Seven Wonders of

the Ancient World

1.Egyptian pyramids
2.Hanging Gardens of Babylon
3.Statue of Zeus at Olympia
4.Temple of Artemis
5.Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
6.Colossus of Rhodes
7.Lighthouse of Alexandria

TheSeven Wonders of the World(or theSeven

Wonders of the Ancient World) refers to
remarkable constructions ofclassical
antiquitylisted by various authors in guidebooks
popular among the ancientHellenictourists,
particularly in the 1st and 2nd centuries BC. The
most prominent of these, the versions
byAntipater of Sidonand an observer identified
asPhilo of Byzantium, comprise seven works
located around the eastern Mediterranean rim.
The original list inspiredinnumerable
versionsthrough the ages, often listing seven
entries. Of the original Seven Wonders, only one
theGreat Pyramid of Giza, the oldest of the

TheEgyptian pyramidsare
ancientpyramid-shapedmasonry
structures located inEgypt.
There are
138pyramidsdiscovered in Egypt
as of 2008.Most were built as
tombs for the
country'sPharaohsand their
consorts during theOldandMiddle
Kingdomperiods.
The earliest known Egyptian
pyramids are found atSaqqara,
northwest ofMemphis.masonry.
The estimate of the number of
workers to build the pyramids
range from a few thousand,
twenty thousand, and up to
100,000.
The most famous Egyptian
pyramids are those found atGiza,
on the outskirts ofCairo. Several
of theGiza pyramidsare counted
among the largest structures ever
built.ThePyramid of Khufuat Giza
is the largest Egyptian pyramid. It
is the only one of theSeven
Wonders of the Ancient Worldstill
in existence.

Traditionally they were said to have

been built in the ancient city ofBabylon,
near present-dayHillah,Babilprovince,
inIraq. The Babylonian priestBerossus,
writing in about 290BC and quoted
later by Josephus, attributed the
gardens to theNeoBabyloniankingNebuchadnezzarII.
There are no extant Babylonian texts
which mention the gardens, and no
definitive archaeological evidence has
been found in Babylon.
According to one legend,
Nebuchadnezzar II built the Hanging
Gardens for his Persian wife,Queen
Amytis, because she missed the green
hills and valleys of her homeland. He
also built a grand palace that came to
be known as 'The Marvel of the
Mankind'.
Because of the lack of evidence it has
been suggested that the Hanging
Gardens are purely legendary, and the
descriptions found in ancient Greek and
Roman writers
includingStrabo,Diodorus
SiculusandQuintus Curtius
Rufusrepresent a romantic ideal of an
eastern garden. If it did indeed exist, it
was destroyed sometime after first
century AD.

TheStatue of Zeus at Olympiawas

a giant seated figure, about 13m
(43ft) tall,made by the Greek
sculptorPhidiasaround 435 BC at
the sanctuary of Olympia, Greece,
and erected in theTemple of
Zeusthere. Asculptureof ivory
plates and gold panels over a
wooden framework, it represented
the godZeussitting on an
elaborate cedarwood throne
ornamented with ebony, ivory,
gold, and precious stones. It was
regarded as one of theSeven
Wonders of the Ancient Worlduntil
its eventual loss and destruction
during the 5th century AD.No copy
of the statue has ever been found,
and details of its form are known
only from ancient Greek
descriptions and representations
on coins.

TheTemple of Artemis, also known less

precisely as theTemple ofDiana, was
aGreek templededicated to the
goddessArtemisand was one of theSeven
Wonders of the Ancient World. It was
located inEfesess, and was completely
rebuilt three times before its eventual
destruction in 401.Only foundations and
sculptural fragments of the latest of the
temples at the site remain.
The first sanctuary (temenos) antedated
the Ionic immigration by many years, and
dates to theBronze Age.Callimachus, in
hisHymn to Artemis, attributed it to
theAmazons. In the 7th century BC, the
old temple was destroyed by a flood. Its
reconstruction began around 550 BC,
under the
CretanarchitectChersiphronand his
sonMetagenes, at the expense
ofCroesusofLydia: the project took 10
years to complete, only to be destroyed in
an act ofarsonbyHerostratus. It was later
rebuilt.
Antipater of Sidon, who compiled the list
of the Seven Wonders, describes the
finished temple:

TheMausoleum at
HalicarnassusorTomb of Mausolus was
atombbuilt between 353 and 350BC
atHalicarnassus(presentBodrum,Turk
ey) forMausolus, asatrapin
thePersian Empire, andArtemisia II of
Caria, who was both his wife and his
sister. Thestructurewas designed by
theGreekarchitectsSatyrosandPythi
us of Priene.
The Mausoleum was approximately
45m (148ft) in height, and the four
sides were adorned
withsculpturalreliefs, each created by
one of four
GreeksculptorsLeochares,Bryaxis,
ScopasofParosandTimotheus.The
finished structure of the mausoleum
was considered to be such an
aesthetic triumph thatAntipater of
Sidonidentified it as one of hisSeven
Wonders of the Ancient World. It was
destroyed through many earthquakes
from 12th century to 15th century.

TheColossus of Rhodeswas
astatueof the Greek
godHelios, erected in the city
ofRhodes, on the Greek island
of the same name, byChares of
Lindosin 280 BC. It is
considered one of theSeven
Wonders of the Ancient World.
It was constructed to celebrate
Rhodes' victory over the ruler
of Cyprus,Antigonus I
Monophthalmus, whose son
unsuccessfully besieged
Rhodes in 305 BC. Before its
destruction inthe earthquake
of 226 BC, the Colossus of
Rhodes stood over 30 meters
(98 feet) high,making it one of
the tallest statues of
theancient world.

TheLighthouse of Alexandria,
sometimes called thePharos of
Alexandria, was a lofty tower built
by thePtolemaic Kingdombetween
280 and 247 BC and between 393 and
450ft (120 and 137m) tall. It was
one of the tallest man-made
structures on Earth for many
centuries, and was regarded as one
of theSeven Wonders of the Ancient
World. Badly damaged by three
earthquakes between 956 and 1323,
it then became an abandoned ruin. It
was the third longest surviving
ancient wonder (after theMausoleum
at Halicarnassusand the still
extantGreat Pyramid of Giza) until in
1480 the last of its remnant stones
were used to build theCitadel of
Qaitbayon the site. In 1994, French
archaeologists discovered some
remains of the lighthouse on the floor
of Alexandria's Eastern Harbour.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_pyramids
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanging_Gardens_of
_Babylon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statue_of_Zeus_at_O
lympia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Artemis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mausoleum_at_Halic
arnassus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossus_of_Rhodes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lighthouse_of_Alexan
dria