The Seven Wonders of the World

[font:dc37=&quot]The Seven Wonders of the
World were considered the most amazing antique structures in the world. They
are works of art and architecture that Ancient Greeks and Romans listed as the
best in the world. Today, only one of the Seven Wonders still stands—the Pyramids
of Egypt.[/font]


[font:dc37=&quot]Over 2,000 years ago the
Ancient Greeks began listing ancient wonders. All Seven Wonders were built in
the Mediterranean and Middle East areas. They are:

(1) The Pyramids of Egypt
(2) The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
(3) The Statue of Zeus
(4) The Temple of Artemis
(5) The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus
(6) The Colossus of Rhodes
(7) The Pharos of Alexandria[/font]


[color:dc37=#FFC000][font:dc37=&quot]THE PYRAMIDS OF EGYPT[/font][/color]


[font:dc37=&quot]The Pyramids of Egypt were built at Giza in Egypt.
There were ten pyramids altogether, with one larger pyramid called the Great
Pyramid of Khufu. Some experts believe this alone is one of the Seven Wonders,
but others believe the three largest pyramids are the Wonder.[/font]


[font:dc37=&quot]The pyramids were built around 2600 bc—more than 4,000 years ago. They are the
oldest of the Seven Wonders, and the only one still intact today. In ancient
times, pyramids were built as tombs for the bodies of kings.[/font]


[font:dc37=&quot]The Great Pyramid was around 147 metres high and
built from about 2.5 million blocks of stone. Each block was very large and
heavy—weighing over 2 tonnes. It took about 20 years to complete the Great
Pyramid.[/font]


[color:dc37=#FFC000][font:dc37=&quot]THE HANGING GARDENS OF BABYLON[/font][/color]


[font:dc37=&quot]The Hanging Gardens were a series of lofty gardens.
They were constructed in the 6th century bc
in Babylon, near Baghdad, in modern-day Iraq. King Nebuchadnezzar II had them
built for his wife. She missed the green, leafy surroundings of her homeland.[/font]


[font:dc37=&quot]The gardens were built on an artificial mountain.
Plants and trees hung over the sides of stone terraces. Large stone columns
supported the terraces. There were probably fountains and exotic plants there
too. Although most people think they were real, there is no proof that the
gardens actually existed.[/font]


[color:dc37=#FFC000][font:dc37=&quot]THE STATUE OF ZEUS[/font][/color]


[font:dc37=&quot]The Statue of Zeus stood in the Temple of Zeus
at Olympia in Greece. It was made from ivory and gold. Zeus was the king of the
gods, and the statue was built to honour him.[/font]


[font:dc37=&quot]A sculptor called Phidias created the statue in
about 435 bc. It showed Zeus
sitting on a wooden throne and was about 12 metres high and 7 metres wide. The
base was 6.5 metres high, and the whole piece seemed huge.[/font]


[font:dc37=&quot]About 900 years later the statue was destroyed by
fire. We know about it because of information found on ancient coins and in
historical documents. The throne was probably decorated with precious stones
and there were carvings of mythical creatures on Zeus’ clothing.[/font]


[color:dc37=#FFC000][font:dc37=&quot]THE TEMPLE OF ARTEMIS[/font][/color]


[font:dc37=&quot]The Temple of Artemis was a huge temple that was
built at Ephesus in Ancient Greece (now in modern-day Turkey). It was built in
600 bc to honour the Ephesian
goddess called Artemis. The temple was a place of worship and was also used as
a marketplace.[/font]


[font:dc37=&quot]The original temple was destroyed and rebuilt
several times. The first time it was destroyed was in a battle in 550 bc. It was then rebuilt four times
bigger. In 356 bc it was destroyed
by fire. A new, even larger temple was built, with carved marble pillars and
bronze statues. In ad 262 the
temple was destroyed for a final time during an invasion. It was not rebuilt
this time.[/font]


[color:dc37=#FFC000][font:dc37=&quot]THE MAUSOLEUM OF HALICARNASSUS[/font][/color]


[font:dc37=&quot]The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus was a large marble
tomb in south-west Turkey. The tomb was built in 353 bc after the death of King Mausolus. His wife asked an
architect named Pythius to create it. She died before it was finished, and she
was also buried inside.[/font]


[font:dc37=&quot]The bodies of the king and his queen were
enclosed in coffins in the base of the tomb. On this stood a box-shaped
structure made from white marble, with columns and statues on the sides. The
roof was a pyramid and on top was a sculpture of a chariot and horses, with
figures of the king and queen inside the chariot.[/font]


[font:dc37=&quot]At 45 metres high, the mausoleum was very tall.
It was bigger and more magnificent than any other tomb. From then on the word
“mausoleum”, which came from King Mausolus’s name, started to be used for any
large and stately tomb.[/font]


[font:dc37=&quot]Over the centuries the whole Mausoleum of
Halicarnassus gradually fell into ruin. Some of the fragments of the tomb were
recovered and can be seen in the British Museum in London.[/font]


[color:dc37=#FFC000][font:dc37=&quot]THE COLOSSUS OF RHODES[/font][/color]


[font:dc37=&quot]The Colossus of Rhodes was a bronze statue of the
Greek sun god Helios. It stood at the harbour of Rhodes in Greece. The
sculpture took 12 years to construct. It was finished in 282 bc and stood 37 metres high.[/font]


[font:dc37=&quot]Old drawings show the statue standing with one foot
on each side of the harbour entrance. However, this would probably not have
been possible and it is likely that it stood near the front of the harbour.[/font]


[font:dc37=&quot]Several decades after it was built, an earthquake damaged
the sculpture. The earthquake was seen as a sign that the god Helios was
displeased with the statue. For this reason it was never fixed and gradually
fell into ruin.[/font]


[color:dc37=#FFC000][font:dc37=&quot]THE PHAROS OF ALEXANDRIA[/font][/color]


[font:dc37=&quot]The Pharos of Alexandria was a lighthouse on an
island off the coast of Alexandria in Egypt. The island was called Pharos, and
the lighthouse itself was also referred to as Pharos. It became so well known
that its name, “pharos[i]”[/i], came to mean “lighthouse” in some languages.[/font]


[font:dc37=&quot]The lighthouse was needed to guide ships into the
busy harbour. It probably took about 20 years to build and was more than 120
metres tall. It was made from blocks of marble. There was a spiral ramp inside,
large enough for horse-drawn carts to pull up the building blocks. The roof had
a statue of Poseidon (the god of the sea) on top. The lighthouse alerted ships
by using a fire and a curved mirror. At night the fire was used and during the
day the mirror reflected sunlight to warn ships.[/font]


[font:dc37=&quot]In its time the Pharos was the tallest building
in the world, apart from the Great Pyramid. It was also the longest surviving
of the six Wonders that have now disappeared. It lasted for 1,500 years before
several earthquakes toppled it.[/font]


[b][font:dc37=&quot]Microsoft Encarta 2007.
1993-2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.[/font][/b]