The Hanging Gardens didn’t truly “disappear” until every corner of the Middle East was mapped. Before that, they were real in the deep imagination - an echo of paradise. Even if they were never "real".
Just shows how imagination and reality shape one another.
Nice reconstructions of those marvels. There still are discussions about the meaning of the hanging gardens, as, were they terraced, were the plants potted on balconies, were they on rooftops? Also about the colossus, how was it standing, how tall was it, was it really a human figure or two inclined columns holding fire? I hope you managed to understand what I wrote down.
The Hanging Gardens didn’t truly “disappear” until every corner of the Middle East was mapped. Before that, they were real in the deep imagination - an echo of paradise. Even if they were never "real".
Just shows how imagination and reality shape one another.
love this, @justi anderson. It reminds me of the quote from Herman Melville’s ‘Moby Dick’ on Queequeg’s homeland Kokovoko:
“It is not drawn on any map; true places never are.” 🙂
The works of man are but dust in the wind.
Great article as usual. It is fascinating that only the oldest wonder has survived.
Nice reconstructions of those marvels. There still are discussions about the meaning of the hanging gardens, as, were they terraced, were the plants potted on balconies, were they on rooftops? Also about the colossus, how was it standing, how tall was it, was it really a human figure or two inclined columns holding fire? I hope you managed to understand what I wrote down.
Do we have high quality sketches of the wonders that survived until the medieval period? Was that image of the lighthouse drawn from life?