Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World are seven architectural structures considered to be major artistic and engineering achievements of classical antiquity. The idea of a list of notable "sights" to see in the ancient Mediterranean region began with the Greeks and evolved over the centuries. The modern list was developed in the Renaissance period and consists of the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes, and the Lighthouse of Alexandria. Of the seven wonders, five were destroyed long ago, one has survived into the modern era, and one may not have existed at all.

Background

The concept of recognizing ancient marvels as points of interest grew from the writings of Greek historian Herodotus, who chronicled the civilizations of the Egyptians and Babylonians of the fifth century BCE. As Greek influence spread across the Mediterranean region in the centuries that followed, travelers returned home with tales of great monuments from the new lands. In the late third century BCE, a scholar named Callimachus of Cyrene authored a book called Curiosities from All Over the World. Copies of the book have not survived into modern times, but it has been referenced in other works and apparently contained more than seven structures.

The earliest known lists of seven architectural achievements date back to the second century BCE. One of those, a list compiled by poet Antipater of Sidon, is almost identical to the modern list except it substitutes the Walls of Babylon for the Lighthouse of Alexandria. The Greeks referred to these works as theamata, meaning "sights" or "things to be seen." In time, the word theamata became interchangeable with the word thaumata, or "wonders," and the lists of marvels became known as the seven wonders. During the time of the Greeks and Romans, no commonly accepted list existed. Structures such as an obelisk to the Babylonian queen Semiramis made some lists while the Colosseum in Rome and the Labyrinth of Thebes in Egypt made others. It was not until the Renaissance period of the fourteenth to seventeenth centuries CE, when interest in the classical world was renewed, that the modern list of seven wonders was codified.

Overview

The oldest of the seven wonders is the Great Pyramid of Giza. It was the largest of three pyramids built on the banks of Egypt's Nile River sometime between 2580 and 2500 BCE. The Great Pyramid was constructed as a tomb for the Pharaoh Khufu, whom the Greeks called Cheops. The pyramid was made of more than two million stone blocks that weighed between two and thirty tons. Upon completion, the Great Pyramid stood 480 feet high and was the largest human-made structure in the world until the nineteenth century. The Great Pyramid is the only one of the seven wonders to survive and remains a popular tourist destination into the twenty-first century.

According to legend, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were built by Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II about 600 BCE as a tribute to his wife Amytis. The gardens were said to have been irrigated by waterfalls and planted on a system of pillared terraces as tall as 75 feet. Despite being mentioned in several Greek accounts, no archaeological evidence of the gardens has ever been found, and Babylonian writings contain no record of their existence. Furthermore, great effort and considerable engineering skills would have been required to bring enough water from the Euphrates River to irrigate the gardens. As a result, some historians have questioned whether the gardens actually existed. Stephanie Dalley, a researcher from Oxford University, however, claims that the gardens were actually located in the city of Nineveh, the capital of the rival Assyrian Empire. She says archeological evidence suggests that the city was home to a large garden watered by an aqueduct system. The ancient Greeks may simply have referred to Nineveh as a "new Babylon," which may have led to the confusion.

The Statue of Zeus at the temple of Olympia was created by the Greek sculptor Phidias in the fifth century BCE. Phidias was one of the most renowned sculptors of his day and also worked on the Parthenon in Athens. The ivory-and-gold statue was about 40 feet high and depicted the Greek god seated on a giant wooden throne. The statue survived until the fourth century CE when Christian priests ordered its removal from the temple. It was believed to have been shipped to the city of Constantinople, where it was destroyed by a fire.

The Temple of Artemis in the Greek colony of Ephesus in modern-day Turkey was completed about 550 BCE after more than a century of construction. It was 425 feet high and 225 feet wide and was supported by 127 marble columns. The temple lasted until 356 BCE when it was burned down by an arsonist. It was destroyed and rebuilt on a smaller scale several times until it was finally demolished in the fifth century CE.

The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus is also located in modern-day Turkey. It was constructed as a tomb for King Mausolus of Carnia after his death in 353 BCE. The 135-foot-high structure was made entirely of white marble and adorned with numerous elaborate sculptures. The mausoleum remained standing until the thirteenth century when it was destroyed by a series of earthquakes. Medieval knights later took stones from its ruins to fortify a nearby castle.

At 110 feet, the Colossus of Rhodes was the tallest statue in the ancient world. The bronze likeness of the sun god Helios was created by the sculptor Chares of Lindos and overlooked the harbor of the Greek island of Rhodes. The Colossus was built about 280 BCE and stood for just sixty years before an earthquake toppled it from its base. It remained in ruins on the ground for eight centuries until it was dismantled and sold for scrap metal.

The Lighthouse of Alexandria was constructed about 270 BCE on an island in the harbor of the Egyptian city of Alexandria. The three-tiered lighthouse stood about 400 feet tall and had a mirror that reflected the sun's rays during the day and a fire at night. It was the last of the seven wonders to make the list. It remained standing until it was destroyed by several earthquakes from the tenth to the fourteenth centuries.

Bibliography

Clayton, Peter A., and Martin J. Price, editors. Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. 1988. Routledge, 2011.

Dalley, Stephanie. The Mystery of the Hanging Garden of Babylon. Oxford UP, 2013.

Dunn, Jimmy. "Pharos Lighthouse of Alexandria." Tour Egypt, www.touregypt.net/featurestories/pharoslighthouse.htm. Accessed 28 Feb. 2017.

Hill, Bryan. "The Grand and Sacred Temple of Artemis, a Wonder of the Ancient World." Ancient Origins, 25 May 2015, www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-asia/grand-and-sacred-temple-artemis-wonder-ancient-world-003120. Accessed 27 Feb. 2017.

Jordan, Paul. Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. 2002. Routledge, 2014.

Nix, Elizabeth. "What Was the Colossus of Rhodes?" History.com, 25 Sept. 2015, www.history.com/news/ask-history/what-was-the-colossus-of-rhodes. Accessed 28 Feb. 2017.

Sen, Nina. "Amazing Facts about the Great Pyramids of Giza." Live Science, 6 Sept. 2012, www.livescience.com/34193-great-pyramids-of-giza.html. Accessed 28 Feb. 2017.

"Seven Wonders of the Ancient World." History.com, www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/sevens-wonders-of-the-ancient-world. Accessed 27 Feb. 2017.