery for the stage. In late classical times the peristyle form became dominant in grand private houses. This was a paved courtyard, which came to be outfitted with potted plants, a Persian and Egyptian idea, surrounded by a roofed colonnade. It was used for palaces and gymnasia.
Flowers
As in all hot climates an expanse of water was an almost essential feature of the ancient garden. Gardens of the wealthy contained artificial lakes and pools as well, with steps leading down to them for bathing. Kalidasa mentions a palace garden called samudragrha which was a summer house built in a cool place surrounded on all four sides by fountains.
Blog 217-365
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. According to one legend, Nebuchadnezzar II built the Hanging Gardens for his Median wife, Queen Amytis, because she missed the green hills and valleys of her homeland. He also built a grand palace that came to be known as 'The Marvel of the Mankind'.
he descriptions found in ancient Greek and Roman writers including Strabo, Diodorus Siculus and Quintus Curtius Rufus represent a romantic ideal of an eastern garden. If it did indeed exist, it was destroyed sometime after first century AD.
Alternatively, the original garden may have been a well-documented one that the Assyrian king Sennacherib (704-681 BC) built in his capital city of Nineveh on the River Tigris near the modern city of Mosul.
In ancient writings the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were first described by Berossus, a Babylonian priest of Marduk who wrote around 290 BC, although his books are known only from quotations by later authors (e.g., Flavius Josephus). There are five principal writers (including Berossus) whose descriptions of Babylon are extant in some form today. These writers concern themselves with the size of the Hanging Gardens, why and how they were built, and how the gardens were irrigated.
Diodorus Siculus (active ca. 60–30 BC) seems to have consulted the early 4th century BC texts of Ctesias of Cnidus for his description of the Hanging Gardens:
...and there was one gallery which contained openings leading from the topmost surface and machines for supplying the gardens with water, the machines raising the water in great abundance from the river, although no one outside could see it being done.
Strabo (ca. 64 BC – 21 AD) described of the Hanging Gardens as follows:
The garden is quadrangular in shape, and each side is four plethra in length. It consists of arched vaults, which are situated, one after another, on checkered, cube-like foundations. The checkered foundations, which are hollowed out, are covered so deep with earth that they admit of the largest of trees, having been constructed of baked brick and asphalt – the foundations themselves and the vaults and the arches. The ascent to the uppermost terrace-roofs is made by a stairway; and alongside these stairs there were screws, through which the water was continually conducted up into the garden from the Euphrates by those appointed for this purpose, for the river, a stadium in width, flows through the middle of the city; and the garden is on the bank of the river.
Gardens of ancient Egypt
Palace gardens
Palace gardens first appeared in Egypt just before the Middle Empire, (2035-1668 BC.) These gardens were very large in scale, and laid out in geometric patterns. The ponds of palace gardens were enormous and numerous. In the second millennium B.C., the garden pond of King Sneferu was large enough for boats rowed by twenty oarsmen.The rules of ancient Egypt, such as Queen Hatshepsut (1503-1482 BC), and Ramses III (1198-1166 BC) used pots to bring back to Egypt new kinds of trees and flowers discovered during their conquests in Libya, Syria, and Cyrenia
Pleasure gardens
Beginning during the New Kingdom, pleasure gardens became a common feature of luxury residences. According to paintings in tombs in Thebes from the 18th Dynasty (1552-1296 BC), gardens of that time had a standard design. They had a pond, usually rectangular, in the centre, filled with colourful fish, with lotus blossoms in the water and flowers around the edges. Around the pond were successive rows of trees, including sycamores, palms, and grenadiers, alternating with flower beds. The edges of the water basins were sloping, with a stairway down one side so gardeners could collect water for irrigation
Temple gardens
Temples often had extensive gardens. The Temple of Amun at Karnak had twenty-six kitchen gardens, alongside a very early botanical garden, which, according to an inscription, contained "all kinds of beautiful flowers and bizarre plants which are found in the divine land which His Majesty has conquered.
Rows of trees sometimes stretched for several km, connecting several temples. The temples themselves had esplanades planted with trees. When rows of trees were planted far from the river, wells had to be dug ten metres deep to reach water for irrigation. During the time of Amenophis III, some temples were devoted to a goddess in the form of a tree, with a trunk for a body and branches for arms. This goddess was believed to carry water to the dead, the quench their thirst.
Flowers were part of all the religious ceremonies during the time of the god Amon. These gardens also produced medicinal herbs and spices such as cumin, marjoram, anise, and coriander.
Funeral gardens
Funeral gardens were miniature versions of house gardens that were placed in tombs. They usually had a small square house or pavilion with wooden columns, surrounded by a wall, Within the wall was a basin surrounded by a row of trees. The house resembled the kiosks in gardens, where the owner would play checkers or relax. The dead were traditionally surrounded by the objects they would have enjoyed in life, and it was expected that they would continue to enjoy their gardens in their afterlife
Ancient Greek gardens
In the eighth century BCE the works of Homer contain one reference to gardens,
in the Neverland of Alcinous in the purely mythic Phaeacia,
"We live far off", said Nausicaa, "surrounded by the stormy sea, the outermost of men, and no other mortals have dealing with us."
"Now, you'll find a splendid grove along the road—The gardens of the palace were of an unearthly lushness, in the fenced orchard outside the courtyard, fronting the high gates
poplars, sacred to Pallas—
a bubbling spring's inside and meadows run around it.
There lies my father's estate,his blossoming orchard too,
as far from town as a man's strong shout can carry.
Take a seat there"
"Here luxuriant trees are always in their primeThe description is beloved of writers on gardens, nevertheless.
pomegranates and pears, and apples glowing red,
succulent figs and olives swelling sleek and dark.
And the yield of all these trees will never flag or die,
neither in winter nor in summer, a harvest all year round."
In Athens, the first private pleasure gardens appear in literary sources in the fourth century.
Sacred groves were never actively planted, but simply existed from time immemorial and were recognized as sacred
Helennistic Gardens
The great Hellenistic garden was that of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Alexandria, a grand, walled paradise landscape that included the famous Library, part of the Musaeum. Water-powered automata and water organs featured in Hellenistic gardens, playthings devised by technicians such as Hero of Alexandria, who, not incidentally, also devised machinery for the stage. In late classical times the peristyle form became dominant in grand private houses. This was a paved courtyard, which came to be outfitted with potted plants, a Persian and Egyptian idea, surrounded by a roofed colonnade. It was used for palaces and gymnasia.
Ancient Roman Gardens
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“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.” -Cicero.
Roman gardens were either large estates in the countryside (villa urbanae which evolved from villa rusticae), on the outskirts of cities (villa suburbanae), or the hortus a (relatively) small enclosed courtyard gardens set within their urban town houses (domus).
The rectangular courtyard garden or hortus, with rooms leading off it, was central (literally) to the house and family life, for the Romans, like us, used their gardens as a place in which to relax and entertain.
Formal in layout, the most characteristic feature was the peristyle or a covered walkway that ran around the perimeter walls, offering shelter from sun and rain. The peristyle also protected the beautiful landscape murals painted on the walls in order to create an illusion of a country setting.
In the middle of the courtyard, sometimes delineated by ornamental trellis work and possibly sunken below the level of the peristyle walk, was the garden itself. The focal point was often a water feature, ranging from a simple statue spouting forth a jet of water, to a sizeable pool. Flanking the water feature and the perimeter of the garden were the flower beds, traditionally edged with low box hedges. And running between them were paths – either gravel or beaten earth.
Flowers
The beds were filled
with flowers, mainly from the Mediterranean region, although the Romans
enjoyed showing off rarities brought back from the far-flung corners of
the Empire.
Gardening in Ancient India
In Vatsayana`s Kamasutra, "vrakshayur veda" is mentioned as one of 64
kalas or arts recognised in ancient India. It included the construction
and maintenance of gardens and parks for health, recreation and
enjoyment. In Jain canonical texts too, among the important parts of a
city mentioned are pleasure gardens (arama), gardens (ujjana) and tanks
(vapi).
Gardens continued to be viewed as a source of joy and happiness
throughout the ancient period. As the very first verse of the ancient
text Vrkshayurveda puts it: "He is indeed a monarch if his house has
extensive gardens, spacious gardens containing large pools of water with
lovely lotus blossoms over which humming bees fly . . . That may be
regarded as the consummation of all happiness . . . (giving) intense
pleasure to the mind."
In Vatasayan`s Kamasutra it states: "attached to every house there
should be a vrksavatika or puspavatika, a garden where flowering plants
and fruit trees can grow, as well as vegetables. A well or tank, large
or small, should be excavated in the middle." The garden was to be in
charge of the mistress of the house and she was to procure seeds of
common kitchen vegetables and medicinal herbs every day. The garden was
also to be designed with bowers and vine groves with raised platforms
for rest and recreation. A swing was to be fitted on a spot well guarded
from the sun by a canopy of foliage.
As in all hot climates an expanse of water was an almost essential feature of the ancient garden. Gardens of the wealthy contained artificial lakes and pools as well, with steps leading down to them for bathing. Kalidasa mentions a palace garden called samudragrha which was a summer house built in a cool place surrounded on all four sides by fountains.
