Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

This article is about the Seven Ancient Wonders. For other Wonders, see Wonders of the World (disambiguation).

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (from left to right, top to bottom): Great Pyramid of Giza, Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Temple of Artemis at Epheseus, Statue of Zeus at Olympia, Mausoleum of Maussollos, Colossus of Rhodes and the Lighthouse of Alexandria as depicted by 16th-century Dutch artist Marten Heemskerk

The Seven Wonders of the World (or the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World) is a widely-known list of seven remarkable manmade constructions of classical antiquity. It was based on guide-books popular among Hellenic (Greek) sight-seers and only includes works located around the Mediterranean rim. Later lists include those for the Medieval World and the Modern World. The number seven was chosen because the Greeks believed it to be magical.

The Seven Ancient Wonders

The historian Herodotus (484 BC–ca. 425 BC), and the scholar Callimachus of Cyrene (ca 305–240 BC) at the Museum of Alexandria, made early lists of "seven wonders" but their writings have not survived, except as references. The earliest extant version of a list of seven wonders was compiled by Antipater of Sidon, who described the structures in a poem around 140 BC:

I have set eyes on the wall of lofty Babylon on which is a road for chariots, and the statue of Zeus by the Alpheus, and the hanging gardens, and the Colossus of the Sun, and the huge labour of the high pyramids, and the vast tomb of Mausolus; but when I saw the house of Artemis that mounted to the clouds, those other marvels lost their brilliancy, and I said, 'Lo, apart from Olympus, the Sun never looked on aught so grand.'

— Antipater, Greek Anthology IX.58

A later list, under various titles like De septem orbis spactaculis and traditionally misattributed to the engineer Philo of Byzantium, may date as late as the fifth century AD, though the author writes as if the Colossus of Rhodes were still standing.

These are given in the table below:

Wonder	Date of construction	Builder	Notable features	Date of destruction	Cause of destruction
Great Pyramid of Giza	2584-2561 BC	Egyptians	Built as the tomb of Fourth dynasty Egyptian pharaoh Khufu.	Still standing	N/A
Hanging Gardens of Babylon	605-562 BC	Babylonians	Diodorus described multi-levelled gardens reaching 22 metres (75 feet) high, complete with machinery for circulating water. Large trees grew on the roof.	After 1st century BC	Earthquake
Statue of Zeus at Olympia	466-456 BC(Temple) 435 BC(Statue)	Greeks	Occupied the whole width of the aisle of the temple that was built to house it, and was 40 feet (12 meters) tall.	5th-6th centuries AD	Unknown, presumed destroyed by fire or earthquake.
Temple of Artemis at Ephesus	c. 550 BC	Lydians, Persians, Greeks	Dedicated to the Greek goddess Artemis, it took 120 years to build. Herostratus burned it down in an attempt to achieve lasting fame. Rebuilt by Alexander the Great only to be destroyed again by the Goths.	356 BC	Arson, Plundering
Mausoleum of Maussollos at Halicarnassus	351 BC	Persians, Greeks	Stood approximately 45 meters (135 feet) tall with each of the four sides adorned with sculptural reliefs. Origin of the word mausoleum.	by AD 1494	Damaged by an earthquake and eventually disassembled by European Crusaders.
Colossus of Rhodes	292-280 BC	Greeks	A giant statue of the Greek god Helios, c. 35m (110 ft) tall	Felled by an earthquake in 226 BC, with the bronze scrap removed in 654.	Earthquake
Lighthouse of Alexandria	c. 280 BC	Hellenistic Egypt	Between 115 and 135 meters (383 - 440 ft) tall it was among the tallest man-made structures on Earth for many centuries.	AD 1303-1480	Earthquake

The Greek category was not "Wonders" but theamata, which translates closer to "must-sees". The list that we know today was compiled in the Middle Ages—by which time many of the sites were no longer in existence. Since the list came mostly from ancient Greek writings, only sites that would have been known and visited by the ancient Greeks were included. Even as early as 1600 BC, tourist graffiti was scrawled on monuments in the Egyptian Valley of the Kings.

Antipater's original list replaced the Lighthouse of Alexandria with the Ishtar Gate. It was not until the 6th century that the above list was developed. Of these wonders, the only one that has survived to the present day is the Great Pyramid of Giza. The existence of the Hanging Gardens has not been proven. Records confirm that the other five wonders used to exist. The Temple of Artemis and the Statue of Zeus were destroyed by fire, while the Lighthouse of Alexandria, Colossus, and Mausoleum of Maussollos were destroyed by earthquakes. There are sculptures from the Mausoleum of Maussollos and the Temple of Artemis in the British Museum in London.

See also

• Wonders of the World, concerning modern updates to this list.

Further reading

• D'Epiro, Peter, and Mary Desmond Pinkowish, "What Are the Seven Wonders of the World? and 100 Other Great Cultural Lists". Anchor. December 1, 1998. ISBN 0-385-49062-3

External links

• The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World — an in-depth look from a professor of civil engineering at the American University in Dubai
• Image of the Seven Wonder locations
• Video about the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, a virtual satellite tour made with Google Earth [02:34]
• Parkin, Tim, Researching Ancient Wonders: A Research Guide, from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. - a collection of books and Internet resources with in-depth information on seven ancient wonders.
• Google Maps 7 Ancient Wonders of the World
• "Eternal wonder of humanity's first great achievements", by Jonathan Glancey in The Guardian, March 10, 2007
• Seven Wonders Suite for Orchestra — A symphonic suite inspired by the seven ancient monuments by UK composer Stuart Mitchell - The Prague Symphony Orchestra