Nebuchadnezzar was the mighty king of the Babylonian Empire between 604 and 562 BC. He made Babylon one of the most magnificent of cities. He restored old religious monuments and improved canals, as other Babylonian kings had done, but Nebuchadnezzar is best known for his legendary Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The Hanging Gardens consisted of vaulted terraces, raised one above another that rested upon cube-shaped pillars. The pillars were hollow, and filled with earth to allow huge trees to be planted. Nebuchadnezzar’s building projects also included surrounding his capital city with a double wall 16 kilometres long, with an elaborate entry called the Ishtar Gate. He also built a port on the Persian Gulf.
