The 7 Wonders of the Ancient World

There has recently been a commotion around the world as a new 7 wonders were being voted on and selected. So, before everyone forgets the original list, this is the complete 7 Wonders of the Ancient World. The earliest extant copy of a list of the 7 Wonders comes from Antipater of Sidon from around 140 BC. What list site would be complete without the first famous list?

1. Great Pyramid of Giza [Wikipedia]

Constructed: 2650-2500 BC

[amazon asin=B00603KW4U&template=*lrc ad (left)]By: The Egyptians

The great pyramid is the Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops) which he had built for his tomb. When it was built, the Great pyramid was 145.75 m (481 ft) high. Over the years, it lost 10 m (30 ft) off its top. It ranked as the tallest structure on Earth for more than 43 centuries, only to be surpassed in height in the nineteenth century AD. It was covered with a casing of stones to smooth its surface (some of the casing can still be seen near the top of Khefre’s pyramid). The sloping angle of its sides is 51 degrees and 51 minutes. Each side is carefully oriented with one of the cardinal points of the compass, that is, north, south, east, and west. The horizontal cross section of the pyramid is square at any level, with each side measuring 229 m (751 ft) in length. The maximum error between side lengths is astonishingly less than 0.1%.

Sadly, this is the only one of the seven wonders still in existence.

2. Hanging Gardens of Babylon [Wikipedia]

Constructed: 600 BC[amazon asin=B001AQO3SS&template=*lrc ad (right)]

By: The Babylonians

Destroyed: After 1st Century BC

Cause: Earthquake

The Hanging Gardens were located in what is now Iraq and Nebuchadnezzar II (604-562 BC) is credited for having built them. It is said that the Gardens were built by Nebuchadnezzar to please his wife or concubine who had been “brought up in Media and had a passion for mountain surroundings”.

[amazon asin=0375727051&template=*lrc ad (left)]Strabo and Philo of Byzantium saw the gardens and said this:

“The Garden is quadrangular, and each side is four plethra long. It consists of arched vaults which are located on checkered cube-like foundations.. The ascent of the uppermost terrace-roofs is made by a stairway…”

“The Hanging Garden has plants cultivated above ground level, and the roots of the trees are embedded in an upper terrace rather than in the earth. The whole mass is supported on stone columns… Streams of water emerging from elevated sources flow down sloping channels… These waters irrigate the whole garden saturating the roots of plants and keeping the whole area moist. Hence the grass is permanently green and the leaves of trees grow firmly attached to supple branches… This is a work of art of royal luxury and its most striking feature is that the labor of cultivation is suspended above the heads of the spectators”.

3. Temple of Artemis at Ephesus [Wikipedia]

Constructed: 550 BC

By:  The Lydians, Persians, and Greeks[amazon asin=0385490623&template=*lrc ad (right)]

Destroyed: 356 BC

Cause: Arson

The Temple of Artemis was in the ancient city of Ephesus near the modern town of Selcuk, about 50 km south of Izmir (Smyrna) in Turkey. Those who saw it considered it to be the most beautiful structure on earth. The composer of the original list of 7 wonders said this: “But when I saw the sacred house of Artemis that towers to the clouds, the [other Wonders] were placed in the shade, for the Sun himself has never looked upon its equal outside Olympus.”

The foundation of the temple was rectangular in form, similar to most temples at the time. Unlike other sanctuaries, however, the building was made of marble, with a decorated façade overlooking a spacious courtyard. Marble steps surrounding the building platform led to the high terrace which was approximately 80 m (260 ft) by 130 m (430 ft) in plan. The columns were 20 m (60 ft) high with Ionic capitals and carved circular sides. There were 127 columns in total, aligned orthogonally over the whole platform area, except for the central cella or house of the goddess.

The temple housed many works of art, including four ancient bronze statues of Amazons sculpted by the finest artists at the time. When St Paul visited the city, the temple was adorned with golden pillars and silver statuettes, and was decorated with paintings. There is no evidence that a statue of the goddess herself was placed at the center of the sanctuary, but there is no reason not to believe so.

On the night of 21 July 356 BC, a man named Herostratus burned the temple to ground in an attempt to immortalize his name, which he did indeed. Alexander the Great was born the same night.

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