4. Curtius Rufus, Hist. Alex. V1: Super arcem, vulgatum Graecorum fabulis miraculum, pensiles horti sunt, summam murorum altitudinem aequantes multarumque arborum umbra et proceritate amoeni. Saxo pilae, quae totum opus sustinent, instructae sunt, super pilas lapide quadrato solum stratum est patiens terrae, quam altam iniciunt, et humoris, quo rigant terras: adeoque validas arbores sustinet moles ut stipites earum VIII cubitorum spatium crassitudine aequent, in L pedum altitudinem emineant frugiferaeque sint, ut si terra sua alerentur. Et cum vetustas non opera solum manu facta, sed etiam ipsam naturam paulatim exedendo perimat, haec moles, quae tot arborum radicibus premitur tantique nemoris pondere onerata est, inviolata durat, quippe XX [pedes] lati parietes sustinent, XI pedum intervallo distantes, ut procul visentibus silvae montibus suis inminere videantur. Syriae regem Babylone regnantem hoc opus esse molitum memoriae proditum est, amore conjugis victum, quae desiderio nemorum silvarumque in campestribus locis virum conpulit amoenitatem naturae genere hujus operis imitari.
It would lead us too far afield were I to attempt here to emphasise all the points that weigh for or against my contention; I may safely leave the decision to time. According to Berosus, the hanging gardens must have been on the Kasr, as he places them in a formal and detailed manner in the area of the buildings by which Nebuchadnezzar enlarged the palace of Nabopolassar. The Principal Citadel may also be taken into consideration in this connection, and the question can only be settled by excavation. A difficulty that is apparently serious lies in the length of the side of the quadrangle, which is given by Strabo and Diodorus as 4 plethra (about 120 metres). On examining the central building we find this is exactly four times its actual measurement, and any one who holds fast by these figures will naturally reject my hypothesis. I have been too often misled by ancient statements of measurements to treat this information as conclusive, and as in the case of Herodotus’ statements with reference to the town walls, I consider it possible that the length and breadth have been confused with the circumference. The central building rested on the 16 walls that supported the vaults, and on the 4 walls surrounding them, 20 in all. Thus a non-philologist might readily conclude that the text of Curtius quoted above, “Haec moles ... durat, quippe XX lati parietes sustinent,” can be correct without the addition of “pedes” inserted between XX and lati. The 10– to 11–foot span of the vaults can be seen to-day in the ruins in approximate accordance with the statement of Diodorus and Curtius. I would attach little importance to any of these details, and lay stress only on the main facts. Our authors here speak of a building, with characteristics completely different from all others, and precisely similar to those of the vaulted building. It is possible to reconstruct what has perished from their description and from the evidence of the ruins in more than one way.
Either the central portion towered high above the upper storey which, in any case, we must suppose to have been above the outer series of vaulted chambers, or else the vaulted roof of the central chambers directly bore the layer of earth in which the trees were planted, thus forming an inner garden court on the ground level. In the latter case the surrounding corridor wall can be regarded as having served as the foundation for the columns or pillars of which the base found in the Eastern Court (p. [89]) may have formed part. A court planted with trees, connected with pillared halls, would show such a striking analogy with the festival house of Assur (M.D.O.-G. No. 33, Fig. [8]) that one might be tempted to recognise in the vaulted building E-sigiši the “house of offerings for the exalted festival of Marduk, lord of the gods” (Steinplatten inscription, 3, l. 7), were it not that some difficulties seem for the present to forbid it. The practical result of the whole arrangement was, no doubt, to neutralise to the greatest possible extent the oppressive heat of summer.
The entire building was roofed over, and the central part corresponds with the courts of other houses except that it is ceiled. The roof is protected by an unusually deep layer of earth. The air that entered the chambers, the διαίτας βασιλικάς of Diodorus, through the leaves of the trees must have been delightfully cooled by the continuous watering of the vegetation. Possibly the palace officials did a great part of their business in these cool chambers during the heat of summer. At the present time, in the Turkish government offices, the window is hung with a frame composed of two pieces of wide-meshed trellis work of palm leaves between which a layer of agul is fixed. Agul is a prickly desert plant with a great power of retaining water. This is continually sprinkled, and as the wind blows through it, cools the room to a very remarkable degree, at the same time darkening it, but this is not objected to by the clerks, as especially in summer the people are contented with very little light.
In any case the building was intended to be much in use, for two doors in the south wall lead to it, and the passage from the central court is unusually wide. The crypt below shared fully in the advantage of security from heat. The remains of the vaulted portions show that at all times it must have been very dark, and can therefore hardly have been used except as a storehouse for all manner of goods, a use for which the numerous uniform chambers are well adapted. The large number of tablets found in the stairway chamber on the south side also point to this use, as the inscriptions on them relate to grain.
The protection of the roof from the permeation of moisture, as described by Greek and Roman authors, agrees well with what we know of the practice of the ancient architects. A layer of reeds and asphalt was placed over a strong roofing of hewn stone, part of which has been found in the ruins, and above this rested two courses of bricks laid in mortar. A lead covering again separated these from the deep layer of earth placed on the top.
These hanging gardens have aroused the wonder of the world for centuries and indeed for millenniums. Their legendary connection with the name of Semiramis has largely contributed to this, although it was directly denied by Diodorus. Also the expression “hanging” has no doubt heightened their fame, although the terms κρεμαστός and pensilis conveyed no such marvellous ideas to ancient scholars as they do to us. Pensilia are the balconies of the Romans, and were nothing out of the common for them. The reason why the hanging gardens were ranked among the seven wonders of the world was that they were laid out on the roof of an occupied building.
XV
THE PRINCIPAL COURT (H)
Fig. 63.—The central part of the Southern Citadel.