Seven Ancient Wonders

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Let's talk about the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. This was a list created by Antipater of Sidon, a Greek poet living in the second century BC, of all the must-see colossal structures of the Ancient World. He actually only compiled six of those. The list was expanded to seven in the 16th century AD. Let's see if we can name them all.The first Wonder were the Great Pyramids of Giza, the only monument still around today. They were built around 2500 BC and within 75 years of each other. The biggest and oldest one was built for Pharaoh Khufu, the next one for Khafre (his son) and the smallest one for Menkaure (his grandson, all 4th dynasty). The three pyramids were part of a vast funerary complex that included temples, chapels, mastabas and causeways linking the structures. The pyramids had to be finished in the life time of the pharaoh whose body they were supposed to receive. They were a vehicle to transport the king's body safely into the afterlife. The Egyptians believed that if the king's body were to perish, their whole civilization would disappear. The second Wonder of the Ancient World were the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, made around 600 BC. The Hanging Gardens were not the only World Wonder in Babylon; the city walls and Obelisk attributed to Queen Semiramis were also featured in ancient lists of Wonders. The gardens were attributed to the Neo-Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II, who ruled between 605 and 562 BC. He constructed the gardens to please his homesick wife Amytis of Media, who longed for the plants of her homeland. These gardens were first described by Berossus, a Babylonian priest who lived in the 4th century BC. The Roman author Flavius Josephus (ca. 37 -- 100 AD) quoted these writings. In it the size of the gardens, and why and how they were built was discussed, as well as the irrigation system that was used. Here is a quote by Josephus: "In this palace he erected very high walks, supported by stone pillars; and by planting what was called a pensile paradise, and replenishing it with all sorts of trees, he rendered the prospect an exact resemblance of a mountainous country. This he did to gratify his queen, because she had been brought up in Media, and was fond of a mountainous situation." The third Wonder of the Ancient World was the Temple of Artemis at Ephesos, built around 550 BC. This temple to Diana predated ionic immigration by many years, being even older than the oracular shrine of Apollo at Didyma. It was destroyed and rebuilt many times, but eventually destroyed during the third or fourth century AD by the Goths. The fourth Wonder of the Ancient World was the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, erected around 430 BC. The Statue of Zeus at Olympia was a giant seated figure, about 13 m (42 ft) tall, made by the Greek sculptor Phidias in circa 430-422 BC at the sanctuary of Olympia. It was a chryselephantine sculpture, which means it was plated with ivory and gold panels over a wooden core. 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. The fifth Wonder was the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, 350 BC. This was the Tomb of Mausolus, a satrap (or governor) in the Persian Empire. His sister Artemisia of Caria, who was also his wife, had the tomb built. The structure was designed by the Greek architects Satyros and Pythius of Priene. Artemisia spared no expense for this extravagant grave site. The tomb was erected on a hill overlooking the city. It was nearly 45 m (148 ft.) tall. It was destroyed in 1494 by an earthquake.The sixth Wonder of the Ancient World was the Colossus of Rhodes, built around 290 BC. This was a statue of the Greek Titan Helios, erected on the Greek island of Rhodes, by Chares of Lindos between 292 and 280 BC. It was constructed to celebrate Rhodes' victory over the ruler of Cyprus, Antigonus I, whose son unsuccessfully besieged Rhodes in 305 BC. The Colossus of Rhodes stood over 30 meters (98.4 ft) high, making it one of the tallest statues of the ancient world. The last Wonder of the Ancient World was the Lighthouse of Alexandria, built around 280 BC. This structure was also called Pharos of Alexandria. It was a lofty tower built by the Ptolemaic Kingdom on the island of Pharos. It was probably about 140 m tall (450 feet), and was for a long time one of the tallest man-made structures on Earth. In 1994, French archeologists discovered some remains of the lighthouse on the floor of Alexandria's Eastern Harbor.