The Original Seven Wonders of the World.: A statue of the Greek sun god Helios. Built in the city of Rhodes in 280 BC, the nearly 100-foot-high statue was destroyed in an earthquake in 226 B.C.: With construction that ended around 2560 B.C., the pyramid is the oldest of the original seven wonders. The massive structure still stands in Egypt.: With little historical documentation, not much is known of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

1. Books

They may be mythical, they may have been built by king Nebuchadnezzar II around 600 B.C., or they may have been located in the Assyrian city of Nineveh by king Sennacherib around 700 B.C.: Built around 280 B.C., the Lighthouse of Alexandria stood around 400 feet tall and was the tallest building in the world for centuries. It was damaged by several earthquakes, and in 1480, its ruins were used to construct the Citadel of Qaitbay, a fortress that still stands on Pharos Island.: Located in today's Bodrum, Turkey, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus was built as the tomb of Mausolus around 350 B.C. The structure was destroyed by a series of earthquakes between the 12th and 15th centuries.: Built sometime around 435 B.C. By the Greek sculptor Phidias, the statue stood over 40 feet tall and represented Zeus on a cedar throne.

The work was ornamented with gold and ivory. The statue was lost or destroyed sometime in the 5th century, although the exact nature of the work's loss remain unknown.: Located in eastern Turkey, the Temple of Artemis's age is unknown, for it was rebuilt several times. The third temple, and the one referenced by the Greeks as a wonder of the world, was constructed beginning in 323 B.C. The structure was destroyed by the Goths in 268 A.D. The Seven Wonders of the Modern World.: The 50 kilometer tunnel running under the English Channel to connect England to France.: The 533 meter-high needle-like tower in downtown Toronto, Canada. At the time of its construction in 1976, it was the tallest building in the world.: The iconic skyscraper in Manhattan, New York City. The 102-story building was the tallest in the world from 1931 to 1970.: San Francisco's iconic bridge first opened in 1937 and was the world's longest suspension bridge for nearly 30 years.: Located on the border of Brazil and Paraguay, the Itaipu Dam is the second largest in the world for energy generation.: A massive series of dams, levees, locks, and barriers that protect the low-lying Netherlands from the sea.: Completed in 1917, the massive engineering project connects the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

7 Wonders Of The Ancient World Serial Numbers. Convert 7 Wonders Of The Ancient World trail version to full software.

A new and larger canal opened in 2016. Seven Natural Wonders of the World In 1997, CNN announced a listing of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. Grand Canyon.

The Harbor at Rio de Janeiro. Paricutin Volcano.

Victoria Falls The 'New' Seven Wonders of the World On July 7, 2007 (7-7-07) an organization announced a 'new' set of the Seven Wonders of the World based on online voting from around the world. Chichen Itza, Mexico - Mayan City. Christ Redeemer, Brazil - Large Statue. Machu Picchu, Peru. Petra, Jordan - Ancient City. The Roman Colosseum, Italy.

Ultimately, any list of the Seven Wonders of the World is subjective, based on the individual or group of individuals who developed the list. No one list is authoritative, even the original Ancient list.

But looking at and learning from these lists and how they change over time can tell us a lot about our cultural values and accomplishments. Article edited and expanded.

Of the Ancient World were:. the Great at,. the Hanging Gardens of. the Statue of at,. the of at. the Mausoleum at. the Colossus of.

the Lighthouse at, Egypt The were first defined as themata ( for 'things to be seen’ which, in today’s common English, we would phrase as 'must sees’) by Philo of in 225 BCE, in his work On The Seven Wonders. Other writers on the Seven Wonders include, Callimachus of and of. Of the original seven, only the Great Pyramid exists today. Great pyramid at Giza The Great Pyramid at Giza was constructed between 2584 and 2561 BCE for the Egyptian Khufu (known in Greek as `Cheops') and was the tallest man-made structure in the world for almost 4,000 years. Excavations of the interior of the pyramid were only initiated in earnest in the late 18th and early 19th centuries CE and so the intricacies of the interior which so intrigue modern people were unknown to the ancient writers. It was the structure itself with its perfect symmetry and imposing height which impressed ancient visitors.

Hanging Gardens of Babylon The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, if they existed as described, were built by between 605-562 BCE as a gift to his wife. They are described by the ancient writer Diodorus Siculus as being self-watering planes of exotic flora and fauna reaching a height of over 75 feet (23 metres) through a series of climbing terraces. Diodorus wrote that Nebuchadnezzar's wife, Amtis of Media, missed the mountains and flowers of her homeland and so the king commanded that a mountain be created for her in Babylon.

The contoversy over whether the gardens existed comes from the fact that they are nowhere mentioned in Babylonian history and that Herodotus, `the Father of History', makes no mention of them in his descriptions of Babylon. There are many other ancient facts, figures, and places Herodotus fails to mention, however, or has been shown to be wrong about. Diodorus, Philo, and the historian Strabo all claim the gardens existed. They were destroyed by an earthquake sometime after the 1st century CE. Statue of Zeus at Olympia The Statue of Zeus at Olympia was created by the great Greek sculptor (known as the finest sculptor of the ancient world in the 5th century BCE, he also worked on the and the statue of there in ).

The statue depicted the god Zeus seated on his throne, his skin of ivory and robes of hammered, and was 40 feet (12 m) tall, designed to inspire awe in the worshippers who came to the Temple of Zeus at Olympia. Not everyone was awestruck by the statue, however. Strabo reports, “Although the temple itself is very large, the sculptor is criticized for not having appreciated the correct proportions. He has shown Zeus seated, but with the head almost touching the ceiling, so that we have the impression that if Zeus moved to stand up he would unroof the temple” (Seven Wonders). The Temple at Olympia fell into ruin after the rise of and the ban on the as `pagan rites’. The statue was carried off to where it was later destroyed, sometime in either the 5th or 6th centuries CE, by an earthquake. Temple of Artemis at The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, a Greek colony in, took over 120 years to build and only one night to destroy.

Completed in 550 BCE, the temple was 425 feet (about 129 m) high, 225 feet (almost 69 m) wide, supported by 127 60 foot (about 18 m) high columns. Sponsored by the wealthy King of, who spared no expense in anything he did (according to Herodotus, among others) the temple was so magnificent that every account of it is written with the same tone of awe and each agrees with the other that this was among the most amazing structures ever raised by humans. On July 21, 356 BCE a man named Herostratus set fire to the temple in order, as he said, to achieve lasting fame by forever being associated with the destruction of something so beautiful.

The Ephesians decreed that his name should never be recorded nor remembered but Strabo set it down as a point of interest in the history of the temple. On the same night the temple burned, was born and, later, offered to rebuild the ruined temple but the Ephesians refused his generosity. It was rebuilt on a less grand scale after ’s death but was destroyed by the invasion of the. Rebuilt again, it was finally destroyed utterly by a Christian mob lead by Saint John Chrysostom in 401 CE. Mausoleum of Halicarnassus The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus was the of the Persian Satrap Mauslos, built in 351 BCE. Mauslos chose Halicarnassus as his capital, and he and his beloved wife Artemisia went to great lengths to create a city whose beauty would be unmatched in the world.

Mauslos died in 353 BCE and Artemisia wished to create a final resting place worthy of such a great king. Artemisia died two years after Mauslos and her ashes were entombed with his in the mausoleum ( records that the craftsmen continued work on the structure after her death, both as a tribute to their patroness and knowing the work would bring them lasting fame). The tomb was 135 feet (41 m) tall and ornately decorated with fine sculpture.

It was destroyed by a series of earthquakes and lay in ruin for hundreds of years until, in 1494 CE, it was completely dismantled and used by the Knights of St. John of Malta in the building of their castle at Bodrum (where the ancient stones can still be seen today). It is from the tomb of Mauslos that the English word `mausoleum’ is derived. Colossus of Rhodes The Colossus of Rhodes was a statue of the god (the patron god of the island of Rhodes) constructed between 292 and 280 BCE. It stood over 110 feet (just over 33 m) high overlooking the harbor of Rhodes and, despite fanciful depictions to the contrary, stood with its legs together on a base (much like the Statue of Liberty in the harbor off New York City in the United States of America, which is modeled on the Colossus) and did not straddle the harbour. The statue was commissioned after the defeat of the invading army of Demetrius in 304 BCE. Demetrius left behind much of his siege equipment and weaponry and this was sold by the Rhodians for 300 talents (approximately 360 million U.S.

Dollars) which money they used to build the Colossus. The statue stood for only 56 years before it was destroyed by an earthquake in 226 BCE. It lay in impressive ruin for over 800 years, according to Strabo, and was still a tourist attraction. Pliny the Elder claims that the fingers of the Colossus were larger than most statues of his day.

Books

According to the historian Theophanes the bronze ruins were eventually sold to “a Jewish merchant of Edessa” around 654 CE who carried them away on 900 camels to be melted down. LIGHTHOUSE OF ALEXANDRIA The Lighthouse at Alexandria, built on the island of Pharos, stood close to 440 feet (134 m) in height and was commissioned by Soter. Construction was completed sometime around 280 BCE. The lighthouse was the third tallest human-made structure in the world (after the ) and its light (a mirror which reflected the sun’s rays by day and a fire by night) could be seen as far as 35 miles out to sea. The structure rose from a square base to a middle octagonal section up to a circular top and those who saw it in its glory reported that words were inadequate to describe its beauty. The lighthouse was badly damaged in an earthquake in 956 CE, again in 1303 CE and 1323 CE and, by the year 1480 CE, it was gone.

The Egyptian fort Quaitbey now stands on the site of the Pharos, built with some of the stones from the ruins of the lighthouse. OTHER WONDERS The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World were, by no means, a comprehensive agreed-upon list of the most impressive structures of the day.

Rather, the list was very much like a modern-day tourist pamphlet informing travelers on what to see on their trip. Those masterpieces listed above are the traditionally accepted 'wonders’ as first set down by Philo of Byzantium but there were many writers who followed him who disagreed on what was a 'wonder’ and what was only of passing interest. Herodotus, for example, cites the Egyptian as being far more impressive than even the pyramids of Giza, stating, I visited this building and found it to surpass description; for if all the great works of the Greeks could be put together in one, they would not equal this Labyrinth. The Pyramids likewise surpass description, but the Labyrinth surpasses the Pyramids.

Nor did all agree on which of the 'wonders’ was the most wonderful, as this passage from Antipater, praising the Temple of Artemis, attests: I have gazed on the walls of impregnable Babylon along which chariots may race, and on the Zeus by the banks of the Alpheus, I have seen the hanging gardens, and the Colossus of the Helios, the great man-made mountains of the lofty pyramids, and the gigantic tomb of Mausolus; but when I saw the sacred house of Artemis, that towers to the clouds, the others were placed in the shade, for the sun himself, has never looked upon its equal, outside Olympus. Antipater also replaced the Lighthouse with Babylon's walls and Callimachus, among others, listed the of Babylon. Philo’s list, however, has long been accepted as the 'official’ definition of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. What they all did agree on, however, was that, once upon a time, humans raised structures which were worthy of the work of the gods and, once seen, were never to be forgotten.