If you were asked to name seven man-made "wonders" of the modern world, what would you name? The Eiffel Tower in Paris, France? Maybe the Empire State Building in New York? And the Suez Canal? The explorers and travelers listed all three along wiA look at the "Seven Wonders" of Antiquity
If you were asked to name seven man-made "wonders" of the modern world, what would you name? The Eiffel Tower in Paris, France? Maybe the Empire State Building in New York? And the Suez Canal? The explorers and travelers listed all three along with other notable things.
Suppose you lived more than two thousand years ago. What would you call the seven wonders of the world? The Greeks and Romans had different lists of notable works of art and architecture. For example, Philo of Byzantium gave one list, Antipater of Sidon another, which differed somewhat. However, as it stands, we have a traditional list that includes man-made objects that were colossal in size, in greatsplendor, or extraordinary for other extraordinary properties.
The pyramids of Egypt
Of the "seven wonders" of ancient times, only the Egyptian pyramids remain today. The most important are the three in Giza, on the western bank of the Nile, near Cairo. These are giant tombs that were built for certain pharaohs. The first and largest was the Great Pyramid. This gigantic tomb of Pharaoh Khufu (Khufu) was considered a safe place for the king's remains and the treasures buried with them.
The Great Pyramid covers an area of 13 acres and has a square base and triangular sides, each facing one of the four cardinal points. This pyramid is 140 meters high and was built with 2,300,000 individual stones. These stones weigh up to 5,000 pounds each! How were these large stones removed, transported, and placed? This cannot be said with certainty. However, it was concluded that some 100,000 men worked to complete the Great Pyramid for twenty years.
Why were the pyramids built? Well, the ancient Egyptians believed in life after death. But for the soul to live, they believed that a person's fleshly body had to be preserved. Then they embalmed their dead. Furthermore, valuables were buried with the deceased for use in the spirit world. It's no wonder some pharaohs built gigantic and seemingly impenetrable tombs!
The Hanging Gardens and Walls of Babylon
If tourists from the past were drawn to the pyramids, their "guides" would probably encourage them to come to Babylon. According to some traditions, the huge walls of this city and its hanging gardens were among the "seven wonders" of antiquity.
The walls of Babylon were built in the 7th century BC. Built by King Nabopolassar. and his successor, King Nebuchadnezzar II (624-581 BC). The city was built on both sides of the Euphrates and there were walls with a series of gates along the banks of the river. Furthermore, Babylon was surrounded by double walls, and the outer wall was supported by towers. There were several huge doors, two Greek historians from the 5th century BC. wrote on the walls of Babylon. Ctesias says that they were about 300 feet high, while Herodotus said that the walls were about 335 feet high and 85 feet wide. In any case, the width of the Babylonian wall had to be great, as Herodotus said: “At the top, on the edges of the wall, they built one-chamber buildings facing each other, which stood between them to go around horse. .
If a traveler were to admire these high walls, they would no doubt consider the Hanging Gardens of Babylon a "wonder". Apparently Nebuchadnezzar II built it for his middle queen, Amite, who found Babylon's flat landscape disappointing and longed for the trees and mountainous terrain of her homeland.
The Hanging Gardens consisted of a series of artificial terraces connected by marble stairs that rose 75 to 300 feet above the level. Many flowers, shrubs and trees grew on the terraces, which were covered with earth. The slaves are said to work in shifts, turning screws that brought water from the Euphrates to the gardens. From the cisterns on the highest terrace, the water was directed to the fountains, which provided the necessary irrigation. As extraordinary as they are, these famous hanging gardens no longer exist.
h other notable things.
Suppose you lived more than two thousand years ago. What would you call the seven wonders of the world? The Greeks and Romans had different lists of notable works of art and architecture. For example, Philo of Byzantium gave one list, Antipater of Sidon another, which differed somewhat. However, as it stands, we have a traditional list that includes man-made objects that were colossal in size, in great splendor, or extraordinary for other extraordinary properties.
The pyramids of Egypt
Of the "seven wonders" of ancient times, only the Egyptian pyramids remain today. The most important are the three in Giza, on the western bank of the Nile, near Cairo. These are giant tombs that were built for certain pharaohs. The first and largest was the Great Pyramid. This gigantic tomb of Pharaoh Khufu (Khufu) was considered a safe place for the king's remains and the treasures buried with them.
The Great Pyramid covers an area of 13 acres and has a square base and triangular sides, each facing one of the four cardinal points. This pyramid is 140 meters high and was built with 2,300,000 individual stones. These stones weigh up to 5,000 pounds each! How were these large stones removed, transported, and placed? This cannot be said with certainty. However, it was concluded that some 100,000 men worked to complete the Great Pyramid for twenty years.
Why were the pyramids built? Well, the ancient Egyptians believed in life after death. But for the soul to live, they believed that a person's fleshly body had to be preserved. Then they embalmed their dead. Furthermore, valuables were buried with the deceased for use in the spirit world. It's no wonder some pharaohs built gigantic and seemingly impenetrable tombs!
The temple of Artemis in Ephesus
When the Christian apostle Paul visited the famous city of Ephesus in Asia Minor in the first century CE, the goddess Artemis (Roman Diana) was among his notable buildings. An original temple dating from around 550 BC. Has been conceived. C. was 356 BC. Destroyed, but replaced by a building more magnificent than the original.In the days of the Apostle Paul, this magnificent temple stood on a platform of about 418 feet by 239 feet. The building was approximately 343 feet long and 164 feet wide. Its inner sanctum, about 105 feet long and 21 feet wide, is believed to have opened to the sky. An image of the goddess Artemis could have been behind the altar of this sanctuary. Of this imposing marble temple with white marble slabs and over a hundred massive columns, only the foundations and a few relatively small rooms remain. The Goths destroyed the temple around 260 AD. It is true that the followers of the goddess shouted one day: "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" But that “greatness” and its once glorious temple are faded from the past (Acts 19:34).
Olympia
Likewise, the eminent Greek sculptor Phidias believed to have formed a god around 435 BC. One of the "seven wonders" of Antiquity completed. It was a statue of Zeus (Roman Jupiter) twelve meters long on a cedar throne, decorated with ebony, ivory, gold and precious stones. The statue depicted the false god with an olive crown on his head. Using wood as a core, Phidias made the flesh from ivory and the mantle from gold. In the right hand of the god he placed a gold and ivory figurine of victory and on the left a scepter crowned with an eagle.
This gigantic statue was placed in the temple of Zeus in Olympia, Greece, and its admirers included many athletes and other sports fans who flocked to the area for the famous Olympics. In the following century, Roman Emperor Theodosius I had the statue brought to Constantinople, where it was destroyed by fire in AD 475.
Mausoleum of Halicarnassus
When the king mausoleum of Caria in 353 BC. Died in Asia Minor.Apparently his wife Artemisia believed her husband's name and fame would survive. This is why she had a fantastic grave in his memory. It was the mausoleum of Halicarnassus in southwestern Asia Minor. Interestingly, the detailed buildings that make up a burial chamber are still referred to as mausoleums.
The Tomb of Mausolus was designed by the Greek architects Pythios and Satyros. It was about 135 meters high and had a rectangular base surmounted by a colonnade of 36 columns. At the top of the colonnade was a step pyramid and above it was a mausol statue on a chariot. Everything for a man!
As impressive as it is, the mausoleum was destroyed by an earthquake. In the 15th century AD. the building disappeared. Today, only a few pieces of the once magnificent tomb are preserved.
The Colossus of Rhodes
Popularly known as the Colossus, a statue of the sun god Helios stood near the harbor on the island of Rhodes in the Aegean Sea. This bronze statue was about 36 meters high and almost the same height as the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor. And it really was a colossus. Well, one finger was bigger than many ordinary statues! To support this hollow representation of Helios, the Greek sculptor Chares de Lindus, Rhodes used about seven and a half tons of iron bars, in addition to boulders. Chares worked for twelve years and completed the statue in 280 BC. By the way, the statue did not cross the harbor with ships passing through the legs, as some have said. Rather, it seems to have been built on a dam overlooking the sea.
Think about it anyway! The colossus of Rhodes lasted only fifty-six years. An earthquake occurred in 224 BC. C. Chr. Depressed. The broken fragments would have remained in the rocks for more than 800 years before they were sold for scrap in the 700s AD. A glorious end to one of the "old seven wonders"!
The lighthouses of Alexandria
A virtual "skyscraper" and another "wonder" from antiquity was a tall tower on an island in the port of Alexandria, Egypt. This lighthouse, named Pharos after the island (now a peninsula) on which it lay, was so famous that Pharos was generally considered a lighthouse.
Although reports vary, Pharos in Alexandria appears to be about 400 meters high. Its designer was the Greek architect Sostratus and was built around 270 BC. Built under the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphia. This lighthouse was built in three sections on a stone base. The lower part was square, the central part eight sides and the upper part circular. The upper part was covered, but open, with bronze players around it.
The wood was transported through a central shaft by means of an anchor winch to the open upper deck to feed the fire that gave the light. A mirror is designed to reflect fire at night and sunlight during the day, so that the light can be seen at least 100 miles away.
What happened to Alexandria's lighthouse? It was partially destroyed by an earthquake on August 7, 1303 and its ruins appear to have been completed during the same century. But the famous lighthouse lasted for more than a thousand years.
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