巴比倫空中花園，是古代世界七大奇蹟之一，又稱懸園。在前6世紀由新巴比倫王國的尼布甲尼撒二世在巴比倫城為其患思鄉病的王妃安美依迪絲修建的。現已不存。在巴比倫文獻中，空中花園僅是一個謎，甚至沒有一篇提及空中花園。下面，我們跟著英語聽力文摘來看看巴比倫空中花園之謎。
The Babylonian kingdom flourished under the rule of the famous King, Hammurabi (1792-1750 BC). It was not until the reign of the Neo-Babylonian dynasty that the Mesopotamian civilization reached its ultimate glory. Nebuchadnezzar II (604 -562 BC) is credited for building the legendary Hanging Gardens. It is said that the Gardens were built by Nebuchadnezzar to please his wife or concubine who had been “brought up in Media and had a passion for mountain surroundings”.
古巴比倫王國在著名的國王漢謨拉比(公元前1792-1750)的統治下曾經繁榮一時。但是直到新巴比倫王朝，美索不達米亞文明才達到了它的鼎盛時期。人們相信傳說中的空中花園是由尼布甲尼撒二世(公元前604年-562年)建造的'。據傳，尼布甲尼撒為了取悅於其在米底亞長大並對山景懷有深厚感情的王后或者是妃子而建造了空中花園。
While the most descriptive accounts of the Gardens come from Greek historians such as Berossus and Diodorus Siculus, Babylonian records stay silent on the matter. Tablets from the time of Nebuchadnezzar do not have a single reference to the Hanging Gardens, although descriptions of his palace, the city of Babylon, and the walls are found. Even the historians who give detailed descriptions of the Hanging Gardens never saw them. Modern historians argue that when Alexander’s soldiers reached the fertile land of Mesopotamia and saw Babylon, they were impressed. When they later returned to their rugged homeland, they had stories to tell about the amazing gardens and palm trees at Mesopotamia... About the palace of Nebuchadnezzar…About the Tower of Babel and the ziggurats. And it was the imagination of poets and ancient historians that blended all these elements together to produce one of the World Wonders.
雖然對花園最詳盡的記述是出自Berossus和Diodorus Siculus等希臘歷史學家筆下，但巴比倫的歷史記錄卻對此事隻字未提。儘管在尼布甲尼撒時期存留下的各種書寫板上發現了對他的宮殿、巴比倫城以及巴比倫的城牆的種種描述，但這些書寫板上卻沒有一處提到過空中花園。甚至那些對空中花園進行過詳細描述的歷史學家們也從沒有親眼目睹過它們。現代歷史學家爭論說：當亞力山大的士兵們到達了富饒的美索不達米亞地區並看到了巴比倫時，他們深為(眼前的美景)所震撼。當他們後來回到崎嶇不平的家鄉時，帶回了有關美索不達米亞的令人驚歎的花園和椰子樹…、有關尼布甲尼撒的宮殿…以及有關巴別塔和金字型神塔的各種故事。是詩人和古代歷史學家的想象力把這所有的元素混合在一起製造出了世界奇觀之一。
It wasn't until the twentieth century that some of the mysteries surrounding the Hanging Gardens were revealed. Archaeologists are still struggling to gather enough evidence before reaching the final conclusions about the location of the Gardens, their irrigation system, and their true appearance.
直到二十世紀，圍繞著空中花園的一些不解之迷才被揭示 出來。在得到關於花園的地理位置、灌溉系統，和真正面目的最終結論之前，考古學家們仍在努力地收集足夠的證據。
