7 Wonders of the Ancient World
• Various lists of the Wonders of the World have been
compiled over the ages to catalogue the most
spectacular man-made constructions and natural sites
in the world.
• The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World is the first
known list of the most remarkable man-made
creations of antiquity, and was based on guide-books
popular among Greek sight-seers and only includes
works located around the Mediterranean rim. The
number seven was chosen because the Greeks
believed it to be the representation of perfection and
plenty. Many similar lists have been made, including
lists for the Medieval World and the Modern World.
• By the time Greece became powerful (classical
Greece), these had been built. Most were not built by
the Greeks themselves, but they appreciated them
anyway.
1 – The Great Pyramid of Giza
• The Great Pyramid of Giza, also
called Khufu's Pyramid or the
Pyramid of Khufu, and Pyramid
of Cheops, is the oldest and
largest of the three pyramids in the
Giza Necropolis bordering what is
now Cairo, Egypt, and is the only
remaining member of the Seven
Wonders of the Ancient World. It is
believed the pyramid was built as a
tomb for Fourth dynasty Egyptian
King Khufu (Cheops in Greek) and
constructed over a 20 year period
concluding around 2560 BC. The
Great Pyramid was the tallest manmade structure in the world for
over 3,800 years. Originally the
Great Pyramid was covered by
casing stones that formed a
smooth outer surface, and what is
seen today is the underlying core
structure.
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http://videos.howstuffworks.com/hsw/11939-structures-the-egyptianpyramids-at-giza-video.htm
2 – The Hanging Gardens of
Babylon
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The Hanging Gardens of Babylon,,
near present-day Al Hillah in Iraq
(formerly Babylon), is considered one of
the original Seven Wonders of the
World. They were built by
Nebuchadnezzar II around 600 BC. He
is reported to have constructed the
gardens to please his wife, Amities of
Media, who longed for the trees and
fragrant plants of her homeland Persia.
The gardens were destroyed by several
earthquakes after the 2nd century BC.
The lush Hanging Gardens are
extensively documented by Greek
historians such as Strabo and Diodorus
Siculus. An idea similar to Archimedes'
water screw was used as a process of
raising the water to the required height.
Nebuchadnezzar II also used massive
slabs of stone, which was unheard of in
Babylon, to prevent the water from
eroding the ground. No one knows what
happened to the ruins of the gardens.
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3 – The Statue of Zeus at Olympia
The Statue of Zeus at Olympia was one of
the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It
was made by the Greek sculptor of the
Classical period, Phidias, circa 432 BC on the
site where it was erected in the temple of
Zeus, Olympia, Greece.
The seated statue, some 12 metres (39 feet)
tall, occupied the whole width of the aisle of
the temple built to house it. "It seems that if
Zeus were to stand up," the geographer
Strabo noted early in the first century BC, "he
would unroof the temple." Zeus was a
sculpture, made of ivory and gold-plated
bronze. No copy has survived, though there
are recognizable but approximate versions on
coins of Elis and Roman coins, but a very
detailed description of the sculpture and the
throne was recorded by the traveler
Pausanias.
The circumstances of its eventual destruction
are a source of debate: the eleventh-century
Byzantine historian Georgios Kedrenos
recorded the tradition that it was carried off to
Constantinople, where it was destroyed in the
great fire of the Lauseion, in 475. Others
argue that it perished with the temple when it
burned in 425 AD.
http://videos.howstuffworks.com/hsw/12369-ancient-greece-the-sanctuary-of-zeus-atolympia-video.htm
4 – The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
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The Temple of Artemis, was a Greek
temple dedicated to Artemis completed
around 550 BC at Ephesus (in present-day
Turkey) under the Persian Empire. Nothing
remains of the temple, which was one of
the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
In the seventh century an old temple on the
site was destroyed by a flood. Around 550
BC, the Lydians started to build the "new"
temple. It was a 120-year project, initially
designed and constructed by the Cretan
architect Chersiphron and his son
Metagenes, at the expense of Croesus of
Lydia.
The temple was destroyed and rebuilt
many times. The first time, it was burned by
an arsonist who wanted to go down in
history for any reason – even a bad one.
His name was Herostratus, and today
herostratic fame means fame at any cost.
This happened on July 21, 356 BC –
Alexander the Great’s birthday.
The last temple was taken apart in 401 AD
to use the stones in creating other
buildings.
http://videos.howstuffworks.com/discovery/29920-into-the-unknown-ephesusvideo.htm
5 – The Tomb of Mausolus at
Halicarnassus
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The Tomb of Mausolus, was a tomb built
between 353 and 350 BC at Halicarnassus
in Turkey, for Mausolus, a Governor in the
Persian Empire, and his wife and sister.
The structure was designed by the Greek
architects Satyros and Pythis. It stood
approximately 45 metres (135 ft) in height,
and each of the four sides was adorned
with sculptural reliefs created by each one
of four Greek sculptors who worked on it.
Mausol-eion used to mean “tomb of
Mausolus” but now the word mausoleum
has since come to be used generically for
any grand tomb, such as the Taj Mahal.
A series of earthquakes shattered the
columns around 1404 AD and only the very
base of the Mausoleum was still
recognizable. In the early fifteenth century,
the Knights of St John of Malta invaded the
region and built a massive castle called
Bodrum Castle. When they decided to
fortify it in 1494, they used the stones of the
Mausoleum. Sections of polished marble
from the tomb can still be seen there today.
6 – The Colossus of Rhodes
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The Colossus of Rhodes was a statue of
the Greek god Helios, erected on the Greek
island of Rhodes by Chares of Lindos
between 292 and 280 BC. It is considered
one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient
World. Before its destruction, the Colossus
of Rhodes stood over 30 meters (107 ft)
high, making it one of the tallest statues of
the ancient world. It was made of solid
bronze and stood watch over the harbour.
The statue stood for only 56 years until
Rhodes was hit by an earthquake in 226
BC. The statue snapped at the knees and
fell over on to the land. Ptolemy III offered
to pay for the reconstruction of the statue,
but the oracle of Delphi made the Rhodians
afraid that they had offended Helios, and
they declined to rebuild it. The remains lay
on the ground as described by Strabo for
over 800 years, and even broken, they were
so impressive that many traveled to see
them. Pliny the Elder remarked that few
people could wrap their arms around the
fallen thumb and that each of its fingers was
larger than most statues.
In 654 an Arab force under Muslim caliph
Muawiyah I captured Rhodes and melted
down the scrap metal.
7 – The Lighthouse at Alexandria
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The Lighthouse of Alexandria was a tower
built in the 3rd century BC (between 285
and 247 BC) on the island of Pharos in
Alexandria harbour, to serve as that port's
landmark, and later, its lighthouse.
With a height variously estimated at
between 115 and 150 m (380 and 490 ft) it
was among the tallest man-made structures
on Earth for many centuries.
There are ancient claims the light from the
lighthouse could be seen from up to 35 mi
(56 km) away.
The two earthquakes in 1303 and 1323,
damaged the lighthouse and it toppled over.
Even the remnants disappeared in 1480,
when the Sultan of Egypt built a medieval
fort on the former location of the building,
using some of the fallen stone. The
remnants of the lighthouse that were
incorporated into the walls of Fort Qaitbey
are still clearly visible due to their excessive
size in comparison to surrounding masonry.
QUIZ TIME!
• QUIZ
• 1-7: In any order, list the seven wonders of the ancient
world. You do not have to give the exact name,
however, you do have to be specific, so “temple” is not
good enough, unless you can say where it was, or
who it was dedicated to.
• 8-Which wonder is the only one still standing?
• 9-Which wonder was built as a gift for the builder’s
wife?
• 10- Which temple was destroyed on the day that
Alexander the Great was born?
• As long as they have the underlined word (if there is one), AND
at least one of the bold terms in each answer, they get a point.
• The Lighthouse at Alexandria
• The Pyramids at Giza
• The Mausoleum (or tomb of Mauslaous) at Halicarnassus
• The Colossus of Rhodes
• The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
• The Statue of Zeus at Olympia
• The Temple of Artimis at Ephesus
• 8-The Pyramids
• 9-The Hanging Gardens
• 10-The Temple of Artimis at Ephesus