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The mystery of the Hanging Garden of Babylon : an elusive world wonder traced / Stephanie Dalley.

By: Material type: TextTextPublication details: Oxford, U.K. : Oxford University Press, 2013.Edition: 1st edDescription: xviii, 279 p., [8] p. of plates : ill. (some col.), maps, plans ; 22 cmISBN:
  • 0199662266
  • 9780199662265 :
Other title:
  • Hanging Garden of Babylon
Subject(s):
Contents:
Drawing a blank in Babylon -- Classical writers and their testimony -- Three pictures, and Archimedes -- Sennacherib's great invention -- Engineering for water management -- Confusion of names -- The unrivalled palace, the queen, and the garden -- Symbolism and imitators -- Defeat and revival : Nineveh after 612 BC -- Appendix. The section of prism inscription describing the palace and garden.
Summary: "Identifies and locates one of the Ancient World wonders -- New description of a very early garden and the technology behind its water supply -- Identifies the early occurrence of the "Water-raising Screw" -- Links Assyrian texts and sculpture to later classical sources and explains legends surrounding the characters of Semiramis and Nebuchadnezzar -- Reassesses specific sculpture in the British Museum." --Publisher.
Fiction notes: Click to open in new window
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 935.5 D146 Available 33111007086784
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The Mystery of the Hanging Garden of Babylon is an exciting story of detection involving legends, expert decipherment of ancient texts, and a vivid description of a little-known civilization. Recognised in ancient times as one of the Seven Wonders of the World, the legendary Hanging Garden of Babylon and its location still remains a mystery steeped in shadow and puzzling myths. In this remarkable volume Stephanie Dalley, a world expert on ancient Babylonian language, gathers for the first time all the material on this enigmatic World Wonder. Tracing the history of the Garden, Dalley describes how the decipherment of an original text and its link to sculpture in the British Museum has enabled her to pin down where the Garden was positioned and to describe in detail what it may have looked like. Through this dramatic and fascinating reconstruction of the Garden, Dalley is also able to follow its influence on later garden design. Like a palimpsest, Dalley unscrambles the many legends that have built up around the Garden, including the parts played by Semiramis and Nebuchadnezzar, and following the evolution of its design, she shows why this Garden deserves its place alongside the Pyramids and the Colossus of Rhodes as one of the most astonishing technical achievements of the ancient world.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [215]-268) and index.

Drawing a blank in Babylon -- Classical writers and their testimony -- Three pictures, and Archimedes -- Sennacherib's great invention -- Engineering for water management -- Confusion of names -- The unrivalled palace, the queen, and the garden -- Symbolism and imitators -- Defeat and revival : Nineveh after 612 BC -- Appendix. The section of prism inscription describing the palace and garden.

"Identifies and locates one of the Ancient World wonders -- New description of a very early garden and the technology behind its water supply -- Identifies the early occurrence of the "Water-raising Screw" -- Links Assyrian texts and sculpture to later classical sources and explains legends surrounding the characters of Semiramis and Nebuchadnezzar -- Reassesses specific sculpture in the British Museum." --Publisher.

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