The seven wonders of the world: 1. The pyramids of Egypt, 2. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, 3. The Temple of Artemis, 4. The Colossus of Rhodes of Helios, 5. The Statue of God Zeus, 6. The Tomb of Mausoleum, 7. The Light House of Pharos

We have often heard about the Seven great Wonders of the ancient world. These are in fact the famous achievements of mankind in early civilizations, which the ancient Greeks and Romans regarded as the most wonderful. Would you like to know what are these Seven Wonders? They are: The Pyramids of Egypt, The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, The Tomb of Mausoleum, The Temple of Artemis, The Colossus of Rhodes of Helios, The Statue of God Zeus and The Light House of Pharos near Alexandria. Out of these seven wonders, only the Pyramids of Egypt exist and are preserved. The story behind their construction is very interesting.

The only preserved wonder—”The Pyramids of Egypt” were made some 5,000 years ago. In fact, these are the tombs of the Egyptian rulers. The biggest Pyramid is located at Giza, a small town near Cairo. This is the tomb of Pharaoh Cheops and his queen. Its area is 5 hectares. Its base forms a square and its height is approximately around 147m. 2,300,000 block of lime stone are fitted in this tomb. It is said that it was completed by more 42 than one lakh laborers who worked for about 20 years.

The second wonder was “The Hanging Gardens of Babylon”. Around 9^th  century B.C. King Nebuchadnezzar had the gardens built for his wife Arnytis. They were built with a series of terraces one on the top -of another and 7.6 m thick walls were placed. Each terrace had enough soil depth to grow trees. The gardens were high and irrigation was done by pumping water from River Euphrates through a hidden network of pipes. In 539 B.C. Persians took control of Babylon and by 200 A.D. the people left the city in ruins.

The third wonder was the “Tomb of Mausoleum”, the ruler of Halicarnassus King Mausolus wanted to build a tomb, but he died before its completion so his wife Artemisia completed the construction. The approximate height of this tomb was 42.6 m and it had a statue on its top of the King and Queen riding a horse driven Chariot. It stood for centuries, but eventually fell into ruins. An Englishman brought the Chariot’s wheel and fragments of the statue which are on display in British Museum, London.

The fourth wonder of the world was “The Temple of Artemis” at Ephesus with its roof resting on too rows of 20m tall massive column. This temple was constructed in the year 550 B.C., in honor of Goddess, decorated with precious stones and metals. It was burnt by a mad man in 365 B.C. Alexander the Great when conquered Ephesus decided to rebuilt this temple and by 250 B.C. it restored its original splendor.

The fifth wonder of the world was a bronze statue “The Colossus of Rhodes of Helios”. Approximately 37 meters high, this was located at Rhodes Island. This was constructed in the year 304 B.C. but 66 years after its construction, this statue was destroyed in an earthquake.

The sixth wonder of the world was “the statue of God Zeus” situated -at Olympia. This was made by the famous sculptor Phidias in the year 433 B.C. The hair and beard of this 12 meters high statue were made of gold. Its body was made of ivory and the eyes of precious diamonds. In 394 A.D., it was taken to Constantinople where eventually it was destroyed by fire.

The seventh wonder of the world was the famous “Light House of Pharos”, a peninsula near Alexandria, Egypt. The tower of white marble was completed about 279 B.C., and was about 122 meters high with a ramp leading to the top where a beacon was kept during day and night. if remained standing until A.D. 796.