{Left, a drawing of the Hanging Gardens that I made.The commonly known list of The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World was made by Philo of Byzantium in 225 BC, even though he wasn't the first or last to list the ancient wonders.
It's interesting that a list was made. I wonder why they would do this. Was it to attract tourists? Apparently there were a lot of tourists in those days, but I wonder how many people were rich enough to go see these wonders.
Built at the entrance of the harbor of the Mediterranean island of Rhodes, in Greece,the Colossus was a huge statue of the sun god Helios. The builder was Chares of Lindos. It took 12 years to build it. Over 107 ft(30 meters) tall, the Colossus was a short lived wonder. It was only 56 years old when it snapped at the knees, because of an earthquake. The story behind it's construction is that Antigonus I Monophthalmus sieged Rhodes but was driven out after about a year.The Rhodesians sold the siege towers that Antigonus I had left when he fled, and used the money to build the Colossus of Rhodes to celebrate.
Another statue in Greece that was one of the wonders of the world, the statue of Zeus was built for the Olympic games. It sat in the ancient town of Olympia, on the west coast of Greece. In 776BC the ancient Greeks began to hold the Olympic Games in honor of Zeus. The games were important. They traveled from all over to compete and a truce was declared and the wars stopped during the games. In Olympia there was a stadium for the games and also a simple Doric-style temple. As Greece became more powerful and the games more important, they created a larger, better temple around 450BC to honor their king of gods. When it was finished the temple seemed too simple. And that's why they built the majestic statue of Zeus inside. The seated statue was made from materials that included ivory,gold,ebony, and precious stones. It was 22 ft wide and 40 ft tall, and some people thought it shouldn't be so big because if Zeus sat up he would unroof the temple.
On the east side of the River of Euphrates in what is now Iraq was a magnificent wonder, the hanging gardens. There is some controversy as to whether the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were real or just made up. The hanging gardens are said to have been built by King Nebuchadnezzar to cheer up his homesick wife, Amyitis, who missed the trees and fragrant plants of the land were she grew up. It is said the gardens did not hang, but grew on roofs and terraces of the royal palace of Babylon.The king decided to re-create his queen's homeland by constructing an artificial mountain with rooftop gardens. I hope this wonder helped her feel better, and other people too.
Here is a grand,large tomb.The great pyramid! It is the oldest wonder and the only one that is still here!
It was built at the city of Giza, that is currently in greater Cairo, Egypt. The great pyramid is supposed to have taken around 20 years to build.
It was the tallest man-made building for more than 3800 years! Almost all the of other wonders were destroyed by earthquakes.The great pyramid was made to make the Pharaoh Khufu so he would be immortal. I think it's interesting that of all the wonders listed, the one that has survived is the one that was made to help someone be eternal. Also the men who built the pyramids were not skilled constructors they were farmers! The tools they used were copper, because there weren't any harder metals back then. There were over 2,000,000 bricks in Khufu's pyramid when it was finished. The construction of the pyramid is so advanced that even using modern technology it can't be re-created.
Here is another tomb for a king but this wonder isn't around today: the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus(modern turkey).
The Mausoleum was 45 meters(135 ft) high. Our word mausoleum originated from the name of this tomb but now is used as the word for any grand tomb.
The tomb was built between 353 and 350 BC. The building was so beautiful and unique it was one of the seven wonders. It was not harmed during when the city fell to Alexander The Great and two pirate raids! It stood for 17 centuries before a series of earthquakes destroyed it so that, by 1404 A.D. you could only see the base of the grand Mausoleum.
Another of the wonders was in Turkey. For the ones who saw it this wasn't just a temple, it was the most beautiful structure on earth.
It was in the ancient city of Ephesus.The temple of Artemis was both a marketplace and a temple. Artemis is a Greek goddess, a virginal huntress and twin of Apollo. In the seventh century a flood destroyed the temple covering the floor with over half a meter of sand on the clay floor. Nothing remains of the temple. Today the spot where the temple was is nothing but a marshy field.
In 1994 some archaeological scuba divers went in the water near Alexandria, Egypt. The archeologists were using the most high-tech devises to find the best technological achievements of the 3rd century BC. They searched the sea floor and found pieces of a lighthouse called The Great Lighthouse. They had found the remains of the first lighthouse in the world. Built on the island of Pharos, it used a large curved mirror to reflect a fire that kept burning to make the ray of light that came out of the lighthouse to warn ships. Of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World there were two huge statues, two tombs, one garden, a beautiful temple, and The Great Lighthouse. The Lighthouse was the only wonder that had a practical use.
I wish I could have taken a tour to see all of these wonders. However, it would be nice to see where they were. Maybe I'll go there someday, who knows. Maybe I'll see the site of the Great Library also. If I was Philo of Byzantium I would have replaced The Statue of Zeus with The Great Library on the list.
Sources cited:
http://wonderclub.com/AllWorldWonders.html
http://www.unmuseum.org/pharos.htm
http://library.thinkquest.org/J002388/babylon.html#anchor51469
http://www.europa.com/~edge/pyramid.html
Wikipedia
Castles,Pyramids and Palaces Caroline Young, Usborne Publishing Ltd ,1989
Wonders of the World, Giovanni Caselli, Dorling Kindersley,inc. 1992
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