The Middle East, North Africa and southern Europe have some of the best architecture and art in the world.
A number of ancient and medieval writers from Europe and the Middle East discussed and described the seven wonders of the world. The writings of the ancient Greek writer Herodotus, who lived from 484 to 425 B.C., were one of the earliest writers to discuss them, and while his writings on the wonders did not survive, they were referenced in later texts.
The wonders that should be included in the list were debated for thousands of years. The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World was written by Peter and Martin Price in 1988 and was only fixed in the Renaissance.
Live Science looked at each of the seven wonders.
RECOMMENDED VIDEOS FOR YOU...
The Great Pyramid at Giza is the oldest ancient wonder and the only one still standing today. It was the tallest structure in the world until Lincoln Cathedral was built in England in 1311.
When the Great Pyramid was first built, it was 481 feet tall, but today it is 455 feet tall due to the loss of some of its stones. The king's chamber is often called the "king's chamber" because it contains an empty sarcophagus.
The passageways in the Great Pyramid lead to two other chambers, one of which may have held a queen. The purpose of the two chambers is questionable. Scientists found a large void above the grand gallery that could contain one or more chambers.
According to legend, the sixth-century B.C. Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II had a huge maze of waterfalls and dense vegetation in his palace for his wife, Amytis of Media, who missed her homeland in Persia. Archaeologists are still debating if the garden really existed.
The approach to the garden sloped like a hillside and the appearance of the whole resembled that of a theatre, according to the ancient Greek historian Diodorus Siculus.
The site of Babylon, located 100 kilometers south of Baghdad in modern-day Iraq, has not been found to be the Hanging Gardens. There are no surviving Babylonian records that discuss them. There is a theory that Diodorus Siculus and other ancient writers got the wrong location and the gardens were built at Nineveh.
The seated figure of Greece's chief Olympic deity was 40 feet tall. It was made mostly of ivory and was built to make the impression that if Zeus arose and stood up he would unroof the temple.
Caligula tried to steal it. Suetonius wrote that Caligula ordered the statue of Zeus to be brought from Greece in order to put his own statue in their place. A.D. 69 to 122. Caligula was assassinated before his orders were carried out.
It is not clear when the statue was destroyed. Christianity was the official religion of the Roman Empire in the fifth century A.D. and traditional Graeco-Roman beliefs were being attacked. It is possible that it was destroyed around this time.
The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus was built by Croesus, a king of Lydia. A smaller temple to Artemis, a goddess associated with animals and hunting, was previously located at Ephesus, but Croesus, who had recently conquered the area, enlarged it.
It was supposedly set ablaze by a man who wanted fame. It is questionable if Herostratus burned the temple because people may have been searching for a scapegoat, not wanting to believe that a lightning strike could have destroyed the temple. The temple was rebuilt.
The temple was damaged by an earthquake in A.D. 262 and the Goths stole it. Christian writers mention the end of the temple around the fifth century A.D., as the temple appears to have been abandoned or destroyed.
The tomb was built for the satrap of Caria in northern Anatolia who died in 353 B.C. and gave us the name "mausoleum".
The mausoleum was incomplete when Artemisia died around 350 B.C., and it was uncertain if the sculptors would continue to be paid. The team did not leave their work until it was done, because it was a memorial to their own fame and the work of the sculptor.
The building was 140 feet tall and had a pyramid shaped base with 63 columns at the top. The remains of the mausoleum are still visible, but they are in ruins due to the passage of time and reuse of stone for other buildings.
The colossus of Rhodes, an enormous statue depicting the Greek sun god Helios, collapsed during an earthquake in Turkey in 226 B.C., but is still standing today.
Robert Kebric, a retired history professor at the University of Louisville, wrote in an article published in Athens that the statue may have stood on a three-tiered column. Kebric wrote that it would have been a total height of 160 feet.
The statue straddling the harbor of Rhodes is a 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 888-666-1846 There were a number of temples and religious monuments in that location.
The lighthouse of Alexandria was built on the orders of Ptolemy II Philadelphus, a pharaoh who ruled from around 285 to 246 B.C., and was one of the largest ports in the ancient world. It was built on the island of Pharos. A causeway was built to connect the island to the mainland. The lighthouse had a mirror that reflected the sun's rays during the day, and a fire at night and at other times when it was necessary.
The lighthouse may have been around 400 feet tall. The lighthouse was used throughout the Middle Ages, but it was destroyed in the 14th century, according to an article written by a professor at the University of London. Efforts were made throughout the Middle Ages to repair the damage caused by earthquakes and coastal erosion.
What is left of the lighthouse and part of ancient Alexandria lie underwater. Archaeologists discovered the remains of the lighthouse in 1994.
It was originally published on Live Science.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
