The hanging gardens are said to have stood on the banks of the Euphrates River in modern-day Iraq, although there's some doubt as to whether they ever really existed.
The Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II supposedly created the terraced gardens around 600 B.C. at his royal palace in the Mesopotamian desert. It is said the gardens were made to please the king's wife, who missed the lush greenery of her homeland in the Medes, in what is now northern Iran.
Archaeologists have yet to agree on the likely site of the hanging gardens, but findings in the region that could be its remains include the foundations of a palace and a nearby vaulted building with an irrigation well.
The most detailed descriptions of the gardens come from Greek historians. There is no mention of them in ancient Babylonian records.
译文:
巴比伦的“空中花园”
尽管现在对巴比伦的“空中花园”是否曾经真的有存在过仍旧有些怀疑，但是传说它是矗立在现代伊拉克的幼发拉底河堤岸边。
巴比伦国王尼布甲尼撒二世在公元前600年，根据想象，在他美索不达米亚沙漠里的王宫内，创建了“空中花园”。据说，这个“空中花园”是为了取悦国王的妻子，因为她怀念她在米堤亚（现在是伊朗北部）的祖国，以及那山峦叠翠，花草丛生的景色。
考古学家至尽仍没有对“空中花园”可能存在的位置达成同意，但是他们发现在这个区域里，可能仍旧会有些残骸，比如宫殿的地基，以及带有灌溉水井的拱状建筑物。
对“空中花园”最详细的描述，是来自希腊的历史学家。但在古巴比伦时期的记录中，却只字未提。