Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-2xdlg Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-17T05:47:49.763Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A proposal for the irrigation of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 August 2014

D. W. W. Stevenson
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

It was purely by chance, in 1989, that I saw in a newspaper an article announcing a competition sponsored by the Iraqi government to solve the riddle of how the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were irrigated. This proved to be the start of a project, which culminated in the submission of an entry for the competition in June 1990. As everyone is aware, the outbreak of hostilities in the Gulf followed soon after, ending any further communication on the matter.

Since that time, a considerable amount of further information has come into my possession, which has enabled me to expand on the initial written thesis. In this respect, I am particularly indebted to Dr. Irving Finkel's article in The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (1988), which brought together all the ancient source material that is so difficult for an amateur like myself to obtain, and also to Joan Oates' Babylon (1979 and 1986) for much valuable background information.

I trust that my theories may prove to be of interest and perhaps also stimulate further discussion not only on the Hanging Gardens themselves but also on the much neglected subject of water raising devices of antiquity.

Type
Research Article
Information
IRAQ , Volume 54 , 1992 , pp. 35 - 55
Copyright
Copyright © The British Institute for the Study of Iraq 1992 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bergamini, G., 1977. Levels of Babylon reconsidered, Mesopotamia 12, 111–52.Google Scholar
Coomaraswamy, A. K., 1931. The Persian wheel, Journal of the American Society of Orientalists, 283.Google Scholar
Cornell, T. and Matthews, J., 1987. Atlas of the Roman world, Oxford.Google Scholar
Finkel, I. L., 1988. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon. In Clayton, P. (ed.), The Seven Wonders of the ancient world, London, 38–58.Google Scholar
Finlay, H., 1987. Jordan and Syria, London.Google Scholar
Hodges, H., 1971, Technology of the ancient world, Harmondsworth.Google Scholar
al-Jazari, Ibn al-Razzaz. The book of knowledge of ingenious mechanical devices, Hill, D. R. (trans.), 1974, Dordrecht.Google Scholar
Koldewey, R., 1986. The excavations at Babylon, London.Google Scholar
Magnusson, M., 1977. The archaeology of the Bible lands, London.Google Scholar
Marsden, E. W., 1971. Greek and Roman artillery, technical treatise, Oxford.Google Scholar
Nagel, W., 1979. Where were the Hanging Gardens located in Babylon?, Sumer 35, 241–2.Google Scholar
Oates, J., 1979 and 1986. Babylon, London.Google Scholar
Singer, C. and Holmyard, E. J., et al., 1956. A history of technology, Oxford.Google Scholar
Smith, W. (ed.), 1890. Dictionary of Greek and Roman antiquities, London.Google Scholar
White, K. D., 1984, Greek and Roman technology, London.Google Scholar
Wiseman, D. J., 1983. Mesopotamian gardens, Anatolian Studies 33, 137–44.Google Scholar