[00:00.00]Module 12 WONDERS OF THE WORLD
[00:06.88]UNIT 2 The King was born in 604 BC.
[00:12.55]1 listen and read
[00:16.03]The hanging Gardens of Babylon
[00:19.85]Fruits and flowers,waterfalls,strange animals,
[00:23.56]tall trees and huge gardens ...
[00:26.33]for most people,this is the picture they have
[00:28.92]of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon
[00:31.75]You may be surprised to know that the gardens
[00:34.60]might never have existed
[00:36.78]-except in the mind of Greek poets!
[00:40.48]Babylon is the ancient name for Iraq.
[00:43.40]The gardens were said to be located
[00:45.36]on the east bank of the River Euphrates.
[00:48.12]about 50 kilometres south of Baghdad
[00:51.15]in modern Iraq.
[00:53.19]Nebuchadnezzar II,the son of a famous king,
[00:56.63]was born in 604 BC.
[00:59.59]It is said that the Gardens were built
[01:01.63]by Nebuchadnezzar to please his wife,
[01:05.09]Nebuchadnezzar died in 562 BC,
[01:08.97]shortly after the Gardens were built.
[01:12.34]Writings from the time of Nebuchadnezzar
[01:15.03]described the king's palace
[01:16.43]and the city of Babylon.
[01:18.61]What is strange,however,is that the same
[01:21.33]writings did not describe the Gardens.
[01:21.33]