Old Seven Wonders Of The World

OLD SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD


THE COLOSSUS OF RHODES:

The colossus was the shortest lived of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Completed in 282 B.C. after taking twelve years to build, the Colossus of Rhodes was felled by an earthquake that snapped the statue off at the knees a mere 56 years later. the towering figure made of stone and iron with an outer skin of bronze represented the Greek sun God Helios, the island''s patron god. It looked out from Mandraki Harbor on the Mediterranean island of Rodos, although it is no longer believed to have straddled, the harbor entrance as often shown in illustrations.
The Colossul stood about 110 feet (33m) tall, making it the tallest known statue of the ancient world. It was erected to celebrate the unification of the island''s three city states, which successfully resisted a long siege by the Antigonids of Macedonia.


THE LIGHT HOUSE OF ALEXANDRA:

The light house was the only ancient wonder that had a practical use, serving as a beacon for ships in the dangerous watyres of the Egyptian port city of Alexandria, now called EI Iskandariya. Constructed on the small island of Pharos between 285 and 247 B.C., the building was the world''s tallest for some time with a height of 384 feet (117m)
The light house was operated using fire at night and polished bronze mirrors that reflected the sun during the day. It is said that the light could be seen for more than 35 miles (50kms ) out to sea.
The huge structure towerred over the Mediterranean coast for more than 1500 years before bring seriously damaged by earthquakes in A.D. 1303 and 1323.



THE STATUE OF ZEUS:

The massive gold statue of the King of the Greek gods was built in honor of the original olympic games, which began in the ancient city of Olympia. The statue, completed by the classical sculptor Phidias around 432 B.C., sat on a jewel encrusted wooden throne inside a temple overlooking the city. The 40 foot (12m ) tall figure had a scepter in one hand and a small statue of the goddess of victory, NIKe, in the other-both made ivory and precious metals. The temple was closed when the olymoics were banned as a pagan practice in A.D. 391, after Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire.
The statue was eventually destroyed, although historians debate wether it perished with the temple or was moved to Constantinople ( Istanbul ) in Turkey and burned in a fire.



THE HANGING GARDENS IN BABYLON:


The hanging gardens are said to have stoos on the gates of the Euphrates river in modern day Iraq, although there is some doubt that wether they really existed. The Babylonian king Nebuchandnezzar II supposedly craeted the terraced gardens in 600 B.C. at his royal palace in the Mesopotamian desert. It is said that the gardens were made to please the King''s wife who missed the lush greenery of her homeland in the Medes, in what is now northern Iran. Archaelogists have yet to agree on the likely site of the hanging gardens but findings in the region that could be its remains include the foundations of a palace and a nearby vaulted building whith an irrigation well.
The most detailed description of the gardens come from Greek historians. There is no mention of them in ancient Babylonian records.



THE MAUSELEUM OF HALLCARNASSUS


The famous tomb at Halicarnassus now the city of Bodrum was built between 370 and 350 B.C. for King Mausolus of Caito, a region in the southwest of modern Turkey. Legend says that the King''s grieving wife Artemisia II had the tomb constructed as a memorial to their love. Mausolus was a satrap, or governor, in the Persian Empire, and his fabled tomb is the source of the word "mausoleum" The structure 120 feet (40m) long and 140feet (45m) tall. The tomb was most admired for its architectural beauty and splendor. the central burial chamber was decoratde in gold, while the exterior was adorned with ornate stone Friezes and sculptures created by four Greek artists. The mausoleum stood intact untill the early 15th century, when christian crusaders dismantled it for building material for a new castle. Some of the sculptures and frieze sections survived and can be seen today at the the British Museum in London, England.


THE TEMPLE OF ARTEMIS:


The great marble temple dedicated to the Greek goddess Artemis was compleated around 550 B.C. at Ephesus, near the modern day town of Selcuk in Turkey. In addition to its 120 columns, each standing 60 feet (20m) high, the temple was said to heve held many equisite art works, including bronze statues of the Amazons, a methical race of female warriors. A man named Herostratus reprtedly burned down the temple in 356 B.C. in an attempt to immortalize his name. After being restored the temple was destroyed by the Goths in A.D. 262 and again by the cgristians in A.D. 401 on the orders of St John Chrysostom, the archbishop of Constantinople (Istanbul). Today the temple''s foundation have been excavated and some of its columns re-erected.