Iraq, trying to recover its Babylonian heritage, is offering a reward to anyone who can restore the legendary Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world.
President Saddam Hussein has offered a $1.5-million prize to the engineer who can reconstruct the famous gardens.The gardens, an array of terraced roof gardens conceived by the biblical King Nebuchadnezzar, fell into ruin more than 2,000 years ago. No confirmed traces have been found.
The Iraqi news agency INA said engineers would be asked to match their ancestors' skills and irrigate the ancient king's creation in the way it was so many centuries ago.
Already Iraq has begun recreating the Gardens, built then on 75-foot stone arches and fed to a fantastic height above sea level by waters from the Euphrates River.
The challenge is part of Hussein's project to recapture the glory of the ancient Mesopotamian capital, also the legendary site of the biblical Tower of Babel.
Hussein has signed a blank check to rebuild the city, which witnessed the carving of the first laws in the history of mankind.
For the 52-year-old president the city's rebirth is a symbol of resistance to Iran, Iraq's foe in the recent Persian Gulf War and formerly Persia, which seized Babylon in 539-538 B.C.
"Babylon will not burn twice," he insists.
Workers are now toiling under a scorching sun to put the final touches on the latest renovation phase ahead of an international music festival later this month.
The festival will recreate musical and artistic performances from the era of Nebuchadnezzar's 43-year reign, which ended when the Persians captured the city. Artists from 40 countries will take part.