7 Wonders of the Ancient World

1
7 Wonders of the Ancient World

• Various lists of the Wonders of the World have
  been compiled over the ages to catalogue the most
  spectacular man-made constructions and natural
  sites in the world.
• The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World is the
  first known list of the most remarkable man-made
  creations of antiquity, and was based on
  guide-books popular among Greek sight-seers and
  only includes works located around the
  Mediterranean rim. The number seven was chosen
  because the Greeks believed it to be the
  representation of perfection and plenty. Many
  similar lists have been made, including lists for
  the Medieval World and the Modern World.
• By the time Greece became powerful (classical
  Greece), these had been built. Most were not
  built by the Greeks themselves, but they
  appreciated them anyway.

2
1 The Great Pyramid of Giza

• The Great Pyramid of Giza, also called Khufu's
  Pyramid or the Pyramid of Khufu, and Pyramid of
  Cheops, is the oldest and largest of the three
  pyramids in the Giza Necropolis bordering what is
  now Cairo, Egypt, and is the only remaining
  member of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
  It is believed the pyramid was built as a tomb
  for Fourth dynasty Egyptian King Khufu (Cheops in
  Greek) and constructed over a 20 year period
  concluding around 2560 BC. The Great Pyramid was
  the tallest man-made structure in the world for
  over 3,800 years. Originally the Great Pyramid
  was covered by casing stones that formed a smooth
  outer surface, and what is seen today is the
  underlying core structure.
• http//videos.howstuffworks.com/hsw/11939-structur
  es-the-egyptian-pyramids-at-giza-video.htm

3
2 The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

• The Hanging Gardens of Babylon,, near present-day
  Al Hillah in Iraq (formerly Babylon), is
  considered one of the original Seven Wonders of
  the World. They were built by Nebuchadnezzar II
  around 600 BC. He is reported to have constructed
  the gardens to please his wife, Amities of Media,
  who longed for the trees and fragrant plants of
  her homeland Persia. The gardens were destroyed
  by several earthquakes after the 2nd century BC.
• The lush Hanging Gardens are extensively
  documented by Greek historians such as Strabo and
  Diodorus Siculus. An idea similar to Archimedes'
  water screw was used as a process of raising the
  water to the required height. Nebuchadnezzar II
  also used massive slabs of stone, which was
  unheard of in Babylon, to prevent the water from
  eroding the ground. No one knows what happened to
  the ruins of the gardens.

4
3 The Statue of Zeus at Olympia

• The Statue of Zeus at Olympia was one of the
  Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It was made
  by the Greek sculptor of the Classical period,
  Phidias, circa 432 BC on the site where it was
  erected in the temple of Zeus, Olympia, Greece.
• The seated statue, some 12 metres (39 feet) tall,
  occupied the whole width of the aisle of the
  temple built to house it. "It seems that if Zeus
  were to stand up," the geographer Strabo noted
  early in the first century BC, "he would unroof
  the temple." Zeus was a sculpture, made of ivory
  and gold-plated bronze. No copy has survived,
  though there are recognizable but approximate
  versions on coins of Elis and Roman coins, but a
  very detailed description of the sculpture and
  the throne was recorded by the traveler
  Pausanias.
• The circumstances of its eventual destruction are
  a source of debate the eleventh-century
  Byzantine historian Georgios Kedrenos recorded
  the tradition that it was carried off to
  Constantinople, where it was destroyed in the
  great fire of the Lauseion, in 475. Others argue
  that it perished with the temple when it burned
  in 425 AD.
• http//videos.howstuffworks.com/hsw/12369-ancient-
  greece-the-sanctuary-of-zeus-at-olympia-video.htm

5
4 The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

• The Temple of Artemis, was a Greek temple
  dedicated to Artemis completed around 550 BC at
  Ephesus (in present-day Turkey) under the Persian
  Empire. Nothing remains of the temple, which was
  one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
• In the seventh century an old temple on the site
  was destroyed by a flood. Around 550 BC, the
  Lydians started to build the "new" temple. It was
  a 120-year project, initially designed and
  constructed by the Cretan architect Chersiphron
  and his son Metagenes, at the expense of Croesus
  of Lydia.
• The temple was destroyed and rebuilt many times.
  The first time, it was burned by an arsonist who
  wanted to go down in history for any reason
  even a bad one. His name was Herostratus, and
  today herostratic fame means fame at any cost.
  This happened on July 21, 356 BC Alexander the
  Greats birthday.
• The last temple was taken apart in 401 AD to use
  the stones in creating other buildings.
• http//videos.howstuffworks.com/discovery/29920-in
  to-the-unknown-ephesus-video.htm

6
5 The Tomb of Mausolus at Halicarnassus

• The Tomb of Mausolus, was a tomb built between
  353 and 350 BC at Halicarnassus in Turkey, for
  Mausolus, a Governor in the Persian Empire, and
  his wife and sister. The structure was designed
  by the Greek architects Satyros and Pythis. It
  stood approximately 45 metres (135 ft) in height,
  and each of the four sides was adorned with
  sculptural reliefs created by each one of four
  Greek sculptors who worked on it.
• Mausol-eion used to mean tomb of Mausolus but
  now the word mausoleum has since come to be used
  generically for any grand tomb, such as the Taj
  Mahal.
• A series of earthquakes shattered the columns
  around 1404 AD and only the very base of the
  Mausoleum was still recognizable. In the early
  fifteenth century, the Knights of St John of
  Malta invaded the region and built a massive
  castle called Bodrum Castle. When they decided to
  fortify it in 1494, they used the stones of the
  Mausoleum. Sections of polished marble from the
  tomb can still be seen there today.

7
(No Transcript)
8
6 The Colossus of Rhodes

• The Colossus of Rhodes was a statue of the Greek
  god Helios, erected on the Greek island of Rhodes
  by Chares of Lindos between 292 and 280 BC. It is
  considered one of the Seven Wonders of the
  Ancient World. Before its destruction, the
  Colossus of Rhodes stood over 30 meters (107 ft)
  high, making it one of the tallest statues of the
  ancient world. It was made of solid bronze and
  stood watch over the harbour.
• The statue stood for only 56 years until Rhodes
  was hit by an earthquake in 226 BC. The statue
  snapped at the knees and fell over on to the
  land. Ptolemy III offered to pay for the
  reconstruction of the statue, but the oracle of
  Delphi made the Rhodians afraid that they had
  offended Helios, and they declined to rebuild it.
  The remains lay on the ground as described by
  Strabo for over 800 years, and even broken, they
  were so impressive that many traveled to see
  them. Pliny the Elder remarked that few people
  could wrap their arms around the fallen thumb and
  that each of its fingers was larger than most
  statues.
• In 654 an Arab force under Muslim caliph Muawiyah
  I captured Rhodes and melted down the scrap metal.

9
(No Transcript)
10
7 The Lighthouse at Alexandria

• The Lighthouse of Alexandria was a tower built in
  the 3rd century BC (between 285 and 247 BC) on
  the island of Pharos in Alexandria harbour, to
  serve as that port's landmark, and later, its
  lighthouse.
• With a height variously estimated at between 115
  and 150 m (380 and 490 ft) it was among the
  tallest man-made structures on Earth for many
  centuries.
• There are ancient claims the light from the
  lighthouse could be seen from up to 35 mi (56 km)
  away.
• The two earthquakes in 1303 and 1323, damaged the
  lighthouse and it toppled over. Even the remnants
  disappeared in 1480, when the Sultan of Egypt
  built a medieval fort on the former location of
  the building, using some of the fallen stone. The
  remnants of the lighthouse that were incorporated
  into the walls of Fort Qaitbey are still clearly
  visible due to their excessive size in comparison
  to surrounding masonry.

11
QUIZ TIME!
12

• QUIZ
• 1-7 In any order, list the seven wonders of the
  ancient world. You do not have to give the exact
  name, however, you do have to be specific, so
  temple is not good enough, unless you can say
  where it was, or who it was dedicated to.
• 8-Which wonder is the only one still standing?
• 9-Which wonder was built as a gift for the
  builders wife?
• 10- Which temple was destroyed on the day that
  Alexander the Great was born?

13

• As long as they have the underlined word (if
  there is one), AND at least one of the bold terms
  in each answer, they get a point.
• The Lighthouse at Alexandria
• The Pyramids at Giza
• The Mausoleum (or tomb of Mauslaous) at
  Halicarnassus
• The Colossus of Rhodes
• The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
• The Statue of Zeus at Olympia
• The Temple of Artimis at Ephesus
• 8-The Pyramids
• 9-The Hanging Gardens
• 10-The Temple of Artimis at Ephesus