The historian Herodotus (484 BC–ca. 425 BC), and the scholar Callimachus of Cyrene (ca 305–240 BC) at the Museum of Alexandria, made early lists of Seven wonders but their writings have not survived, except as references. The seven wonders included:
Great Pyramid of Giza
Hanging Gardens of Babylon
Statue of Zeus at Olympia
Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
Mausoleum of Maussollos at Halicarnassus
Colossus of Rhodes
Lighthouse of Alexandria
The earliest lists had the Ishtar Gate as the seventh wonder of the world instead of the Lighthouse of Alexandria.
The Greek category was not Wonders but "thaumata"(Greek: Θαύματα), which translates closer to "miracles". The list that we know today was compiled in the Middle Ages—by which time many of the sites were no longer in existence. Today, the only ancient world wonder that still exists is the Great Pyramid of Giza.
This light house of Alexandria was one of the useful wonders among all the seven wonders of the world (for the sailors to return to the GreatHarbor). This is a small point that differentiates it from the rest of the wonders of the world. The mirror which was mounted on this lighthouse could reflect the light more than 35 miles off-shore. Of the 6 ancient smashed wonders, this was the last to be destroyed around 1480 AD.
Location:
On the ancient island of Pharos, now a promontory on the harbor of the city of Alexandria in Egypt.
This lighthouse was built around 280 BC and was around 134 m in height. This was built in the city of Alexandria. The light house had a good mirror which can reflect the sun light to a very long distance. Mythical stories used to say that this mirror was used to burn the enemy ships. The Macedonian conqueror, Alexander during his successful reign, had tried establishing about 17 cities in the name of Alexandria. The only one survived long was the one in Egypt. That too even this city was not completely built by Alexander. The completion of the construction of this city was achieved by his commander Ptolemy I Soter. Ptolemy connected Alexandria to the Pharos island by a bridge. It was realized that the sailing in this coastal region is very dangerous. That is why he decided to build a light house. This project was initiated during Ptolemy's reign in 290 BC and completed after his death by his son Ptolemy Philadelphus. Sostratus who lived in the same time as Euclid, was the architect. This used to remain in the harbor for centuries. This wonder of the world also depicted in the Roman coins that time.
The writings of the Arab conquerors are very good source of information about this lighthouse. The new rulers moved the capital to the Cairo. So this place had lost its importance. Three earthquakes stuck in various periods (around AD 956, AD 1303 and AD 1323 ) have damaged the lighthouse significantly. The during AD 1480 the Egyptian Mamelouk Sultan, has built a medieval fort at the same place. That was the end to the story of the light house. There are some more tales to the light house. Sostratus after he completed the lighthouse wanted his name to be carved on the light house. This was not allowed by Ptolemy II Philadelphus. Ptolemy II wanted his name to be carved on the structure. But what Sostratus did is he first carved his name underneath, put plasters on it and then carved Ptolemy II's name. After some years, the plasters worn out and his name has come out to be known to all. The design of the lighthouse was unlike the modern slim lighthouse towers. This was built in 3 stages, each built on top of the lower. This lighthouse was so popular that the word Pharos came into French, Spanish and Italian to mean lighthouse.
This is such an elegant piece of architectural wonder that, it found a place in the list of ancient wonders among the great seven wonders of the world, like pyramids.
Location:
This Wonder of the World, is located in the city of Bodrum, on the Aegan sea, in south-west Turkey. This is actually closer to the ancient Temple of Artemis.
This Mausoleum was built in memory and as a burial tomb for the King Mausolus. King Mausolus was married to his sister Artemisia in his family. In those times, Caria rulers had a custom to marry their own sisters. When the king died, Artemisia decided to build this monument in his memory, which later found a place among the seven wonders of the world. Mausolus was the son of Hecatomnus. Hecatomnus ruled the Mediterranean coast of Asia minor with a small kingdom. He took control of several of his neighboring regions, during his reign. After Hecatomnus' death, Mausolus also extended the kingdom. Mausolus ruled this kingdom with the capital as Halicarnassus for 24 years. There was nothing worth mentioning as his achievement during his tenure except for this monument with its exceptional beauty later to be called as one of the seven wonders of the world. This Mausoleum was built around 353 BC. This lasted strong for 16 centuries till an earthquake damaged the roof and the colonnade of this structure. In the early 15th century AD Knights of John of Malta, used the stone blocks in this structure to construct a castle. That was the end to the story of this Mausoleum, one among the seven wonders of the world in ancient times.
This Mausoleum had a lot of beautiful statues sculpted by the best sculptors like Bryaxis, Leochares, Scopas, and Timotheus. Some of the artifacts are still kept in London. Soon after the construction of this wonder of the world, Mausoleum Artemisia found herself in a crisis. Before death, Mausolus used to control the small neighboring regions like Rhodes island and others. When the Rhodes island king came to know that Mausolus has died, he sent a number of ships to capture the city of Halicarnassus. But Artemisia beat them cleverly by hiding her ships and then attacking her enemies. Then she successfully sent her troops to the Rhodes island on the enemy ships and captured Rhodes Island. The Rhodes Island soldiers thought that it is their people who are coming back with victory. They did not put up any defense. So they were easily conquered.
This was supposed to be one of the most beautiful structures on the Earth. No wonder it got recognized as one of the seven wonders of the world.
Location:
This is located on the west coast of modern Turkey, south of Selcuk county about 50 km south of Smyrna. This place was called as Ephesus during ancient times.
This temple was destroyed and rebuilt over several hundred years. This was first built during 800 BC near the river at Ephesus. The God Artemis in Ephesus is a goddess of fertility. In some instances Artemis is linked closely to the Roman and Italian goddess, Diana. She also is goddess of night, fruitfulness, childbirth, beasts, bull and is an eternal virgin. This earliest temple supposedly contained a sacred stone, probably fallen from Jupiter. By 600 BC, a Greek architect named Chersiphron (and his son, Metagenes) was engaged and the temple was built. The temple was decorated with beautiful bronze statues sculpted by artists Pheidias, Polycleitus, Kresilas and Phradmon. This was destroyed by the Lydian king Croesus when he conquered Ephesus. He later built a large temple at the same place with the help of Theodorus. This temple was both a market place and a place of worship. For years this place was visited by lots of merchants, tourists, artisans, kings to pay their homage and share their profits with the Artemis goddess. Lots of scholars venerated to the extent that this came to be recognized as one of the seven wonders of the world. On July 21, 356 BC, a man named HeroStratus burned the temple. He did this in order to gain a big name in the history. For an inquisitive info, Alexander was also born the same night. The reconstruction was commenced very shortly with an architect called Scopas of Paros. He was the best architect of those times.
When Alexander conquered Asia Minor, he offered to rebuild the temple. The reconstruction was in progress when he reached this place. Even then, it was restored only after his death. When he came into this place in 333 BC, the temple was still being rebuilt. This Temple was the last of the Great Goddess Temples to remain open and was the site of Goddess worship well into the Christian era. When St. Paul visited Ephesus to preach Christianity, he was not at all accepted by the local Artemisians. But after the temple was destroyed by Goths in AD 262, most of the people had got themselves converted to Christianity. In AD 401 St. John Chrysostom torn the whole structure down. That was the end to this wonder of the world. This site got excavated only in 19th century. This one of the seven wonders of world supposed to have contained 106 columns and each of them believed to be from 40 to 60 ft height. foundation was approximately 200 feet by 400 feet.
SEVEN WONDERS OF ANCIENT TIME
