Mythical Gardens - The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

In a garden, art, science, nature and the mind collide. It is no surprise then, that many stories in ancient religions and philosophies are set in gardens. Christians believe that the Garden of Eden once existed before Adam and Eve were expelled from it, while the Hanging Garden of Babylon has captivated the creative imagination of humans for centuries, as have legends about the Gardens of the Hesperides in the ancient Mediterranean world. Like ancient Chinese stories about the magical gardens on Mount Kunlun and its counterpart Mount Penglai, they all reflect the complex interaction between the human and divine worlds. In this series we will not only be looking be looking at the myths themselves but also, where possible, the reality that lay behind them and their impact on gardens more recently.

…..

This ticket is for this individual session and costs £8, and you may purchase tickets for other individual sessions via the links below, or you may purchase a ticket for the entire course of 4 sessions at a cost of £28 via the link here (Gardens Trust members £6 or £21).

Ticket sales close 4 hours before the talk.

Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days prior to the start of the talk, and again a few hours before the talk. A link to the recorded session (available for 2 weeks) will be sent shortly afterwards.

…..

Week 1. 25 February: The Hanging Gardens of Babylon. First in this series of 4 online talks, £8 each or all 4 for £28 (Gardens Trust members £6 each or all 4 for £21)

Week 2. 4 March: The Garden of the Hesperides. Second in this series of 4 online talks, £8 each or all 4 for £28 (Gardens Trust members £6 each or all 4 for £21)

Week 3. 11 March: Mythical Chinese Gardens. Third in this series of 4 online talks, £8 each or all 4 for £28 (Gardens Trust members £6 each or all 4 for £21)

Week 4. 18 March: Eden. Last in this series of 4 online talks, £8 each or all 4 for £28 (Gardens Trust members £6 each or all 4 for £21)

…..

Week 1. 25 February: The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

Babylon was the capital of one of the great empires of the ancient world, renowned for its wealth and architectural splendour, and of course for its Hanging Gardens, which were one of the Wonders of the Ancient World. So, you might be surprised to know there is absolutely no archaeological evidence – at least in the surviving remains of Babylon – to prove the garden’s existence. That hasn’t stopped artists imagining what they looked like, with varying degrees of fantasy. Indeed, Babylon and its gardens continue to inspire those with fertile imaginations, and the only problem is separating myth from reality. That’s what I’m aiming do in this lecture.

Image: Ferdinand Knab, The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, 1886, Wikimedia Commons, public domain

Dr David Marsh was awarded his PhD in 2005 for a study of the ‘Gardens and Gardeners of Later-Stuart London’ and has been lecturing and supervising research in Garden History ever since. He is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Buckingham and was co-course director for their MA in Garden History. A trustee of the Gardens Trust from 2016-2023, he helped set up and run the Trust’s online lecture programme and is the author of a weekly blog about garden history.

…..