What are the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World

�

Thanks to Smartboy for his question and Marco for the thorough answer. Let's go into a bit more detail, though. The seven wonders of the ancient world, are:

�

1. The Great Pyramid of Giza < xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

This gigantic stone structure near the ancient city of Memphis (now part of Cairo) was tomb for the Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu of the Fourth Dynasty built about 2560BC. When built, the Great Pyramid was 481ft high, the tallest structure on Earth for more than 43 centuries. The horizontal cross section of the pyramid is square at any level, with each side 751ft long. It is made of about 2 million blocks of stone, each weighing more than two tons.

�

2. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

A palace with gardens built on the banks of the Euphrates river, about 30 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq, by King Nebuchadnezzar II (604-562BC). It is said he built the gardens to please his wife or concubine who had a passion for mountain surroundings.

�

3. The Statue of Zeus at Olympia

An enormous statue of the Greek father of gods, carved by the great sculptor Pheidias, in whose honour the ancient Olympic games were held. It was built about 450BC on the west coast of modern Greece, about 90 miles west of Athens. In the first century AD, the Roman emperor Caligula attempted to take the statue to Rome, but the scaffolding collapsed. Later it was taken by wealthy Greeks to a palace in Constantinople but destroyed by fire in 462.

�

4. The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

This great marble temple in Asia Minor (about 30 miles south of Izmir, Turkey) was raised in honour of the Greek goddess of hunting. Built about 550BC, it was decorated with superb bronze statues. It burned down on 21 July, 356BC. Recent excavations have found gifts from pilgrims including statuettes of Artemis made of gold and ivory, earrings, bracelets, and necklaces.

�

5. The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus

This tomb was constructed for King Maussollos, Persian ruler of Caria, in the city of Bodrum on the Aegean Sea, Turkey, about 350BC. It was damaged in an earthquake in the 14th century and invading crusaders demolished it to use its stones for their castle, which still stands. Some of the original sculptures are in the British Museum.

�

6. The Colossus of Rhodes

A vast bronze statue of Helios the sun-god, built by the people of Rhodes in 282BC near their harbour to celebrate their alliance with Egypt after beating off the Antigonids of Macedonia. It fell down in an earthquake 56 years later and lay in ruins until 654, when the Arabs invaded, disassembled the remains of the broken Colossus and sold them to a Jew from Syria. He had the fragments taken back to Syria on the backs of 900 camels. It stood about 110ft high and when it fell, 'few people can make their arms meet round the thumb', wrote Pliny.

�

7. The Lighthouse of Alexandria

A lighthouse built by the Ptolemies on the island of Pharos off the coast of their capital city. Soon after the death of Alexander the Great, his commander Ptolemy Soter decided a lighthouse was needed to guide shipping in dangerous waters around Pharos, off Alexandria. It was finished in 290BC. By night it used fire as a beacon; by day a massive mirror reflected the sun's rays. The tower, 380ft high, was ruined by a series of earthquakes and its stone was recycled for fortifications in 1480.

�

If you have any questions to ask about history and myths, click here

�

By Steve Cunningham