INTRODUCTION OF THE WONDERS OF THE WORLD

The wonders of the Ancient World, as first recorded by Philo of Byzantium in 225 BCE in his work, `On the Wonders’, were: The Great Pyramid of Gizza, Egypt; The Hanging Gardens of Babylon; The Statue of Zeus at Olympia, Greece; The temple of Artemis at Ephesus ; The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus; The Colossus of Rhodes and the Lighthouse at Alexandria, Egypt. Of these seven, only the Great Pyramid still stands today.

The Great Pyramid was built as a tombo for the 4th Dynasty Pharaoah Khufu (known as Cheops in Greek ) between 2584 and 2561 BCE. It was the tallest human-made structure for over 3,800 years. Its interior continues to mystify and amaze archaeologists and its original purpose (other than simply an elaborate tomb) is debated hotly today, as is the means by which the Egyptians built so perfect and compelling a structure.

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were described by the historian Diodorus Siculus, writting  in the 1st century CE, as being elaborate self-watering planes of flowers and exotic vegetation ascending 75 feet (almost 23 m) into the air on terraces. The gardens were allegedly built between 605 and 562 BCE by Nebuchadnessar III  for his wife Amtis of Media to remind her of her homeland but their very existence has been disputed and some claim they were a fabrication of ancient writers simply passing down legend. The controversy over the gardens arises because there is no mention of them in Babylonian history and because the famed historian Herodotus s fails to mention them in his works.  Philo, the historian Strabo, and Diodorus all describe the gardens extensively, however, and there seems little reason to doubt their word on this when what they wrote on other matters is accepted without question. The gardens are said to have been destroyed by an earthquake at some point after the 1st century CE.

The Statue of Zeus at Olympia was created by the great Greek sculptor Phidias (known as the finest sculptor of the ancient world in the 5th century BCE, he also worked on the Parthenon and the statue of Athena there in Athens ). The statue depicted the god Zeus seated on his throne, his skin of ivory and robes of hammered gold, and was 40 feet (12 m)  tall, designed to inspire awe in the worshippers who came to the Temple of Zeus at Olympia.  Not everyone was awestruck by the statue, however. Strabo reports, “Although the temple itself is very large, the sculptor is criticized for not having appreciated the correct proportions. He has shown Zeus seated, but with the head almost touching the ceiling, so that we have the impression that if Zeus moved to stand up he would unroof the temple” (Seven Wonders). The Temple at Olympia fell into ruin after the rise of Christianity and the ban on the Olympic as `pagan rites’. The statue was carried off to Constantinople  where it was later destroyed, sometime in either the 5th or 6th centuries CE, by an earthquake.

The Wonders of the Ancient World were, by no means, a comprehensive agreed-upon list of the most impressive structures of the day. Those masterpieces listed above are the traditionally accepted `wonders’ as first set down by Philo of Byzantium but there were many writers who followed him who disagreed on what was a `wonder’ and what was only of passing interest. Herodotus, for example, cites the Egyptian Labyrinth  as being far more impressive than even the pyramids of Giza, stating, "I visited this building and found it to surpass description; for if all the great works of the Greeks could be put together in one, they would not equal this Labyrinth. The Pyramids likewise surpass description, but the Labyrinth surpasses the Pyramids." Nor did all agree on which of the `wonders’ was the most wonderful, as this passage from Antipater, praising the Temple of Artemis, attests.