ANST-401 Lessons

Welcome back, students! Today we will be discussing another of the wonders of the ancient world that I’ve been hinting at all year: the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. I previously stated that the Pyramids of Giza were the last ancient wonder… but this is not strictly true. They are merely the last ancient wonder that Muggles are aware of and we publicly admit exist. For the next few hours, we are tossing out our textbooks, putting away our quills, and keeping our wands at the ready, for the Hanging Gardens are a beautifully treacherous place. I was kidding about the wand thing - put them down! We will be staying in the safety of our classroom, to experience this, so do settle in and get comfy. With the wonder of magic, I can set the stage visually around you without any of the real danger.

What You Don’t Know Can’t Hurt You

If you are from a specific subset of students… That is, both highly motivated to do your own research, and also a Muggleborn, you may have already heard of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Or, at the very least, you could research it now. In doing so, you’d likely discover a few seemingly inconvenient facts:

Firstly, as we know, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon are one of the Ancient Wonders of the World, all of which have since disappeared. Secondly, the gardens were composed of many different tiers or levels of plants and trees rooted on the outside of an enormous pyramid. Thirdly, and most importantly, no one can agree on where the gardens were first built, and thus where their ruins would be. However, as is often the case, the Muggles have no idea what they are talking about on any count. Indeed, every single one of these facts is either completely or slightly incorrect, as I shall soon explain.

Of course, this misinformation is completely intentional on the part of wizarding society. The Statute of Secrecy was created for many reasons, one of which was to keep Muggles away from dangerous places that they do not understand, and which could easily get them killed. The gardens are one such place.

Imagine, if you will, that a Muggle was allowed to stumble upon Azkaban prison. In addition to finding themselves surrounded by maniacal inmates and terrifying surroundings, they would also, for apparently no reason, find themselves cold, bereft of any joy, and quite willing to hop into one of the cells and wallow in self pity until they died. You and I know that this would be a result of the Dementors, but Muggles cannot see them, do not understand their magic, and are helpless to defend themselves against them. The last time I checked, there was no chocolate fountain resplendent with various fruits and cheeses for the inmates and visitors to snack on.

While the Hanging Gardens of Babylon are not nearly as dreary as Azkaban, they certainly are as deadly. True, many of the plants are dangerous only when ingested or tampered with. In fact there are several tiers (which we will discuss shortly) that house non-magical plants as well. However, there are areas that house Devil’s Snare and Venomous Tentacula, amongst other terrors you haven’t learned about yet. Not exactly friendly to your average wizard, let alone your average Muggle!

Yes, I see your hands shooting up at the mention of Devil’s Snare. I am aware that it does not typically grow in that climate. Please hold on to your questions for now, I assure you that it will all make sense shortly.

What You Do Know Can Save You

The true history of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon is much more interesting than the Muggles could possibly imagine, although some of the tidbits of information they do have are at least somewhere close to the truth.

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were built in approximately 600 BCE somewhere between Ur and Nineveh in ancient Mesopotamia, likely very close to Babylon, due to their name. Notice I am not saying exactly where, not only because I wouldn’t want to give away the exact location, but also because I myself do not know where the gardens first grew, and neither does anyone else still living! The gardens started as a simple gift from a husband to his wife: a loving thought to remind her of her home, which was a greener, more lush environment than the climate in which she found herself after marrying.

In this particular aspect of history, the Muggles are correct. King Nebuchadnezzar II did start the gardens as a gift for his wife, Queen Amytis. Unfortunately, these gardens died rather quickly from lack of water and proper soil (which, as I’m sure you recall from Herbology, are rather critical aspects to plant growth). Not wanting her husband to lament the loss of his gift, Queen Amytis simply told her husband that she had moved the garden to a safer location than the palace, and that is the place where the gardens still exist today.

There was a bit of truth to Amytis’ lie: she did indeed have a garden in a secret location prior to the original Hanging Gardens’ demise. Amytis was, in fact, a witch with a particularly impressive talent for growing and caring for plants. She tended to work with fairly benign magical and non-magical plants, mostly in the pursuit of creating healing potions, poultices, and treatments for her people. The plant types that she grew formed the basis for the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, and indeed fill most of the first tier of the present-day grounds.

Alternative Muggle theories circulate about various other kings who were rumored to have created the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. They either boasted of their ability to transfer water from location to location (a simple feat for a witch or wizard), or made a romantic gesture to a woman in the form of giving her a garden in a harsh desert. These stories are merely the boasts of prideful men, or a romantic gesture copied by men who sought to woo a woman. No harm comes from these alternate theories. In fact, these seemingly contradictory tales helped to keep the location of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon a secret until the Statute of Secrecy came into effect, at which time they were sealed off from Muggles.

Over time, the gardens have expanded to become one of the foremost plant preserves on the planet. Various witches and wizards have aided in the addition of tiers to the gardens, and cultivated separate climate zones within the tiers to research and preserve a plethora of plants.

The Tiers of the Hanging Gardens

I have mentioned the tiers of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon several times in this lecture, and now it is time to examine the physical gardens themselves. Let’s have a look at a cross-section sketch from my most recent visit. Please do not judge my art skills, I was not the best Magical Art student at school. 

I cannot possibly convey to you how massive the gardens have become without visiting there ourselves, but I shall certainly try! The gardens are shaped generally as a series of circular platforms, each resting above the ones below - much like a wedding cake. The diameter of the bottom tier (the meadowlands) is equivalent to that of a fairly substantial circular city.

The tiers are arranged quite intentionally with the least dangerous plants in the bottom tier. The tiers are divided into various climate zones: temperate, tropical, polar, subarctic, marine, arid, mediterranean, and boreal. Many of these zones also have cave areas contained within them for plants who prefer dark areas.

You will note that the top tier of the gardens is where the marine tier is located. The marine tier contains both freshwater and saltwater zones, and supplies the rest of the hanging gardens with water. If you ever get the chance, you can ask the caretakers of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon how they keep the water supply full at all times. Each time they attempt to explain it to me, my brain seems to crumple in on itself and turn off. I suspect there is some sort of charm that prevents this knowledge from being widely distributed.

Another interesting area to note is the polar and subarctic areas, which are found in the middle of tier two, with no direct access to natural sunlight. As the colder areas of the planet do not receive nearly the amount of sunlight as the others (and are often in complete darkness for weeks during the winter season), the sunlight is artificially created by magic when necessary to keep the climate-scape stable.

I’m sure you have noticed that the bottom tier of the gardens is not a climate zone, but simply labelled as “meadowlands”. This tier with gentle slopes and raised areas is where the original gardens started and blends in with the surrounding area (as best as a meadow and a desert can). The reason for this attempt at blending is so if a Muggle accidentally found themselves within the ward (a very unlikely scenario), they would be confused about the plant life found there, but would not be in any immediate danger.

Structurally, the tiers are connected by a localized version of the Floo Network, with which I am sure you have a fair amount of experience. This network is not connected to the general network, and can only be used within the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Access to which, as I have mentioned, is strictly monitored and administered. You gain access only by Portkey, accessible from your local Ministry of Magic. There is an “doorway” through the barrier surrounding the hanging gardens that leads to the normal environment outside. However only those actively working there know where it is.

Flora and Fauna

Some of you may be wondering if there are any animals in the hanging gardens. The answer is of course! It is impossible to have a functioning ecosystem without the fauna to support it. Within the gardens, the tiers are constantly monitored and balanced to keep the climate zones as close to their real-world counterparts as possible.

The vast majority of animals in the Hanging Gardens of Babylon are non-magical in nature, though there are a few magical creatures necessary to key environments. The magical creatures are not, however, where the danger lies. It is actually the non-magical beasts that can pose the greatest threats from animals in the gardens, as every climate requires a top predator in the food chain, and it’s of course unwise to make manticores be that predator! Instead, there are grizzlies, wolverines, crocodiles, sharks, and more.

The Hanging Garden of… Bodyguards?

I see that some of you are looking at me rather quizzically on this part of today’s topic. As I have stated previously, the gardens are a truly dangerous place. This is why we keep them hidden from Muggles, not just out of some twisted need to know things Muggles don’t. Furthermore, the gardens are not just dangerous to Muggles and the unprepared, unsuspecting young witch or wizard. They’re dangerous full stop, which is why entrance to them is so highly monitored and restricted. But the gardens do serve a purpose other than being a secret death trap in the middle of a desert: a place for ongoing herbological research. This is one of the premier locations where sanctioned studies on magical plants, poisons, potions, dangerous crossbreeding get the go ahead. And if you thought working alongside Devil’s Snare was a scary prospect, just think of a researcher trying to crossbreed them with Walking Stick Plants!

In any case, what I am getting at here is that the researchers, understandably, need protection. Just because a person has the idea to try out a research project doesn’t mean they are prepared to defend themselves from it and, indeed, the many other projects ongoing around the rest of the gardens. The people who take these positions are frequently retired aurors or curse-breakers (both professions have an understandable tendency to retire early or look for less stressful work), though some have private training as bodyguards for other reasons. In the past, the gardens simply employed their own security force, but soon found that, while it may seem extravagant, one-on-one bodyguards were the only way to assure the safety of a researcher. Teams can break off into small groups or go off on their own, and after many workplace accidents, it became clear that making one person responsible for the wellbeing of even small groups was unreasonable and putting everyone involved in harm’s way (as well as impeding progress in the various studies). 

That is, I suppose, probably enough about this ancient (and current) wonder of the world, regardless of how fascinating I find it, so we shall wrap up our discussion here. I do sincerely hope that all of you get to visit the Hanging Gardens of Babylon someday, with proper protection of course! Next week we will conclude our discussion on ancient Mesopotamia by examining the Tower of Babel, as well as look at a few interesting features of other ancient African cultures. In good news, you will only have one assignment today; a quiz with a few more questions on it than normal! 

Image credits here, and to Liria Morgan
Original lesson by Professor Liria Morgan