Seven Wonders Of The Ancient World

??????History has always been interesting when the people have gone through great lengths to build pyramids, gardens, and monuments for their leader loved ones and Kings, etc. The intriguing thing about these great structures is their ingenuity and monumentality, It often gets hard to understand in today’s world how they have built such huge and remarkable structures without technology and machine but just using their basic human strength and incredible physics. We would say our regards and thanks to the ancient Greek historian Herodotus (484-425BCE) and Callimachus of Cyrene (305-240BCE) who have written all their findings in the literature related to the architectural achievement. Moreover, this literature and findings were often mentioned in poems and guidebooks for tourists traveling throughout the Mediterranean Rim, a place that is surrounded by the former empire of Babylonia, Egypt, and Persia. The list of these winders consists of Colossus of Rhodes, Great Pyramid of Giza, Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Statue of Zeus at Olympia, Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, and Lighthouse of Alexandria. Among these the Colossus of Rhodes which is the last ancient wonder to be built only lasted 60 years until it was destroyed and the garden of Babylon is assumed to never existed in the first place, still these places attracted tourist imagination and archeologists. Although there is numerous incredible architecture worthy of inclusion the Greek often referred to seven having spiritual significance, thus making these seven the most famous. Of these wonders, 4 were destroyed by an earthquake, 2 were destroyed by fire, and 1 is still standing. Let’s look into the detailed history of these and dig out their significance.?

Hanging Gardens of Babylon?

It’s quite common in this era to offer a banquet of flowers or a box of chocolate to your loved ones to show affection and love. However, back in history, people have built huge mansions and structures to prove affection with their loved ones. King Nebuchadnezzar II a ruler of Babylon, around 600 B.C, is among such kinds of people who’ve to build a garden on a huge mountain in the middle of the desert. The reason for creating such a wonderful garden was to please his wife who missed the garden which was back in her Median homeland (what is now Iran). Interestingly this garden is the most elusive among all the wonders, its size, location, and even its existence are controversial. Babylon is an area in the middle of the desert where there is no such greenery and having a garden on top of the mountain is what’s surprising for many historians. Ascending series of the garden from the top of the mountain which has an estimated height of 23 meters is quite amusing to imagine. Thus the only way to water the plants, herbs, and vegetarian land over the top of the mountain would require a sophisticated irrigation system of pumps and pipes to bring the water to the bottom of the Euphrates River. Some argue that the gardens did exist but not in Babylon, However, there is a famous doctor in the University of Oxford Dr. Stephanie who claims that the garden existed in the palace of King Sennacherib at Nineveh which is situated around 300 miles north of the Tigris River. Among all the conspiracy the end of such beauty was in 226 BC due to an Earthquake in Babylon

The Temple of Artemis

There is a famous saying of an ancient Greek poet Antipater of Sidon “when I saw the house of Artemis that mounted to the clouds, those other marvels lost their brilliancy”. The temple is regarded as the greatest wonder of the world and it has the toughest existence as it had been destroyed and recreated multiple times. It was earlier build with marble and glittery gold at Ephesus Selcuk, Turkey around 500 B.C to honor the Greek Goddess of hunting and nature, however, the temple was destroyed by the seventh-century flood. Once again destroyed by an arsonist named Herostratus in 356 BC to achieve fame by any means, he destroyed the whole temple using fire. Lastly, it was destroyed again by the East Germanic Goths in the third century. The historian describes the temple as having a length of 377 feet and 180 feet wide, having 127 iconic sculptured columns that supported its roof making it look like it’s touching the clouds. Having many wonderful arts in the temple made it worth the tourist attraction, especially the Artemis statue itself, which had been made of gold and beautiful materials. The remains of the temple are now being held at the British Museum for preserving history.

Light House of Alexandria

The lighthouse is considered among the most famous lighthouses ever built and this was no ordinary one due to its design and style. The base structure was built in a square, having an octagonal structure and having a cylindrical top. The reason to build the lighthouse was due to guidelines for the boats because of the shallow water and rocks thus this lighthouse was built by Alexander the Great at the nearby Island of Pharos. An architect named Sostratus of Cnidus was in charge of the construction, having a height of around 140 meters making it the second-highest handmade structure built after the pyramid of Giza. Inside the lighthouse, there was a curved mirror that reflected the light of the sun to the far-off mariners and boats and at the night there lit a huge fire which could be seen 35 miles away. The structure just like other wonders withstood many earthquakes, however eventually withstood huge damage and crumbled into the sea. Later the remains were used to build a fort.?

MAUSOLEUM AT HALICARNASSUS

This wonderful beauty was built in 353-350BC serving as a tomb for Maosolus, a governor of the Achaemenid Empire. As a governor, he had a luxurious life with his wife Artemisia (Mausolus’s sister) who made sure to build a huge mansion after his death. This monumental structure had been designed by Greek architects Pythius and Satyros and was built with white marble. It’s extravagant beauty come from combining three different architectural design from Lycian, Greek and Egyptian style. The base of the monument has an estimated height of 20 meters which formed the base for the next level, supported with 36 beautifully sculptured columns. The top floor of the tomb was designed as a pyramid having four-horse sculptures on the top of the pyramid facing against each other at 90 degrees. The tomb has been destroyed multiple times due to earthquakes in the 14th century but some part remains till this day. ?

Do you know the remaining wonders of the world?