Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
The canonical list of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World includes: The Great Pyramid of Giza, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes, and the Lighthouse of Alexandria. Considered to be architecturally and artistically perfect by the Greeks and Romans, the Wonders were located in Greece, North Africa and Asia Minor, and are believed to have been built between 2800 BC, with the first being the Pyramid of Giza and the final Wonder, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, built in 280 BC (Rose).

Figure 1: Seven Wonders of the Ancient World Map. Source: WorldAtlas.com The following pages will include an overview of four of the Wonders, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Colossus of Rhodes and the Lighthouse of Alexandria. The Statue of Zeus at Olympia, a forty foot high statue of the god Zeus, commissioned by the leaders of Elis, who believed that a statue of the god in whose honor the games were created “would maintain the pre-eminence of the god’s renowned sanctuary at Olympia, the site of the Olympic Games”(McWilliam, Puttock, Stevenson, Taraporewalla 13). The statue was built around 435 BC by an Athenian sculptor named Phidias who also built the statue of Athena in the Parthenon. Phidias is sometimes credited with developing a procedure called chryselephantine in which ivory, gold and bronze are overlaid on a wooden frame, helping to depict skin, hair and clothing. This procedure enabled Phidias to create a huge statue that would not easily crumble. The Greeks felt the statue was a wonder because of its greatness it was something that must be seen, travelers came from miles around to view its beauty and pay homage to the god. There are several different accounts of what happened to the statue, most scholars believe that the temple burned in 408 BC and the great statue was destroyed (Banks 79-95).

Figure 1: Drawing of the Statue of Zeus. Source:ancientworldwonder.blogspot.com

The Temple of Artemis, built to honor the Greek goddess of the moon and the hunt Artemis, who the Romans identify as Diana was located in Asia Minor, what is now Turkey. The temple was commissioned by King Croesus of Lydia, designed and built by a Cretan architect named Cherisiphron and his son Metagenes. The temple, a large marble building decorated with 127 Ionic columns that stood 60 feet high, was believed to have been built starting in 550 BC (Gill). The temple of Artemis was included as one of the Seven Wonders not only because of its size and grandeur, but also because of locale. “Its location on the rim of the Greek world helped to provoke admiration to non-Greeks of the vastness of the Greek world”(ancient.eu). The temple was said to have been destroyed by Herostratus, a man seeking fame on July 21, 356 B.C., the same day Alexander the Great was born. “Alexander helped pay for a new temple of Artemis, designed by Dinocrates and copying much of its predecessor, built in its place”(Gill).

Figure 1: Temple of Artemis. Source: ephephus.ws/temple-of-artemis The Colossus of Rhodes was a giant statue of Helios, god of the sun and the city’s patron god that stood in Mandraki Harbor entrance to the island. After Alexander the Great died, there was a siege of Rhodes and despite being greatly outnumbered, the people of Rhodes prevailed. To commemorate this great victory, the Rhodians commissioned a great statue of Helios to be erected at the entrance of the harbor. Ironically, the statue was made possible by the equipment the invading army left behind. The Greek sculptor Charos of Lindo was chosen for the monumental task of building the statue. The work began in 294 BC, but was not completed until 280 BC. The statue standing on a fifty foot tall marble base, was forged around stone blocks reinforced by iron beams made from more of the siege leftovers, with bronze attached to the frame. The Colossus of Rhodes was chosen as one of the wonders due to its location and impressive size. The statue was partially destroyed by an earthquake in 226 BC and in 653 AD when invaders captured the island was broken up and used for scrap. It is rumored to have taken 900 camels to transport it away (Clayton, Price).

Figure 1: Colossus of Rhodes. Source: thewondersoftheworld.net

The (Pharos) Lighthouse of Alexandria was the seventh and last wonder to be chosen. The Lighthouse was located on the small island of Pharos which sits in front of Alexandria’s harbor. After the death of Alexander the Great one of his commanders, Ptolemy I of Egypt, is believed to have commissioned the lighthouse to aid ships in navigation. Designed by Sostratos of Cnidus, a Greek architect, the Lighthouse was commissioned in 290 BC and took twenty years to complete. The Lighthouse was three levels and constructed of stone reinforced with molten lead. The light was provided by a mirror at the top that reflected the sun during daylight and a fire was lit to guide the ships at night. It is believed to have been visible for up to thirty-five miles. The Greeks chose the Lighthouse as the seventh wonder because it was a marvel of architecture and engineering. The Lighthouse was heavily damaged in 956 by an earthquake and again by subsequent earthquakes 1303 and 1323 before collapsing in 1326 (nekhebet.com).

Figure 1: The Lighthouse of Alexandria. Source: thewondersoftheworld.net

Works Cited

Banks, Edgar J., Ph.D. The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. New York, NY: Knickerbocker, 1916. The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2007. Web. 14 Sept. 2014. .
Clayton, Peter A., and Martin Price. The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. London: Routledge, 1988. Web. 14 Sept. 2014.
Gill, N. S. "Temple of Artemis at Ephesus." About. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2014. .
"Phidias.” Greek Sculptor. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2014. .
"The Lighthouse of Alexandria." Wonders of Ancient Egypt. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2014. .
"The Statue of Zeus at Olympia: New Approaches." The Statue of Zeus at Olympia: New Approaches (n.d.): 13. Web. .
"The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus: The Un-Greek Temple and Wonder." Www.ancient.eu. N.p., 18 Jan. 2012. Web. 14 Sept. 2014. .
Figure 1: "Seven Wonders of the Ancient World Map and Information Page." Seven Wonders of the Ancient World Map and Information Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2014. .
Figure 2: Digital image. Http://ancientworldwonder.blogspot.com/2013/01/fun-facts-and-images-of-statue-of-zeus.html. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2014.
Figure 3: Digital image. Http://www.ephesus.ws/temple-of-artemis.html. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2014.
Figure 4: Colossus of Rhodes. Digital image. http://www.thewondersoftheworld.net/education/originalwonders/colossusofrhodes/. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2014.
Figure 5: Digital image. http://www.thewondersoftheworld.net/education/originalwonders/lighthouseofalexandria/#pic2. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Sept. 2014.