Middletown transcript., 1873-10-18
BABYLON.
lss gssngtag 0srde ne.

Our pretty hanging baskets. with their
Suspension wires completely draped in del.
ics,c. climbing ivics and standing MOSES.
With their masses Of beautiful trailing
plants; their dropping grasses. viucas.
mimosss. s,usk scented. and covered with
brilliant golden flowers. though lilipu,ian
il size. are literally hanging gardens.
But. even should they be made million
times larger. their plan is SO utterly differ.
ent. that they could no, sugges. the faint.
est notion Of the hanging gardens of Baby
lon. abou, the very name Of which there Is
ring Of poetic grandeur and favor Of
Oriental magnihcense. They we're liter
ally parsdises;" for. though our word
is directly from the Greek poradeisos, the
Greeks borrovcd il from Persia. where TO
this day the rich sa,raps rejoice in their
paradisss. or pleasure gardens. Xenophcn
mentions those Of Belesis, Governor Of Sy.
ria: and such as he beheld them. nppar-
emily. We fud them described by Chsrdis
aud other modcra travellers. The hang
ing gardens Of Babylon were simply a very
costly variety Of the paradise. such az on
" princcly wealth could afford. Their
origin is attributed to Semiramis BY some !;
others say that they were invented by a
king of Syria to csarm the melancholy Of
one Of his wives, Of Persian origin. who
sighed to behold again the verdant noun
iains Of her native land. S,raho and Di.
odorus Siculus have written about these
famous hanging gnrdcus; Phlo Of Byzun.
lium-if. indeed. he is the author Of the
treatise on the seven wonders of the world
attributed by somo to him-and many
others
They were called hanging gardens,
doubtless. because Of the huge branching
rnlms aud other trees ovcrE ~. .ing the
balus,raic on the summit Of the high walls
iha; iuclo.cd tho paradise Thesc walls
wcrc about one hundred aud thirty yards
long on each Of the four sides, twenty tive
feet thick aud fifty cuhi,s high. or ever
niuc,y.one fret arcnslug to the Hebrew
ruhi,; by the i.amau " by the English
rnlt little les Around the interior ~
N sides rose terrace above terrace TO ii,
number of twenty. the iop one resting Of
,hc outer walls, and even viii. tic lalas
trade The terraces were upheld by i'm
mcns,ly strong galleries, whose ceiling
were formed IL hcwu stones sixteen fee
long aud four vide Resting on thes
stones was a LAYER of reeds. mixrd with
great quantity of asphalt, aud on this wa
a double floor Of fire dried bricks laid il
rortar; finally. floor Of lead plate. /
prevent any moisture from penetrating th
foundations of the terraces. the soil q
which rested directly on the aadcn floor
aud was Of sufficient depth to hold an
nnurish trees fifty feet high aud thousand
of rare plants culcd from all parts OF th
known world All these were kept in
permanently hnuri.hlng condition, we al
informed, by water raised from tho Et
: rhra,cs through the aid of machinery cor
realcd from view in certain rooms made
the galleries The galleries also ooniait
ed many royal apartments. variously ds'
Grated aud iurui.hcd ncccntly liehte
: ,hcy could not haze been; but ono ca
easily imagine ,ha, walk around thu
upper TERRACES on fine moonlight nigh
: the senses charmed hy soft music aud i
waves Of perfume rising from the wilde
ness Of flowers aud shrubs below must hay
!, been enchanting