Paradeios (Gardens of Paradise)

Although clouded by the mists of time, there is reason to believe that pleasure gardens existed thousands of years ago in the ancient land of Sumer, between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. These gardens probably originated as orchards beside residences, or situated in royal hunting parks. Such indulgences would have required plants to be collected from far and wide, but no records of these events are currently known to exist.

The gardens of ancient Persia were built as recreations of Paradise, with a central fountain flowing into four channels representing the four rivers of Eden.

The name 'Paradeios' means litterally 'beside God', and eventually became the word 'Paradise.

This ancient pattern dates back to at least 637AD and has remained as the basis for most formal gardens in the region. The picture to the right is a reproduction of a miniature from the memoirs of the Mughal Emperor Babur, circa 1508. The garden depicted is the 'Bagh i Vafa' or 'Garden of Fidelity'.

In The Beginning

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