<P> Dalley bases her arguments on recent developments in the decipherment of contemporary Akkadian inscriptions . Her main points are: </P> <Ul> <Li> The name "Babylon", meaning "Gate of the Gods" was applied to several Mesopotamian cities . Sennacherib renamed the city gates of Nineveh after gods, which suggests that he wished his city to be considered "a Babylon". </Li> <Li> Only Josephus names Nebuchadnezzar as the king who built the gardens; although Nebuchadnezzar left many inscriptions, none mentions any garden or engineering works . Diodorus Siculus and Quintus Curtius Rufus specify a "Syrian" king . </Li> <Li> By contrast, Sennacherib left written descriptions, and there is archaeological evidence of his water engineering . His grandson Assurbanipal pictured the mature garden on a sculptured wall panel in his palace . </Li> <Li> Sennacherib called his new palace and garden "a wonder for all peoples". He describes the making and operation of screws to raise water in his garden . </Li> <Li> The descriptions of the classical authors fit closely to these contemporary records . Before the Battle of Gaugamela in 331 BC Alexander the Great camped for four days near the aqueduct at Jerwan . The historians who travelled with him would have had ample time to investigate the enormous works around them, recording them in Greek . These first - hand accounts do not survive into our times but were quoted by later Greek writers . </Li> </Ul> <Li> The name "Babylon", meaning "Gate of the Gods" was applied to several Mesopotamian cities . Sennacherib renamed the city gates of Nineveh after gods, which suggests that he wished his city to be considered "a Babylon". </Li> <Li> Only Josephus names Nebuchadnezzar as the king who built the gardens; although Nebuchadnezzar left many inscriptions, none mentions any garden or engineering works . Diodorus Siculus and Quintus Curtius Rufus specify a "Syrian" king . </Li>

When did the hanging gardens of babylon built