About 2 centuries before the time of Christ, a man named Antipater of Sidon, Palestine wrote a kind of "travel guide" to the Mediterranean world, in which he listed the most wonderful structures of his time. Only 1 of these remains today; the Pyramid and the Sphynx at Giza. Until recently only a few sketches, coins and written descriptions survived. Working with the latest archeological information, eminent and scientific and historical illustrator Howard David johnson has reconstructed all seven wonders to give us a glimpse of a lost world washed away by the tides of time.
Nebuchadnezzar, the greatest character of Babylonian history, built the hanging gardens of Babylon to please his wife who had disliked the bareness of her new home. It is certain that he was a great builder; he restored many temples, put up bridges, and lined rivers with embankments. The walls he built around the city of Babylon were the longest, widest, and highest in the ancient world. The hanging gardens of Babylon - dedicated to the planet Venus rose above them in five tiers each 50 feet above the next, each tier planted with fabulous trees and flowers.
At Giza, Egypt, stands the Sphinx, and three famous pyramids, the oldest and largest of which was built by King Khufu (or Cheops) about 3000 B.C. This enormous monument - a tomb built to protect the king's body and the treasures buried with him - is the most expensive monument a man has ever built to himself. The Great Pyramid was dedicated to the planet Mercury.
The Temple of Artemis (Diana) at Ephesus, in what is now Turkey, was built in the fifth century B.C. Once burned down, it was rebuilt even grander, it measured 342 feet by 164 feet and had 127 columns over 60 feet high. It was in this temple that Paul the Apostle preached against pagan worship and aroused angry crowds. The temple was destroyed by the Goths in 262 A.D. The Temple of Diana was dedicated to the Moon.
When Mausolus, king of Caria (in Asia Minor), died in 353 B.C. his widow built a great marble tomb at Harlicarnassus. A fine pyramid with steps of marble surmounted the rectangular base and on top of the pyramid was a mighty sculpture of Mausolus driving an eight horse chariot group. Eventually destroyed by an earthquake, the Mausoleum of Harlicarnassus was dedicated to the planet Mars.
The Statue of Zeus at Olympia in the Peloponnesus, was made of marble and decorated with ivory and beaten gold. It was make by Phidias, the most famous sculptor of antiquity, who also made the statue of Athena which crowned the Acropolis. The statue of Zeus was dedicated to the planet Jupiter.
The Pharos at Alexandria was a lighthouse at the port of the Egyptian city named for Alexander the Great. It was completed around 200 B.C., a skyscraper of the ancient world standing 600 feet high. The summit was an open place, surrounded by bronze columns, where a fire burned at night, fed by wood raised thru the central shaft. The most legendary feature of the Lighthouse of Alexandria was a gigantic mirror which either reflected the sun's rays or the fire by night - up to 150 miles out at sea. The magnificent edifice was destroyed more than a millennium later by a series of earthquakes. It was dedicated to the planet Saturn.
The Colossus of Rhodes was a bronze statue of Apollo, 100 feet high. Erected around 275 B.C. and standing high on an embankment facing the port (not straddling the entrance to the port as was often thought). The legs of the statue were filled with masonry to keep the statue from being top heavy. This and other precautions were unable to save yet another of the ancient wonders from the fury of earthquakes. It lay broken on the rocks for 800 years until Arab conquerors sold it as scrap metal. The Colossus of Rhodes was dedicated to the Sun.
The Latest 7 Wonders Of The World
The Official New 7 Wonders of the World have been elected by more than 100 million votes to represent global heritage throughout history. The listing is in random order, as announced at the Declaration Ceremony on 07.07.07.All The Official New7Wonders of the World are equal and are presented as a group without any ranking.
This immense mausoleum was built on the orders of Shah Jahan, the fifth Muslim Mogul emperor, to honor the memory of his beloved late wife. Built out of white marble and standing in formally laid-out walled gardens, the Taj Mahal is regarded as the most perfect jewel of Muslim art in India. The emperor was consequently jailed and, it is said, could then only see the Taj Mahal out of his small cell window.
This statue of Jesus(Christ Redeemer) stands some 38 meters tall, atop the Corcovado mountain overlooking Rio de Janeiro. Designed by Brazilian Heitor da Silva Costa and created by French sculptor Paul Landowski, it is one of the world’s best-known monuments. The statue took five years to construct and was inaugurated on October 12, 1931. It has become a symbol of the city and of the warmth of the Brazilian people.
This great amphitheater (Colosseum) in the centre of Rome was built to give favors to successful legionnaires and to celebrate the glory of the Roman Empire. Its design concept still stands to this very day, and virtually every modern sports stadium some 2,000 years later still bears the irresistible imprint of the Colosseum's original design. Today, through films and history books, we are even more aware of the cruel fights and games that took place in this arena, all for the joy of the spectators.
The Great Wall of China was built to link existing fortifications into a united defense system and better keep invading Mongol tribes out of China. It is the largest man-made monument ever to have been built and it is disputed that it is the only one visible from space. Many thousands of people must have given their lives to build this colossal construction.
Chichén Itzá, the most famous Mayan temple city, served as the political and economic center of the Mayan civilization. Its various structures - the pyramid of Kukulkan, the Temple of Chac Mool, the Hall of the Thousand Pillars, and the Playing Field of the Prisoners – can still be seen today and are demonstrative of an extraordinary commitment to architectural space and composition. The pyramid itself was the last, and arguably the greatest, of all Mayan temples.
On the edge of the Arabian Desert, Petra was the glittering capital of the Nabataean empire of King Aretas IV (9 B.C. to 40 A.D.). Masters of water technology, the Nabataeans provided their city with great tunnel constructions and water chambers. A theater, modelled on Greek-Roman prototypes, had space for an audience of 4,000. Today, the Palace Tombs of Petra, with the 42-meter-high Hellenistic temple facade on the El-Deir Monastery, are impressive examples of Middle Eastern culture.
In the 15th century, the Incan Emperor Pachacútec built a city in the clouds on the mountain known as Machu Picchu ("old mountain"). This extraordinary settlement lies halfway up the Andes Plateau, deep in the Amazon jungle and above the Urubamba River. It was probably abandoned by the Incas because of a smallpox outbreak and, after the Spanish defeated the Incan Empire, the city remained 'lost' for over three centuries. It was rediscovered by Hiram Bingham in 1911.
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