Seven Wonders of the World
- Who
- Unknown
- What
- First
- When
- 01 January 0001
The Seven Wonders of the World were first designated by Antipater of Sidon in the 2nd century BC. They were:– the Pyramids of Giza, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Tomb of King Mausolus, the Colossus of Rhodes and the Pharos of Alexandria.
Only the Pyramids of Giza still exist substantially today. They are to be found near El Giza (El Gizeh), south-west of El Qahira (Cairo) in Egypt. They were built by three Fourth Dynasty Egyptian Pharaohs: Khwfw (Khufu or Cheops), Kha-f-Ra (Khafre, Khefren or Chepren) and Menkaure (Mycerinus). The great pyramid (The 'Horizon of Khufu') was built c.2550 BC. Its original height was 146.6m 481ft 0in (now, since the loss of its topmost stones and the pyramidion, reduced to 137.5m 451ft 1in) with a base line of 230.4m 755ft 10in, thus covering slightly more than 5ha 13acres. It has been estimated that a permanent work force of 100,000 required 30 years to manoeuvre into position the 2,300,000 limestone blocks averaging 28tonnes each, totalling about 5,840,000 tonnes and a volume of 2,593,000 m 91,571,000ft. Some blocks weigh 15tonnes.
Of the other six wonders only fragments remain of the Temple of Artemis (Diana) of the Ephesians, built c.350BC at Ephesus, Turkey (destroyed by the Goths in AD262), and of the Tomb of King Mausolus of Caria, built at Halicarnassus, now Bodrum, Turkey, c.325BC.
No trace remains of:– the Hanging Gardens of Semiramis, at Babylon, Iraq c.600BC; the statue of Zeus (Jupiter), by Phidias (5th century BC) at Olympia, Greece (lost in a fire at Istanbul) in marble, gold and ivory and 12m 40ft tall; the figure of the god Helios (Apollo), a 35m 117ft tall statue sculptured 292–280BC, by Chares of Lindus (destroyed by an earthquake in 224BC); and the worlds earliest lighthouse, 122m 400ft tall built by Sostratus of Cnidus (c.270BC) as a pyramid shaped tower of white marble, on the island of Pharos (Greek, pharos=lighthouse), off the coast of El Iskandariya (Alexandria), Egypt (destroyed by earthquake in AD1375).
Only the Pyramids of Giza still exist substantially today. They are to be found near El Giza (El Gizeh), south-west of El Qahira (Cairo) in Egypt. They were built by three Fourth Dynasty Egyptian Pharaohs: Khwfw (Khufu or Cheops), Kha-f-Ra (Khafre, Khefren or Chepren) and Menkaure (Mycerinus). The great pyramid (The 'Horizon of Khufu') was built c.2550 BC. Its original height was 146.6m 481ft 0in (now, since the loss of its topmost stones and the pyramidion, reduced to 137.5m 451ft 1in) with a base line of 230.4m 755ft 10in, thus covering slightly more than 5ha 13acres. It has been estimated that a permanent work force of 100,000 required 30 years to manoeuvre into position the 2,300,000 limestone blocks averaging 28tonnes each, totalling about 5,840,000 tonnes and a volume of 2,593,000 m 91,571,000ft. Some blocks weigh 15tonnes.
Of the other six wonders only fragments remain of the Temple of Artemis (Diana) of the Ephesians, built c.350BC at Ephesus, Turkey (destroyed by the Goths in AD262), and of the Tomb of King Mausolus of Caria, built at Halicarnassus, now Bodrum, Turkey, c.325BC.
No trace remains of:– the Hanging Gardens of Semiramis, at Babylon, Iraq c.600BC; the statue of Zeus (Jupiter), by Phidias (5th century BC) at Olympia, Greece (lost in a fire at Istanbul) in marble, gold and ivory and 12m 40ft tall; the figure of the god Helios (Apollo), a 35m 117ft tall statue sculptured 292–280BC, by Chares of Lindus (destroyed by an earthquake in 224BC); and the worlds earliest lighthouse, 122m 400ft tall built by Sostratus of Cnidus (c.270BC) as a pyramid shaped tower of white marble, on the island of Pharos (Greek, pharos=lighthouse), off the coast of El Iskandariya (Alexandria), Egypt (destroyed by earthquake in AD1375).