Copyright - 1993 Grolier Electronic Publishing, Inc.

Seven Wonders of the World

The Seven Wonders of the World comprise the greatest feats of ancient technology, architecture, and art as seen by Greek and Roman authors. The list has changed only slightly since it first appeared (c.130 BC) in a poem by Antipater of Sidon in the Greek Anthology. He praises the PYRAMIDS of Egypt, the Walls and the Hanging Gardens of BABYLON, the Temple of Artemis at EPHESUS, the Statue of Zeus at OLYMPIA, the Mausoleum at HALICARNASSUS, and the Colossus of RHODES.

The engineer Philo of Byzantium (fl. 146 BC) is said to have written the work entitled Peri ton hepta theamaton (Concerning the Seven Wonders of the World), although it may actually date from the Roman Empire. In his enumeration of the monuments the Pharos of Alexandria replaces the Walls of Babylon, which various later writers have listed together with the Hanging Gardens. Among other authors who described the seven wonders were Herodotus (5th century BC), Diodorus (1st century BC), and Strabo and Pliny the Elder (both 1st century AD). The Pergamum Altar has also been included as one of the wonders. All those cited were visited during the Hellenistic Age (323-149 BC) and remained the most famous attractions of the Roman world. They can be reconstructed from archaeological evidence.

The Pyramids of Egypt

The pyramids of Egypt, in the desert of Giza and Saqqara outside Cairo, were old before the other six wonders were built. The tradition of such monumental tombs for the pharaohs began with the step pyramid of Zoser (3d dynasty). Supposedly designed by the engineer IMHOTEP, this pyramid gave the impression of a stone hill 60 m (197 ft) high. The interior is almost solid, with gangways and burial chambers (some of which are empty, serving as decoys for thieves). Successive pharaohs copied and enlarged the form, adding limestone facings. The largest is the Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops), about 147 m (482 ft) high on a base 230 m (755 ft) square. Khafre (Chephren), Menkaure (Mykerinos), and others built successively less impressive pyramids.

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

Greek legends tell two stories of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. One holds that they were built by the Assyrian Queen Semiramis (Sammuramat, 810-805 BC). The other, that Nebuchadnezzar II (c.605-562 BC) built the gardens to remind his wife, a Mede, of her mountainous homeland, is perhaps more likely. The excavator, Robert Koldewey, identified the arched substructure of what may have been a terraced garden. Set in a corner of the palace fortifications and towering over the famous Ishtar Gate (decorated with blue-enameled reliefs of bulls and dragons) was a 7-m-high (23-ft) wall on which trees had presumably been planted, creating what would have been a majestic view visible to anyone entering on the Processional Way.

The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

The Artemision, or Temple of Artemis (Diana), at Ephesus in Ionia was famous since c.560 BC, when a monumental temple was erected by Chersiphron and his son Metagenes of Crete. Its base measured 115 x 55 m (377 x 180 ft), and the roofless, colonnaded interior housed a primitive statue of Artemis. The columns of the porch carried reliefs of mythical characters and inscriptions recording donations by King Croesus (r. 560-546 BC) of Lydia. The original Artemision, reportedly the finest example of early Ionic architecture, burned in the rebellion of 356 BC; it was rebuilt on a higher base and decorated by Scopas and Apelles. The temple was finally destroyed by the Goths in AD 263. Roman copies of the bizarre, mummylike statue survive.

The Statue of Zeus at Olympia

The colossal Zeus in the temple at Olympia was the most celebrated ancient statue because of its size, beauty, and costliness. It was chryselephantine--made of gold and ivory. The famous Athenian sculptor PHIDIAS (who also designed the statue of Athena in the Parthenon) made the seated figure (c.436-432 BC) in a special workshop behind the temple. The figure sat on an elaborate throne covered with ebony, glass, and gemstone inlays as well as sculptures and paintings of Greek myths and legends. It held a scepter with an eagle in its left hand and a Nike (victory goddess) in its right. The flesh was ivory and the drapery gold. In front of the figure, whose head nearly touched the ceiling (it was approximately 12 m/40 ft high), was a blue-black stone basin filled with oil to protect it from the damp air of Olympia. Tourist galleries surrounded it. The lost statue is known from coins and archaeological evidence.

The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus

The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, in Ionia, has given its name to all subsequent tomb monuments. MAUSOLUS, satrap of Caria, was honored with this tomb by his queen, Artemisia (d. 350 BC). The architects Satyros and Pythios designed a templelike marble tomb with an Ionic colonnade on a high base surrounded by lions; the roof was a 24-step pyramid on the peak of which stood a chariot. The famous sculptors Timotheus, Bryaxis, Leochares, and Scopas created the frieze--depicting Amazons battling heroes--which is now in the British Museum. The site on which the mausoleum stood was excavated in 1857; the medieval castle at Bodrum, Turkey, contains many fragments from it.

The Colossus of Rhodes

After defeating Demetrius Poliorcetes in 305 BC, the citizens of Rhodes used their booty to erect a thank offering to their divine patron Helios. Chares of Lindos, a pupil of Lysippus, built (292-280 BC) a bronze statue of the nude young god wearing a sun-ray crown and looking out to sea. Many stories exaggerate the size of the statue; it must, however, have been approximately 36 m (120 ft) high on a base of white marble 6-7.5 m (20-25 ft) high and thus larger than any other statue. It stood beside, not over, the harbor. Although reinforced with stone and iron, the Colossus broke at the knees and fell in an earthquake 60 years later. It remained a wonder until the Arab invasion (AD 653), when it was broken up and sold for scrap metal. Nothing of it remains except very dubious copies.

The Pharos of Alexandria

The Pharos of Alexandria became the prototype for ancient lighthouses. Situated on Pharos island at the end of the harbor of the new city, the structure was planned by Ptolemy I of Egypt (d. 284 BC) and completed by his successor in about 280 BC. Its base proclaimed that the architect Sostratus of Cnidus dedicated it to the "savior gods" on behalf of navigators. Models show a rectangular, tiered tower 122 m (400 ft) high, in which fires of resinous wood or oil were kept burning. They were reflected by metal mirrors supposedly designed by Archimedes, thus making them visible for possibly 50 km (about 30 mi), an excellent distance for antiquity. The 15th-century fort of Qait Bay now stands in the ruins of the Pharos.

Jean Macintosh Turfa

Bibliography: Berthold, Richard M., Rhodes in the Hellenistic Age (1984); Clayton, Peter, and Price, Martin, eds., The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (1988; repr. 1990); Cottrell, Leonard, Wonders of Antiquity (1959); Dinsmoor, W. B., The Architecture of Ancient Greece, rev. ed. (1950; repr. 1975); Fraser, Peter Marshall, Ptolemaic Alexandria, 3 vols. (1972; repr. 1984); Gruben, Gottfried, and Berve, Helmut, Greek Temples, Theatres, and Shrines (1963); Hodges, Peter, How the Pyramids Were Built (1989); MacKendrick, Paul, The Greek Stones Speak, 2d ed. (1983); Muller, Artur, The Seven Wonders of the World: Five Thousand Years of Culture and History in the Ancient World, trans. by David Ash (1966); Oates, Joan, Babylon (1986).