For centuries, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were thought to have been built in the ancient Iraqi city of Babylon, because of the name.
This location led people to believe it was built by the Emperor Nebuchadnezzar who lived around 600 BC.
Since this time, archaeologists and historians have scoured the location of the ancient city but have been unable to find any physical evidence they existed - leading some to believe the gardens are a myth.
It is one of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World and was called the Hanging Gardens because they were supposedly built high above the ground on split-level stone terraces.
Some texts referred to the plants in the gardens as ‘floating’ but they were believed, instead, to have hung from these different terraces, giving them the appearance of being suspended in mid-air.
A Greek historian named Diordorus Siculus described the gardens as being 400ft wide by 400ft long, with walls as high as 80ft.
Due to this height, water was said to have been transported from a lake at the bottom using a similar principle as Archimedes’ screw – a pump that scoops up water in a spiral tube and carries it to the top.
It was said to have been invented by Archimedes in the 3rd Century BC yet if a similar system was used in the gardens, this would predate it by around 350 years.
Given the size, historians have estimated the gardens would have used 8,200 gallons of water a day to water the plants.
Some historians and archaeologists believe that the gardens were destroyed by war and erosion, while others believe an earthquake destroyed them.