The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

ancient wonder · engineering · gardens · Iraq

Stacked like a mountain. The Hanging Gardens had tier after tier of plants stacked on top of each other, kind of like nature's own skyscraper. All those levels of trees, shrubs, and vines made it look like a huge green mountain right there in the middle of the city.

One of seven wonders. People in ancient Greece thought the Hanging Gardens were so amazing that they listed them as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. That meant it was one of the most impressive things humans had ever built.

Built with mud bricks. The whole structure was made from mud bricks stacked and built up to create the raised platforms where the plants grew. It was an incredible engineering feat for its time.

In ancient Babylon. The gardens stood in the ancient city of Babylon, which was located in what is now Iraq, near a place called Hillah. Babylon was one of the most important cities of the ancient world.

Named for what it did. The name comes from an old Greek word meaning something more like 'plants on a raised structure' than just things hanging in the air. The gardens got their name because the trees and plants were planted on terraces built high above the ground.