Lost Wonder of the Ancient World – Coin of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon (Elymais)
This boxed presentation features an authentic ancient bronze coin of Elymais, a small kingdom located near ancient Susa, in today’s southwestern Iran. Some numismatists believe that coins like this may hold clues to one of history’s greatest mysteries—the true location of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, long counted among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
Historical Significance:
For centuries, historians puzzled over the Hanging Gardens: massive terraces of greenery said to rise above the city of Babylon, irrigated by ingenious machinery. Ancient writers such as Strabo and Philo included the Gardens in their lists of world wonders, yet no trace of them has ever been found at Babylon itself.
Recent scholarship suggests that the famed Gardens may not have been in Babylon at all, but rather at Susa, capital of the ancient kingdom of Elam. Supporting this theory are the unusual markings and imagery on certain coins of Elymais, a semi-independent state under Parthian rule (c. 2nd century BC – 3rd century AD). Some researchers believe the symbols may allude to the fabled terraced gardens.
If so, these humble bronze coins could be the only surviving testimony to the existence of the legendary Hanging Gardens—a wonder lost to time, but remembered in metal.
A Tangible Mystery:
This coin thus serves as both a numismatic artifact and a historical enigma, linking us to one of the greatest unanswered questions of antiquity: where exactly did the Hanging Gardens once stand?
Lost Wonder of the Ancient World – Coin of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon (Elymais)
This boxed presentation features an authentic ancient bronze coin of Elymais, a small kingdom located near ancient Susa, in today’s southwestern Iran. Some numismatists believe that coins like this may hold clues to one of history’s greatest mysteries—the true location of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, long counted among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
Historical Significance:
For centuries, historians puzzled over the Hanging Gardens: massive terraces of greenery said to rise above the city of Babylon, irrigated by ingenious machinery. Ancient writers such as Strabo and Philo included the Gardens in their lists of world wonders, yet no trace of them has ever been found at Babylon itself.
Recent scholarship suggests that the famed Gardens may not have been in Babylon at all, but rather at Susa, capital of the ancient kingdom of Elam. Supporting this theory are the unusual markings and imagery on certain coins of Elymais, a semi-independent state under Parthian rule (c. 2nd century BC – 3rd century AD). Some researchers believe the symbols may allude to the fabled terraced gardens.
If so, these humble bronze coins could be the only surviving testimony to the existence of the legendary Hanging Gardens—a wonder lost to time, but remembered in metal.
A Tangible Mystery:
This coin thus serves as both a numismatic artifact and a historical enigma, linking us to one of the greatest unanswered questions of antiquity: where exactly did the Hanging Gardens once stand?
