T he Hanging Gardens of Babylon Located on the bank of the River
Euphrates, about 50-km south of the capital of present day Iraq
were the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Fruits and flowers...
Draping waterfalls... Gardens hanging from palace terraces. What
could be better? The Babylonian Kingdom had flourished under
rule of the famous King, Hammurabi (1792-1750 BC). But then
during the reign of Naloplashar (625-605 BC) of the Neo-
Babylonian dynasty the civilization of Mesopotamia regained
strength and reached its ultimate glory. His son, Nebuchadnezzar
II is credited for building the legendary Hanging Gardens. It is
said the Gardens were built by Nebuchadnezzar to please his
wife, Amytis, who missed the lush green and hilly landscape of
her homeland to the north, Persia. As irrigation was a problem
in the scorching region, a "chain pump" was used to water the
plants on each and every level. The chain pump had two large
wheels, one above the other, connected by a chain. On the chain
are hung buckets. Below the bot