Seven Wonders of the World

The Great Pyramid
- built between 2500-2560
- said to be the tomb of Khufu
- located in Giza, Egypt
- 756 feet long on each side and 450 feet high
- made up of 2,300,000 blocks, that each weigh two and a half tons
- took 20 years for 100,000 slaves to build it
- contrary to popular belief, only the Pyramid of Khufu is a Wonder, not all the pyramids

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
- located on the east bank of the River Euphrates, about 50 km south of Baghdad, Iraq.
- built by Nebuchadnezzar II (604-562 BC)
- In 450 B.C., a historian named Herodotus wrote, "In addition to it's size, Babylon surpasses any city in the known world."
- Herodotus said the outer walls were 80 feet thick, 320 feet high, and 56 miles in length
- "The Hanging Garden has plants cultivated above ground level, and the roots of the trees are embedded in an upper terrace rather than in the earth. The whole mass is supported on stone columns... Streams of water emerging from elevated sources flow down sloping channels... These waters irrigate the whole garden saturating the roots of plants and keeping the whole area moist. Hence the grass is permanently green and the leaves of trees grow firmly attached to supple branches... This is a work of art of royal luxury and its most striking feature is that the labor of cultivation is suspended above the heads of the spectators".

The Temple of Zeus
- statue of the god in whose honor the Ancient Olympic games were held
- at the time of the games, wars stopped, and athletes came from Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, and Sicily to celebrate the Olympics and to worship their king of gods: Zeus.
- located at the ancient town of Olympia, on the west coast of modern Greece, about 150 km west of Athens.
- designed by the architect Libon and was built around 450 BC
- nothing remains at the site of the old temple except rocks and debris, the foundation of the buildings, and fallen columns
- Athenian sculptor Pheidias sculpted the statue
- base of the statue was about 6.5 m (20 ft) wide and 1.0 meter (3 ft) high
- height of the statue itself was 13 m (40 ft), equivalent to a modern 4-story building

The Colossus of Rhodes
- located at the entrance of the harbor of the Mediterranean island of Rhodes in Greece
- to celebrate their unity, the Rhodians erected an enormous statue of their sun god, Helios
- construction of the Colossus took 12 years and was finished in 282 BC.
- the statue stood at the harbor entrance, until a strong earthquake hit Rhodes about 226 BC
- the Colossus was broken at its weakest point -- the knee.
- an immediate offer from Ptolemy III Eurgetes of Egypt to cover all restoration costs for the toppled monument was declined when an oracle was consulted and forbade the re-erection
- for almost a millennium, the statue lay broken in ruins
- in AD 654, the Arabs invaded Rhodes
- they disassembled the remains of the broken Colossus and sold them to a Jew from Syria on 900 camels
- recent studies suggest that it was erected either on the eastern promontory of the Mandraki harbor, or even further inland
- it did never straddle the harbor entrance
- the project was commissioned by the Rhodian sculptor Chares of Lindos
- when the colossus was finished, it stood about 33 m (110 ft) high
- when it fell, "few people can make their arms meet round the thumb", wrote Pliny.

The Lighthouse of Alexandria
- located on the ancient island of Pharos, now a promontory within the city of Alexandria in Egypt
- conceived and initiated by Ptolemy Soter around 290 BC, but was completed after his death, during the reign of his son Ptolemy Philadelphus
- Sostratus, a contemporary of Euclid, was the architect, but detailed calculations for the structure and its accessories were carried out at the Alexandria Library/Mouseion
- the monument was dedicated to the Savior Gods: Ptolemy Soter (lit. savior) and his wife Berenice
- for centuries, the Lighthouse of Alexandria (occasionally referred to as the Pharos Lighthouse) was used to mark the harbor, using fire at night and reflecting sun rays during the day
- it was even shown on Roman coins, just as famous monuments are depicted on currency today.
- the total height of the building including the foundation base was about 117 m (384 ft), equivalent to a 40-story modern building
- in ancient times, a statue of Poseidon adorned the summit of the building.

The Temple of Artemis
- built in honor of the Greek goddess of hunting, wild nature, and fertility
- located at the ancient city of Ephesus near the modern town of Selcuk, about 50 km south of Izmir (Smyrna) in Turkey
- built around 550 BC
- referred to as the great marble temple
- sponsored by the Lydian king Croesus
- designed by the Greek architect Chersiphron
- decorated with bronze statues sculpted by the most skilled artists of their time: Pheidias, Polycleitus, Kresilas, and Phradmon.
- temple served as both a marketplace and a religious institution
- recent archeological excavations at the site revealed gifts from pilgrims including statuettes of Artemis made of gold and ivory... earrings, bracelets, and necklaces... artifacts from as far as Persia and India
- on the night of 21 July 356 BC, a man named Herostratus burned the temple to ground in an attempt to immortalize his name
- Alexander the Great was born the same night
- the historian Plutarch later wrote that the goddess was "too busy taking care of the birth of Alexander to send help to her threatened temple"
- when Alexander the Great conquered Asia Minor, he helped rebuild the destroyed temple.
- when St Paul visited Ephesus to preach Christianity in the first century AD, he was confronted by the Artemis' cult who had no plans to abandon their goddess
- the temple was again destroyed by the Goths in AD 262, the Ephesians vowed to rebuild
- by the fourth century AD, most Ephesians had converted to Christianity and the temple lost its religious glamor
- in AD 401 the Temple of Artemis was torn down by St John Chrysostom
- the foundation of the temple was rectangular in form, similar to most temples at the time
- unlike other sanctuaries, however, the building was made of marble, with a decorated façade overlooking a spacious courtyard
- marble steps surrounding the building platform led to the high terrace which was approximately 80 m (260 ft) by 130 m (430 ft) in plan
- the columns were 20 m (60 ft) high with Ionic capitals and carved circular sides
- there were 127 columns in total, aligned orthogonally over the whole platform area, except for the central cella or house of the goddess
- the temple housed many works of art, including four ancient bronze statues of Amazons sculpted by the finest artists at the time

The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus
- located in the city of Bodrum (f.k.a. Halicarnassus) on the Aegean Sea, in south-west Turkey
- The Mausoleum was completed around 350 BC, three years after Maussollos death, and one year after Artemisia's.
- for 16 centuries, the Mausoleum remained in good condition until an earthquake caused some damage to the roof and colonnade
- in the early fifteenth century, the Knights of St John of Malta invaded the region and built a massive crusader castle
- they decided to fortify it in 1494, they used the stones of the Mausoleum
- by 1522, almost every block of the Mausoleum had been disassembled and used for construction
- only the foundation remains of the once magnificent Wonder.
- the structure was rectangular in plan, with base dimensions of about 40 m (120 ft) by 30 m (100 ft)
- a 6 m (20ft) statue of a chariot pulled by four horses adorned the top of the tomb.
- total height of the Mausoleum was 45 m (140 ft)
- there were tens of life-size as well as under and over life-size free-standing statues of people, lions, horses, and other animals
- the statues were carved by four Greek sculptors: Bryaxis, Leochares, Scopas, and Timotheus, each responsible for one side