Hanging Gardens

Lore & Background

In the ancient world, these gardens were listed alongside six other marvels such as the Statue of Zeus at Olympia and the Colossus of Rhodes. The first known reference to a list of seven wonders dates back to the 2nd–1st century BC, with Antipater of Sidon writing an epigram that included the hanging gardens alongside the walls of Babylon and the tomb of Mausolus. Later writers like Philo of Byzantium also referenced them in accounts titled The Seven Sights of the World. Despite these mentions, scholarly debate continues over their exact nature. Unlike the Temple of Artemis or the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, where remains exist either in situ or in museums, no physical evidence has confirmed the gardens' reality. They remain a singular entry in history, defined more by the doubt surrounding them than by archaeological fact.

In Their Own Story

Antipater of Sidon, living around or before 100 BC, described seeing the hanging gardens alongside other marvels he had gazed upon. He noted that while he saw the walls of impregnable Babylon where chariots may race, and the Zeus by the banks of the Alpheus, nothing compared to the sacred house of Artemis that towers to the clouds. Yet the gardens remained part of his list of seven wonders, a testament to human achievement even if their existence is unproven. The historian Herodotus and poet Callimachus of Cyrene also made references to such lists, though their full works survive only as fragments. By 280 BC, when the Colossus of Rhodes was completed, all seven wonders existed simultaneously for less than 60 years before earthquakes and fire destroyed most of them. The hanging gardens, however, were never seen falling; they simply faded into uncertainty.

Reader's Guide

To understand the Hanging Gardens within historical context, one must recognize their place in the canonical list established by Octo Mundi Miracula in 1572. This list includes seven structures: the Great Pyramid of Giza, Colossus of Rhodes, Lighthouse of Alexandria, Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, Temple of Artemis, Statue of Zeus at Olympia, and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Only the Pyramid remains intact; others were destroyed by earthquakes or fire. The gardens are unique because their existence is doubted. While the Walls of Babylon, Palace of Cyrus the Great, and Pergamon Altar appear more than twice across various ancient lists, the Hanging Gardens remain fixed in the canonical seven despite this skepticism. Modern historians note that all known ancient and classical lists differ from the Octo Mundi Miracula version, with at least eight full lists and ten partial lists known today.

Did You Know?

• Scholarly debate exists over the exact nature of the Hanging Gardens, with doubt as to whether they existed at all.
• The canonical list was first established in the 1572 publication Octo Mundi Miracula, differing from all known ancient and classical lists.
• Only the Great Pyramid of Giza remains intact; the other six traditional wonders have been destroyed over the centuries.
• Antipater of Sidon, who lived around or before 100 BC, was among the first to include the Hanging Gardens in a list of seven wonders.
• The Hanging Gardens are located in present-day Iraq, one of only two canonical wonders situated there.