There was a time when structures were magnificent. There was a time when bigger was better. The glory and the honor that the world felt for these structures were compiled in a list known as the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. These structures were looked upon with awe and integrity, and yet only one of them still exists today.

The Great Pyramid of Giza, seen as an awe-inspiring wonder by the Ancients was left out of the newly released “wonders list”, which was voted on by people worldwide through the Internet. How can you say one of the original wonders is no longer good enough to be considered a wonder? Sure, people had a chance to vote on this “wonder”, but isn’t this kind of like spitting in the face of the Ancients who originally saw the Pyramid as something magnificent?

The Great Pyramid is the oldest of all of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. How it has survived is primarily based on location. The others were victims of war, religious oppression and Mother Nature. The Great Pyramid remains, where it was built by the Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu around 2,560 B.C. The pyramid was built specifically to be used as the tomb of Khufu when he died. With over 2 million stones used, weighing over 2 tons, it is believed it took over 20 years to complete the entire pyramid.

While the Pyramid reigned supreme as the tallest structure in the world, the advent of modern building techniques in the 19th century (including that of skyscrapers) led to bigger, yet not as majestic structures as the Great Pyramid.

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon is the only structure that historians were not sure existed (though modern archeology is proving it did), even though there are multiple documents listing this structure was in existence. Its location is in the heart of the battle of the Iraq War, located along the Euphrates River just 50 km south of present day Baghdad. The Hanging Gardens were known for their exotic beauty. While the Ancient Greeks spoke highly of the Gardens, with Alexander the Great staying in the palace, historians originally though the gardens were a fictitious elements of Greek imagination.

Recent archaeologists have found out quite a bit about the palace, believed to be built by Nebuchadnezzar II for his foreign wife, who was used to the more mountainous terrain of her former home in Media. The structure of the palace has actually been excavated and the true builder of the palace is being questioned. Either way, the vision the Greeks had of the Hanging Gardens was enough to make it on the list of wonders. Let’s hope the excavation site survives the war, making it possible for further information to become available about the Gardens.

The Ancient Wonder that makes me the saddest is the Statue of Zeus at Olympia. While it is said the statue, which was visible and worshiped at the Ancient Olympics, was magnificent, we will never truly get the chance to see the structure as it was in all its glory. The palace of Zeus, where the statue once stood, was built around 450 B.C. by the ancient architect Libon. To spice up the temple, a statue was built by Pheidias, a sculptor. The statue and the temple attracted visitors not only those attending the Olympics, but people from all over the world.

It was in 391 A.D. that the Roman Emperor Theodosius I banned the Olympics because it was a “pagan” practice. As a result, the temple was desecrated and closed. This allowed Mother Nature to take its course as landslides, floods, earthquakes, and fire destroyed the temple. When the temple was closed, some of the more wealthy Greeks had the Statue of Zeus transported to Constantinople. However, tragedy struck around 462 A.D. when a severe fire destroyed the ivory and gold statue.

The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus was not your ordinary temple. At the time of its inception, the temple was deemed the most beautiful structure in the world. Made of marble and dedicated to the Goddess of Hunting and Fertility, the Temple of Artemis was visited by individuals from around the world, who came to worship the Goddess at the temple and see the amazing structure. While serving as a market place as well as a place of worship, the temple, which was built in 550 B.C., was a place where profits and gifts were left by travelers as far away as India.

When the temple was not quite 200 years old (356 B.C.), a man named Herostratus set fire to the temple. He wanted to be famous and remembered forever as the man who destroyed the most beautiful building in the Ancient world. Remarkably, on the same night, the birth of a legend, Alexander the Great occurred. Alexander, who conquered the land in Asia Minor (present day Turkey) where the temple was located, wished to rebuild the temple, but it wasn’t until 323 B.C. that it was restored.

The temple remained a sacred place, even when Paul came to Ephesus to preach Christianity. Like many structures representing Hellenic religious beliefs, the temple was again destroyed, this time in 262 A.D. by the Goths. Though the Ephesians swore to rebuild again, by the time that was possible, most had finally converted to Christianity, and the importance and appeal of the temple was soon forgotten. At this time, there are discussions about re-erecting the temple and restoring it to its former glory.

The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus was not known for its size, but rather its intriguing beauty. Used as the tomb of the King of Caria, Mausollos, the structure was representative of the expanding Persian Empire. Mausollos’ wife/sister was the one who proposed the Mausoleum be built, and it was finally finished three years after the King’s death in 350 B.C. The Mausoleum was damaged 16 centuries after it was built, by an Earthquake, though it was not completely destroyed until the Knights of St. John disassembled the remaining structure of the Mausoleum, using the stone to fortify a crusader castle built in the area in the 15th Century.

The shortest lived wonder of the world was one of the greatest wonders of the world, the Colossus of Rhodes. The Colossus was destined for destruction, but the 56 years it stood at the entrance to the harbor of the island of Rhodes, it was magnificent. The Colossus was a huge statue of the sun God, Helios. The statue was purchased with money spent from the sale of military equipment left on the island by the Antigonids of Macedonia, who wished to destroy the island of Rhodes alliance with the Ptolemies of Egypt.

The Colossus was finished in 282 B.C. When a dangerous earthquake hit the island, the statue broke at the knees, a weak spot of its structure around 226 B.C. While the Ptolemies offered to rebuild it, an Oracle said it should not be rebuild, so for almost 1,000 years the statue lay broken and in pieces, untouched by the citizens of Rhodes. In the 7th century, the Arabs took over the island. When they did, the Colossus was taken apart, and the pieces were sold to a Jewish man in Syria. However, the Colossus inspired future structures, such as the Statue of Liberty as the Colossus was believed to be holding a torch, similarly to Lady Liberty.

The final wonder of the ancient world was the Lighthouse of Alexandria. The tallest structure on the planet at the time of its creation, the lighthouse was used to guide ships into the harbor at the entrance to the city of Alexandria (Egypt). The city of Alexandria was named after Alexander the Great. When Ptolemy Soter took over Egypt after Alexander’s death, he made Alexandria his home. Off the mainland sat a small island, Pharos, and this is where the lighthouse was built.

Though Ptolemy was the one who ordered the construction of the lighthouse around 290 B.C., construction of it did not occur until after he had died and his son was in charge. The lighthouse had a unique structure that included a mirror. During the day, the mirror reflected light rays from the sun, which lit up the harbor, and during the evening, fire was used to keep it blazing brightly.

The Lighthouse proudly guided sailors for centuries. However, when the Arabs took over Egypt, the capital was moved to Cairo and Alexandria was forgotten. In the 14th century, two major earthquakes damaged the lighthouse significantly. When an Egyptian named Mamelouk Sultan decided to build a fort on the island, he used the ruined lighthouse and its stones to fortify the structure, and the lighthouse was finally torn down.

These structures were brilliantly designed, honored by the masses, and built in a structural way that cannot be compared to anything built in the modern era. This makes the new “world wonders” a bit of a joke, in my opinion. To continue reading my thoughts on the seven chosen “new wonders” of the world, stay tuned for Part Two of my series, The New Wonders of the World Aren’t so Wonderful.

Technorati Tags: Ancient Wonders, New Wonders, The Great Pyramid of Giza, Colossus, Rhodes, Zeus, Artemis, Hanging Gardens of Babylon

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