xviii, 279 pages, 8 pages of plates : 22 cm

"Identifies and locates one of the Ancient World wonders -- New description of a very early garden and the technology behind its water supply -- Identifies the early occurrence of the "Water-raising Screw" -- Links Assyrian texts and sculpture to later classical sources and explains legends surrounding the characters of Semiramis and Nebuchadnezzar -- Reassesses specific sculpture in the British Museum." --Publisher

An exciting story of archaeological detection as well as a vividly written description of a little-known civilization. Dalley, a world expert on ancient Babylonian language, describes how deciphering an ancient Assyrian text-- and comparing it to sculpture in the British Museum-- provided the clues that enabled her to pin down where the Garden was positioned and to describe in detail what it may have looked like

Includes bibliographical references (pages 215-268) and index

Drawing a blank in Babylon -- Classical writers and their testimony -- Three pictures, and Archimedes -- Sennacherib's great invention -- Engineering for water management -- Confusion of names -- The unrivalled palace, the queen, and the garden -- Symbolism and imitators -- Defeat and revival : Nineveh after 612 BC -- Appendix. The section of prism inscription describing the palace and garden

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