Palau 5 Dollars Silver Coin 2013 Hanging Gardens of Babylon
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World 2nd Edition
The obverse features an emblem of Palau in which Poseidon sits on the sea floor between a mermaid and a treasure chest. Above the emblem is a man rowing a canoe. The country of issue, “REPUBLIC OF PALAU,” is inscribed at the top, while the face value, “$5,” is inscribed at the bottom.
Reverse: Artist's representation of Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
Country: Palau.
Year: 2009.
Face Value: 5 Dollars.
Metal: Silver.
Fineness: 925/1000.
Weight: 25 g.
Diameter: 38,61 mm.
Mintage: 2,500.
Quality: Proof.
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
The Seven Wonders of the World or the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World refers to remarkable constructions of classical antiquity listed by various authors in guidebooks popular among ancient Hellenic tourists, particularly in the 1st and 2nd centuries BC. The most prominent of these, the versions by Antipater of Sidon and an observer identified as Philo of Byzantium, comprise seven works located around the eastern Mediterranean rim. The original list inspired innumerable versions through the ages, often listing seven entries. Of the original Seven Wonders, only one — the Great Pyramid of Giza, the oldest of the ancient wonders — remains relatively intact. The Colossus of Rhodes, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Temple of Artemis and the Statue of Zeus were all destroyed. The location and ultimate fate of the Hanging Gardens are unknown, with speculation that they may not have existed at all.
Lighthouse of Alexandria Colossus of Rhodes Hanging Gardens of Babylon
Hanging Gardens of Babylon
Hanging Gardens of Babylon, gardens considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World and thought to be located near the royal palace in Babylon. By the beginning of the 21st century, the site of the Hanging Gardens had not yet been conclusively established; nevertheless, many theories persisted regarding the structure and location of the gardens. Some researchers proposed that these were rooftop gardens. Another theory, popularized by the writings of British archaeologist Sir Leonard Woolley, suggested that the gardens were built within the walls of the royal palace at Babylon, the capital of Babylonia (now in southern Iraq), and did not actually “hang” but were instead “up in the air”; that is, they were roof gardens laid out on a series of ziggurat terraces that were irrigated by pumps from the Euphrates River. Traditionally, they were thought to be the work either of the semilegendary Queen Sammu-ramat (Greek Semiramis, mother of the Assyrian king Adad-nirari III, who reigned from 810 to 783 bce) or of King Nebuchadrezzar II (reigned c. 605 – c. 561 bce), who built them to console his Median wife, Amytis, because she missed the mountains and greenery of her homeland.
The Hanging Gardens were described in detail by a number of Classical authors. Though some sources disagreed on who built them, a number of descriptions concurred that the gardens were located near the royal palace and were set upon vaulted terraces. They were also described as having been watered by an exceptional system of irrigation and roofed with stone balconies on which were layered various materials, such as reeds, bitumen, and lead, so that the irrigation water would not seep through the terraces. Although no certain traces of the Hanging Gardens have been found, a German archaeologist, Robert Koldewey, did uncover an unusual series of foundation chambers and vaults in the northeastern corner of the palace at Babylon. A well in one of the vaults may have been used in conjunction with a chain pump and thus was thought perhaps to be part of the substructure of the once towering Hanging Gardens.
Research in the late 20th and early 21st centuries suggested that popular theories holding that the Hanging Gardens had once thrived in Babylon atop a rooftop or terraced ziggurat were perhaps misconceptions. Instead, a later theory postulated that, owing to confusion among Classical sources, the Hanging Gardens might well have been those constructed by Sennacherib (705/704 – 681 bce) at Nineveh. This research suggested that the gardens were laid out on a sloping construct designed to imitate a natural mountain landscape and were watered by a novel system of irrigation, perhaps making early use of what would eventually be known as the Archimedes screw.