Hanging Gardens Existed, But Not in Babylon空中花园确实存在，但不在巴比伦

克里斯托弗·克莱因

Greek and Roman texts paint vivid pictures of the luxurious Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Amid the hot， arid landscape of ancient Babylon， lush vegetation cascaded like waterfalls down the terraces of the 75-foot-high garden. Exotic plants， herbs and flowers dazzled the eyes， and fragrances wafted through the towering botanical oasis dotted with statues and tall stone columns.

Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II was said to have constructed the luxurious Hanging Gardens in the sixth century B.C. as a gift to his wife， Amytis， who was homesick for the beautiful vegetation and mountains of her native Media （the northwestern part of modern-day Iran）. To make the desert bloom， a marvel of irrigation engineering would have been required. Scientists have surmised that a system of pumps， waterwheels and cisterns would have been employed to raise and deliver the water from the nearby Euphrates River to the top of the gardens.

The multiple Greek and Roman accounts of the Hanging Gardens， however， were second-hand—written centuries after the wonder’s alleged destruction. First-hand accounts did not exist， and for centuries， archaeologists have hunted in vain for the remains of the gardens. A group of German archaeologists even spent two decades at the turn of the 20th century trying to unearth signs of the ancient wonder without any luck. The lack of any relics has caused skeptics to question whether the supposed desert wonder was just an “historical mirage”.

However， Dr. Stephanie Dalley， an honorary research fellow and part of the Oriental Institute at England’s Oxford University， believes she has found evidence of the existence of the legendary Wonder of the Ancient World. In her book The Mystery of the Hanging Garden of Babylon： An Elusive World Wonder Traced， published by Oxford University Press， Dalley asserts that the reason why no traces of the Hanging Gardens have ever been found in Babylon is because they were never built there in the first place.

Dalley， who has spent the better part of two decades researching the Hanging Gardens and studying ancient cuneiform texts， believes they were constructed 300 miles to the north of Babylon in Nineveh， the capital of the rival Assyrian empire. She asserts the Assyrian king Sennacherib， not Nebuchadnezzar II， built the marvel in the early seventh century B.C.， a century earlier than scholars had previously thought.

According to Oxford University， Dalley， who is a scholar in ancient Mesopotamian languages， found evidence in new translations of the ancient texts of King Sennacherib that describe his own “unrivaled palace” and a “wonder for all peoples”. She also mentioned a bronze water-raising screw—similar to Archimedes’ screw developed four centuries later—that could have been used to irrigate the gardens.

Recent excavations around Nineveh， near the modern-day Iraqi city of Mosul， have uncovered evidence of an extensive aqueduct system that delivered water from the mountains with the inscription： “Sennacherib king of the world… Over a great distance I had a watercourse directed to the environs of Nineveh.” Bas reliefs from the royal palace in Nineveh depicted a lush garden watered by an aqueduct， and unlike the flat surroundings of Babylon， the more rugged topography around the Assyrian capital would have made the logistical challenges in elevating water to the gardens far easier for an ancient civilization to overcome.

Dalley explains that the reason for the confusion of the location of the gardens could be due to the Assyrian conquering of Babylon in 689 B.C. Following the takeover， Nineveh was referred to as the “New Babylon”， and Sennacherib even renamed the city gates after those of Babylon’s entrances. Dalley’s assertions could debunk thoughts that the elusive ancient wonder was an “historical mirage”， but they could also prove that the Hanging Gardens of Babylon are mislabeled and should truly be the Hanging Gardens of Nineveh.

希臘和罗马文献描绘了一幅幅巴比伦豪华空中花园的生动画面。在古巴比伦炎热干燥的环境中，苍翠欲滴的植被从75英尺高的花园台地上瀑布似的倾泻下来。异域植物、禾草和花卉耀眼夺目，阵阵芬芳飘过高耸入云的植物绿洲，周围点缀着雕像和高大石柱。

据说，因妻子阿米蒂斯思念故乡米堤亚（今伊朗西北部）的秀美植被和山川，巴比伦国王尼布甲尼撒二世就在公元前6世纪建造了这座豪华的空中花园作为礼物送给她。要使沙漠上草木茂盛，宏大的灌溉工程必不可少。科学家猜想，为把水从附近的幼发拉底河打出并输送到花园顶部，古人可能用过包括泵、水轮和水槽在内的整套设施。

但是，希腊和罗马关于空中花园的诸多记载都是间接的，是传闻中该奇迹被毁几世纪后的文字记载。因为没有直接记载，考古学家寻找花园遗址达数世纪之久，却徒劳无功。19世纪末20世纪初，一个德国考古小组甚至花了20年试图挖掘这一远古奇迹的遗址，却无功而返。由于缺少残留遗迹，持怀疑态度的人质疑这所谓的沙漠奇迹是否只是“历史上的海市蜃楼”。

但是，牛津大学东方研究所的荣誉研究员斯蒂芬妮·达利博士认为自己找到了这一传说中的远古世界奇迹存在的证据。达利在牛津大学出版社出版的《巴比伦空中花园之谜：寻找捉摸不透的世界奇迹》一书中声称，之所以在巴比伦找不到空中花园的任何蛛丝马迹，首先是因为那里根本没有建过空中花园。

达利用了近20年时间研究空中花园和古代楔形文字文献，她认为空中花园修建在巴比伦以北300英里处的尼尼微——与巴比伦抗衡的亚述帝国的都城。她断言，是亚述国王辛那赫里布而非尼布甲尼撒二世在公元前7世纪初建造了这一奇迹，时间上也比学者们先前料想的早一个世纪。

达利是研究美索不达米亚古代语言的学者，据牛津大学介绍，她是在辛那赫里布王古文献的新译文中找到了证据，这些古文献描述了他自己“无比辉煌的王宫”和“全人类的奇迹”。她还提到一种可以抬高水位的青铜螺旋，类似于4个世纪以后发现的阿基米德螺线，可能用作灌溉这些花园。

尼尼微位于今伊拉克摩苏尔城附近，近年在其周围的挖掘发现了巨大渡槽存在的证据，是它把水从山岗上输送到这里。山岗上有这样的铭文：“世界之王辛那赫里布……我从很远处开凿沟渠，将水引到尼尼微附近。”尼尼微王宫中的浅浮雕描绘了一座用渡槽浇灌的欣欣向荣的花园。与巴比伦的平坦地势不同，亚述都城附近的地貌更崎岖起伏，这可能极大降低了给花园提灌的困难，而这可是远古文明需要克服的后勤上的挑战。

达利解释说，空中花园的地理位置之所以混淆不清可能是因为亚述在公元前689年征服过巴比伦。巴比伦被征服后，尼尼微被称作“新巴比伦”，辛那赫里布甚至以巴比伦各个城门的名字为尼尼微的城门重新命名。达利的论断可能不仅驳斥了这个捉摸不透的远古奇迹是“历史上的海市蜃楼”之类的观点，而且证明了巴比伦的空中花园是误导，其真实身份应是尼尼微的空中花园。