The Seven Wonders of the Ancient. World

Transcription

1 The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World are a list of seven of the most amazing creations known to man kind, all though not many people were able to see these creations, history can tell us all about them. Over 2100 years ago, a Greek poet made a list. This Greek poet was named Antipater of Sidon (Antipater of Sidon Web Site). He made a list of seven things that to him were the most amazing creations in his time. Some of them he had never seen before, but he included them in his list. No one knows exactly why he did it, but he gave us one of the most important lists in the world (Scher, L). The Pyramids at Giza The Pyramids at Giza in Egypt are the oldest of the seven wonders and are also the only ones still standing (Bentley, D). No one knows exactly how they were built (Bentley, D). For over 4,000 years the Great Pyramid of Khufu was the tallest building in the world (Bentley, D).

2 The civilization of ancient Egypt is one of the oldest in the world (Bentley, D). People began to live along the banks of the Nile River about 7,000 years ago (Bentley, D). Ancient Egyptians created marvelous works of art, built towering temples, and developed their own religion (Bentley, D). Egyptians believed in afterlife, so they preserved dead bodies by a process called mummification. Pyramids were built as royal tombs for kings (Bentley, D). The Egyptians worshipped the sun god, Re, and they may have chosen the pyramid shape to represent the rays of the sun pouring down to earth, or perhaps they thought the dead king buried in the pyramid could use its sloping sides as a staircase to climb to the gods in the sky (Bentley, D). The pyramids were built in the north of Egypt between 2670 and 1899 BC (Bentley, D). In about 2560 BC the Egyptian king Khufu, who is sometimes known by his Greek name Cheops, built a pyramid at Giza. Two smaller pyramids were later built for Khufu s successors, Khafre and Menkaure (Bentley, D). Herodotus said the pyramids were built by slaves, but he was wrong. Free Egyptian men worked on them for a few months each year (Bentley, D). No one knows exactly how the pyramids were built. The ancient Egyptians used rollers and levers but had no tools like the pulley to help them lift the massive

3 blocks of stone. Different ideas exist about how the stones were raised and fitted into place. Herodotus says that the Egyptians used machines made of wooden planks, while others believe that the stones were taken on sleds or rollers up a ramp that spiraled round the pyramid. Archaeologists have found remains of ramps near the pyramids (Bentley, D). Khufu s pyramid is called the Great Pyramid. The Greek historian Herodotus believed that it took about twenty years to build (Bentley, D). Nearly two and half million blocks of stone were used, many weighing about 2.25 tons each. The Great Pyramid stands four hundred and eighty one feet high, even though part of its top is now missing. It covers an area of 13.1 acres (Bentley, D). The Great Pyramid was long ago robbed by tomb robbers, and Khufu s mummified body disappeared (Bentley, D). The pyramids still remain today but their appearance has changed. In the 14th century, most of their limestone covering was taken away and used for buildings in Cairo. Only King Khafre s pyramid still has some limestone on top (Bentley, D). The Lighthouse at Alexandria Alexandria was named by its founder, Alexander the Great. Alexander the Great was only nineteen when he became ruler. He

4 quickly became the most important ruler in all Greece. He conquered many countries and created a massive empire. He conquered the kingdom of Persia, which had ruled Egypt for two centuries (Bentley, D). Alexandria in Egypt was famous as a center of learning and culture. One of its most amazing buildings was the Pharos, the first lighthouse ever built (Bentley, D). In 332 BC Alexander decided to build a city by the sea so that ships could travel between his kingdoms in Egypt and Greece. He never got to see this city because in 323 BC he died (Bentley, D). The lighthouse was a gigantic building which stood about three hundred and eighty-five feet tall. Although it was built of limestone some parts of it may have been covered by white marble. Lighthouse had three stories and tapered upward to the top. The first part of the building was square. The second part was octagonal. The third level was circular. There were rooms within the square base. On top of the lighthouse stood a statue of the Greek god, Zeus (Bentley, D). After Queen Cleopatra VII died, the build of the city began in 30 BC. The coast near Alexandria was very flat, the sea was shallow, and there were dangerous reefs nearby, so a lighthouse was built. The lighthouse was built on a small rocky island called Pharos, where the lighthouse s name came

5 from (Bentley, D). The lighthouse was used for more than one thousand years. In AD 956 and again in 1303 and 1323 the lighthouse was badly damaged by earthquakes (Bentley, D). The lighthouse soon became a model for others. The Romans copied its design and built several lighthouses (Bentley, D). The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus Mausollus ruled Caria for the Persians from 377 to 353 BC (Bentley, D). Kingdom of Caria was part of the Persian Empire (Bentley, D). Maussollus became more powerful and independent. He created a new center for Caria (Bentley, D). He turned Halicarnassus into a beautiful city with grand buildings, one of them being his own tomb (Bentley, D). He died before his tomb was finished. Work was continued after his death by his wife, Artemisia, who was also his sister. She died two years after her husband. Tomb was finished after her death, around 350 BC (Bentley, D). The Mausoleum was designed by two Greek architects, Satyrus and Pythius (Mausoleum of Maussollus). The Mausoleum was 140 feet tall, as tall as a fourteen foot building (The Seven Wonders: The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus Web site). The tomb had three main parts. The first part was a rectangular base or the podium. It was 120 feet by 100 feet.

6 The podium supported the second part, the colonnade or row of thirtysix columns. Above the colonnade was a pyramid of twenty-four marble steps. Inside the tomb was a burial chamber with a coffin of white alabaster and gold (Bentley, D). Sculptures were around the base of tomb. Single statues stood between the columns on the colonnade. On top of tomb was a colossal statue of a four-horse chariot. Statues of lions and people, possibly of Maussollus s court, stood on the tomb. Statues were painted with very bright colors. Each of the four sides had sculptured reliefs, created by Bryaxis, Leochares, Scopas, and Timotheus. A relief is a sculptured artwork where a modeled form projects out from a flat background (Mausoleum of Maussollus). Reliefs showed chariot races and fierce battles between Greeks and Amazons, Lapiths, and Centaurs (Bentley, D). For sixteen centuries (1500 years) the tomb was in good condition until an earthquake destroyed it. In the early fifteenth century the Knights of St. John of Malta invaded the area and built a massive crusader castle. In 1494 they used the stones of the Mausoleum to reinforce their castle. By 1522 almost every block of the Mausoleum had been disassembled and used for the construction (The Seven Wonders: The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus Web site).

7 The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus became so famous that the word mausoleum is now used to describe all big tombs. Hanging Gardens of Babylon The gardens are the most mysterious of all the seven wonders. Little was written about them and not a trace of them remains today (Bentley, D). Babylon was one of the world s first major civilizations. Babylon was located in Mesopotamia, the land between two rivers, between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The city of Babylon became capital of the kingdom of Babylonia (Bentley, D). King Nabopolessar and his son, Nebuchadnezzar II took over Babylon in 625 BC. Nebuchadnezzar II built double walls that were seventy feet high, around the city. He built palaces and monuments too. Little stone or timber was available in the area so buildings were mostly made of bricks (Bentley, D). No Babylonian records even mention the hanging gardens. One Greek writer, Berossus, a priest in Babylon, wrote that one Greek writer, Berossus, a priest in Babylon, wrote that Nebuchadnezzar II had terraces in his palace on which gardens were planted. A traditional story is told that says the king built the gardens to please his wife, Amitiya, who was homesick for gardens of her home (Bentley, D). It was said the gardens were built in stepped terraces

8 which rose into the air until they reached the top of the city's walls. The terraces were supported by arches and a massive outer wall. Steps led from one terrace to another and water from Euphrates River was drawn up the terraces. Terraces were covered with asphalt to stop water seeping through (Bentley, D). By sixth century AD Babylon was abandoned. Today the ruins of Babylon cover some 334 acres, but nobody has ever found any definite remains of the gardens (Bentley, D). All of the Seven Wonders but one has been destroyed without many people not being able to see them. I hope this report has helped you to maybe not see the wonders in person but let you feel like you have seen them. In November 2006 USA Today teamed with Good Morning America to make a list of the Seven New Wonders of the World. A group of 6 experts got together to decide the new list. Many candidates were considered, but only seven could be chosen. The new seven wonders are: Tibet s Potala Palace, Old City of Jerusalem, Polar Ice Caps, Hawaiian Islands Monument, the Internet, Mayan Pyramids, and the Great Migration. The viewers of Good Morning America and the readers of USA Today were able to choose the 8 th new wonder. The people voted the Grand Canyon as the 8 th new wonder of the world.

9 Work Cited Antipater of Sidon. Retrieved November 24, 2006, from Wikipedia Web site: Bentley, D. (2001). The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. London: The British Museum Press. Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. Retrieved November 14, 2006, Web site: Mausoleum of Maussollos. Retrieved November 14, 2006, Web site: Scher, L. (2002, November). The Wondrous Seven. 7 Wonders of the World, [12(11)], 2.

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