King Nebuchadnezzar (II) ruled at the height of the Babylonian Empire, liberated his people from Assyrian rule, defeated the Egyptians, and re-built the great city of Babylon famed for its grandeur including the ‘hanging gardens’ – one of the seven ancient wonders of the world. The hanging gardens, which could be considered an early example of land art, grew on artificial terraced hills around the city that were irrigated using ingenious pumps of similar design to those later to be known as Archimedes Screws. He also had a great bridge built across the river Euphrates to connect the two halves of the city, and also a tunnel under the river, both huge engineering achievements for the time.
The city of Babylon was lavishly decorated, exemplified by the impressive Ishtar Gate and procession-way adorned with animal motifs, such as well-observed, roaring lions that contrast with mythical chimera and fantastical beasts. These large wall reliefs were created with colourfully glazed tiles which for the time was a technically advanced use of ceramic design. The lion and chimera were illustrative of the myths and storytelling traditions of an advanced culture.
This was the culmination of Ancient Mesopotamian civilization. The city of Babylon was a great trade centre and its kings upheld a moral code to protect the weak from oppression by the strong… This included equal rights for women and tolerance for other religions. They guaranteed safe passage for all merchants, regardless of whether they were from warring nations or not. The result was that Babylon grew even richer and also became the cultural capital of the world, where people would come together not only to trade goods, but also to exchange ideas and information. It was a great melting pot of early civilization and formed the cultural bridge from the ancient to the Classical period and it is from the writings of the Greek historian Herodotus that we know much about the city of Babylon.
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