what i learned today

Know what they are? You’re probably thinking… the Great Wall of China, the Sphinx, the Taj Mahal.

Nay – while these are great wonders, they are not the Wonders of the Ancient World. During my undergrad semester abroad, whilst backpacking through Europe, I had many a discussion about what the seven wonders actually were. So I did some research when I returned. Here’s what I found.. the reason the list is so ambiguous, is that it was compiled in the middle ages. The list is comprised the seven most impressive monuments of the ancient world, some of which barely survived to the Middle Ages.

1) The Great Pyramid of Giza - it was built by Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu of the fourth dynasty around the year 2560bc to serve as a tomb when he died. It is not known how the blocks were put into place. Theory 1 - a straight or spiral ramp, coated with mud and water, was continually raised as the construction proceeded and eased the displacement of the blocks which were pushed (or pulled) into place. Theory 2 - the blocks were placed using long levers with a short angled foot. It stands 481 feet high, with its sides sloping 51 degrees. Each side is oriented north, south, east, and west. It has over 2 million block stones, each weighing more than 2 tons!!

2) The Hanging Gardens of Babylon - this is a palace on the banks of the River Euphrates, about 50km south of Baghdad, in fact. Apparently, the King Nebuchadnezzar II (604-562 bc) built the hanging gardens for his wife or concubine. Poets and writers described the gardens as having fruits and flowers, exotic animals, waterfalls, and gardens hanging from the palace terraces. However, tablets from the time of Nebuchandnezzar make no references to the gardens. Archaeologists are still trying to find evidence about the veracity of this wonder.

3) The Statue of Zeus at Olympia - the Temple of Zeus, by architect Libon, was built around 450 bc . It was built in a Doric-style and needed modifications so the sculptor Pheidias was commissioned to make the statue of Zeus. The temple was a place of worship until the Olympic games were banned in 391ad by Emperor Theodosius I for Pagan practices and the Temple of Zeus was ordered to be closed. The Roman Emperor Caligula attempted to move it to Rome in the first century ad, and it was later moved by the Greeks to Constantinople. It was destroyed by a first in 462 ad. The statue - Zeus. in his right hand a figure of victory made from ivory and gold. in his left hand, his scepter inlaid with metals, with an eagle perched on it. Zeus’ sandals and robe were made of gold.

4) The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus - built in honor of the Greek goddess of hunting, wild nature, and fertility (also known as DIANA). In the ancient city of Ephesus, near the modern town of Selcuk, about 50 km south of Izmur in Turkey. Built around 550 bc, and referred to as the great Marble Temple, or Temple D. It served both as a marketplace and a religious institution. In 356bc a guy named Herostratus burned the temple to the ground in an attempt to immortalize his name. The same day Alexander the Great was born, and it is claimed that Artemis was too busy taking care of the birth of Alexander to send help to her threatened temple. Later, Alex the Great rebuilt the temple. It was destroyed and rebuilt by various religious sects and currently only a few columns have been rebuilt.

5) The Mausoleum Halicarnassus - in Bodrum (or Halicarnassus) on the Aegean Ssea, in south-west Turkey. the “wonder” is the tomb built for king Mausollos of Caria who reigned from 377 to 353 bc and moved his capital to Halicarnassus. Though destroyed by an earthquake, used as a crusader castle by the knights of St John of Malta in 1494, it still stands today. It was adorned with statues of people and horses, and was never dedicated to the gods of ancient Greece.

6) The Colossus of Rhodes - a gigantic statue, and a symbol of unity of the people of Rhodes, Greece after a peace agreement in 304 bc was made between the Antigonids of Macedonia and the Rhode-Egyptian alliance (Rhodes had strong economic ties with Ptolemy I Soter of Egypt). It was destroyed at the knee from an earthquake, and stood only for 56 years. It lay broken in ruins until 654 ad, when the Arabs invaded Rhodes, they disassembled the remains to someone in Syria. It is fabled that the fragments were transported to Syria on the backs of 900 camels!

7) The Lighthouse of Alexandria - Egypt. It was the tallest building on earth, and had a mirror with a reflection that could be seen more than 50 km off-shore. It was commissioned by Ptolemy Soter around 290bc and was dedicated to the savior gods (Ptolemy and his wife). It was used to mark the harbor, using fire at night and reflecting sun rays during the day. It was made of three sections - a cylindrical core, a middle octagon, and the third circular section. The lighthouse withstood an earthquake in 456ad, but fell to the quakes of 1303 and 1323, that left it ruined. The fallen stone and marble of the lighthouse were used when the Egyptian Mamelouk Sultan, Qaitbay, built a fortress which still remains today.