Difference between revisions of "Seven Wonders of the World" - New World Encyclopedia
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| − | * Cox, Reg, Neil | + | * Cox, Reg; Morris, Neil; & Field, James. ''The Seven Wonders of the Medieval World'', Chelsea House Publications, 2000. ISBN 0-7910-6047-0 |
| − | * D'Epiro, Peter, | + | * D'Epiro, Peter, & Pinkowish, Mary Desmond. ''What Are the Seven Wonders of the World? and 100 Other Great Cultural Lists'', Anchor, 1998. ISBN 0-385-49062-3 |
| − | * Morris, Neil, | + | * Morris, Neil, ''The Seven Wonders of the Natural World'', Chrysalis Books, 2002. ISBN 1-84138-495-X |
== External links == | == External links == | ||
Revision as of 14:55, 9 July 2007
- For other uses, see Seven Wonders of the World (disambiguation).
The Seven Wonders of the World (or the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World) is a widely-known list of seven remarkable constructions of classical antiquity. It was based on guide-books popular among Hellenic sight-seers and only includes works located around the Mediterranean rim. Later lists include those for the Medieval World and the Modern World.
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
The historian Herodotus and the scholar Callimachus of Cyrene (ca 305–240 B.C.E.) at the Museum of Alexandria, made early lists of "seven wonders" but their writings have not survived, except as references. The earliest extant version of a list of seven wonders was compiled by Antipater of Sidon, who described the structures in a poem around 140 B.C.E.:
I have set eyes on the wall of lofty Babylon on which is a road for chariots, and the statue of Zeus by the Alpheus, and the hanging gardens, and the Colossus of the Sun, and the huge labour of the high pyramids, and the vast tomb of Mausolus; but when I saw the house of Artemis that mounted to the clouds, those other marvels lost their brilliancy, and I said, 'Lo, apart from Olympus, the Sun never looked on aught so grand.'
Antipater, Greek Anthology IX.58
A later list, under various titles like De septem orbis spactaculis and traditionally misattributed to the engineer Philo of Byzantium, may date as late as the fifth century AD, though the author writes as if the Colossus of Rhodes were still standing.
These are given in the table below:
| Wonder | Date of construction | Builder | Notable features | Date of destruction | Cause of destruction |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great Pyramid of Giza | 2650-2500 B.C.E. | Egyptians | Built as the tomb of Fourth dynasty Egyptian pharaoh Khufu. | Still standing | - |
| Hanging Gardens of Babylon | 600 B.C.E. | Babylonians | Herodotus claimed the outer walls were 56 miles in length, 80 feet thick and 320 feet high (although some archaeological findings suggest otherwise). | After 1st century B.C.E. | Earthquake |
| Temple of Artemis at Ephesus | 550 B.C.E. | Lydians, Persians, Greeks | Dedicated to the Greek goddess Artemis, it took 120 years to build. Herostratus burned it down in an attempt to achieve lasting fame. | 356 B.C.E. | Arson |
| Statue of Zeus at Olympia | 435 B.C.E. | Greeks | Occupied the whole width of the aisle of the temple that was built to house it, and was 40 feet (12 meters) tall. | 5th-6th centuries AD | Fire |
| Mausoleum of Maussollos at Halicarnassus | 351 B.C.E. | Persians, Greeks | Stood approximately 45 meters (135 feet) tall with each of the four sides adorned with sculptural reliefs. Origin of the word mausoleum. | by AD 1494 | Earthquake |
| Colossus of Rhodes | 292-280 B.C.E. | Hellenistic Greece | A giant statue of the Greek god Helios roughly the same size as today's Statue of Liberty in New York. | 224 B.C.E. | Earthquake |
| Lighthouse of Alexandria | 3rd century B.C.E. | Hellenistic Egypt | Between 115 and 135 metres (383 - 440 ft) tall it was among the tallest man-made structures on Earth for many centuries. | AD 1303-1480 | Earthquake |
The Greek category was not "Wonders" but "theamata," which translates closer to "must-sees." The list that we know today was compiled in the Middle Ages—by which time many of the sites were no longer in existence. Since the list came mostly from ancient Greek writings, only sites that would have been known and visited by the ancient Greeks were included. Even as early as 1600 B.C.E., tourist graffiti was scrawled on monuments in the Egyptian Valley of the Kings.
Antipater's original list replaced the Lighthouse of Alexandria with the Ishtar Gate. It wasn't until the 6th century AD that the list above was used. Of these wonders, the only one that has survived to the present day is the Great Pyramid of Giza. The existence of the Hanging Gardens has not been definitively proven. Records show that the other five wonders were destroyed by natural disasters. The Temple of Artemis and the Statue of Zeus were destroyed by fire, while the Lighthouse of Alexandria, Colossus, and Mausoleum of Maussollos were destroyed by earthquakes. There are sculptures from the Mausoleum of Maussollos and the Temple of Artemis in the British Museum in London.
Seven Wonders lists about the Middle Ages
Seven Wonders lists about the Middle Ages are existing historical lists for which there is no unanimity of opinion about origin, content or name.[1] These historical lists go by names such as "Wonders of the Middle Ages" (implying no specific limitation to seven), "Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages," "Medieval Mind" and "Architectural Wonders of the Middle Ages." The lists are more properly seen as a continuing type or genre in the Seven Wonders tradition than a specific list.
It is unlikely the lists originated in the Middle Ages. Brewer's calls them "later list[s]"[2] suggesting the lists were created after the Middle Ages. This is supported because the word medieval was not even invented until the Enlightenment-era, and the concept of a "Middle Age" did not become popular until the 16th century. Further, the Romanticism movement glorified all things related to the Middle Ages, or more specifically anything pre-Enlightenment era, suggesting such lists would have found a popular audience in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Some items found on some of the lists are not technically from the Middle Ages (according to modern historical standards), but we know the lists were not created by modern medieval historians, so such standards did not apply.
Typically representative of the seven:[1][3][4][2]
- Stonehenge
- Colosseum
- Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa
- Great Wall of China
- Porcelain Tower of Nanjing
- Hagia Sophia
- Leaning Tower of Pisa
Other sites that have been mentioned include:
Modern lists
In the tradition of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, many other lists of wonders have been proposed, including both human feats of engineering and wonders of Nature. However, these lists are rather informal, and there is no consensus on any particular list.
Modern wonders
The American Society of Civil Engineers compiled another list of wonders of the modern world:[9]
| Wonder | Date Started | Date Finished | Locations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Channel Tunnel | December 1, 1987 | May 6, 1994 | Strait of Dover, between England and France |
| CN Tower | February 6, 1973 | June 26, 1976 | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Empire State Building | January 22, 1930 | May 1, 1931 | New York, New York, USA |
| Golden Gate Bridge | January 5, 1933 | May 27, 1937 | Golden Gate Strait, north of San Francisco, California, USA |
| Itaipu Dam | January 1970 | May 5, 1984 | Paraná River, South America |
| Delta Works | 1953 | May 10, 1997 | Netherlands, Europe |
| Panama Canal | January 1, 1880 | January 7, 1914 | Isthmus of Panama, Central America |
Tourist travel wonders
The following list of the top seven tourist travel wonders (not including pilgrimages) was compiled by Hillman Wonders:[10]
- Great Pyramids of Giza
- Great Wall of China
- Taj Mahal
- Serengeti Migration
- Galapagos
- Grand Canyon
- Machu Picchu
Natural wonders
Similar to the other lists of wonders, there is no consensus on a list of seven natural wonders of the world, as there has been debate over how large the list should be. One of the many lists was compiled by CNN:[11]
- Grand Canyon
- Great Barrier Reef
- Harbor of Rio de Janeiro
- Mount Everest
- Polar Aurora
- Parícutin volcano
- Victoria Falls
Underwater wonders
This list of underwater wonders is of unknown origin but has been repeated sufficiently often to acquire a degree of notability:[12] [13]
- Palau
- Belize Barrier Reef
- Great Barrier Reef
- Deep-Sea Vents
- Galapagos Islands
- Lake Baikal
- Northern Red Sea
New Seven Wonders
Two "New Seven Wonders" lists have been promoted since 2000.
In 2001 an initiative was started by Swiss organization New Open World Corporation (NOWC) to choose the New Seven Wonders of the World from a selection of 200 existing monuments (ongoing).[14] Twenty-one finalists were announced January 1, 2006.[15] The results will be announced on 7 July 2007.
In November 2006 the American national newspaper USA Today in conjunction with the American television show Good Morning America revealed a list of "New Seven Wonders" as chosen by six judges.[16] The wonders were announced one per day over a week on Good Morning America. An eighth wonder was chosen on November 24 from viewer feedback.[17]
| Number | Wonder | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Potala Palace | Lhasa, Tibet, China |
| 2 | Old City of Jerusalem | Israel |
| 3 | Polar ice caps | Polar regions |
| 4 | Northwestern Hawaiian Islands National Monument | Hawaii, United States |
| 5 | Internet | N/A |
| 6 | Mayan ruins | Yucatán Peninsula, Mesoamerica |
| 7 | Great Migration of Serengeti and Masai Mara | Tanzania and Kenya |
| 8 | Grand Canyon (viewer-chosen eighth wonder) | Arizona, United States |
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Hereward Carrington (1880-1958), "The Seven Wonders of the World: ancient, medieval and modern," reprinted in the Carington Collection (2003) ISBN 0-7661-4378-3, page 14.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 I H Evans (reviser), Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (Centenary edition Fourth impression (corrected); London: Cassell, 1975), page 1163
- ↑ Edward Latham. A Dictionary of Names, Nicknames and Surnames, of Persons, Places and Things (1904), page 280.
- ↑ Francis Trevelyan Miller, Woodrow Wilson, William Howard Taft, Theodore Roosevelt. America, the Land We Love (1915), page 201.
- ↑ The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Crusades (2001, page 153))
- ↑ The Rough Guide To England (1994, page 596))
- ↑ Palpa, as You Like it, page 67)
- ↑ The Catholic Encyclopedia, v.16 (1913), page 74
- ↑ American Society of Civil Engineers Seven Wonders
- ↑ Hillman Wonders
- ↑ CNN Natural Wonders
- ↑ Underwater Wonders of the World
- ↑ 2nd list of Underwater Wonder
- ↑ New Seven Wonders
- ↑ Finalist Page
- ↑ New Seven Wonders panel
- ↑ ABC Good Morning America "7 New Wonders" Page
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Cox, Reg, & Morris, Neil. The Seven Wonders of the Modern World, Chelsea House Publications, 2000. ISBN 0-7910-6048-9
- Cox, Reg; Morris, Neil; & Field, James. The Seven Wonders of the Medieval World, Chelsea House Publications, 2000. ISBN 0-7910-6047-0
- D'Epiro, Peter, & Pinkowish, Mary Desmond. What Are the Seven Wonders of the World? and 100 Other Great Cultural Lists, Anchor, 1998. ISBN 0-385-49062-3
- Morris, Neil, The Seven Wonders of the Natural World, Chrysalis Books, 2002. ISBN 1-84138-495-X
External links
Seven Ancient Wonders
- "Eternal wonder of humanity's first great achievements", by Jonathan Glancey,The Guardian, 3.10.2007. www.guardian.co.uk. Retrieved July 4, 2007.
- Google Maps for Seven Ancient Wonders of the World. coolmaps.7wonders.googlepages.com. Retrieved July 4, 2007.
- Image of the Seven Wonders locations. ce.eng.usf.edu. Retrieved July 4, 2007.
- Parkin, Tim, ed. Researching Ancient Wonders: A Research Guide (U. of Canterbury, New Zealand). web.archive.org. Retrieved July 4, 2007.
- The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World ; An engineer's in-depth view. ce.eng.usf.edu. Retrieved July 4, 2007.
Other wonders
- A "list of lists" on most wonders. www.wonderclub.com. Retrieved July 4, 2007.
- "Seven Wonders of the Modern World", American Society of Civil Engineers. www.asce.org. Retrieved July 4, 2007.
- Seven Wonders of Chicago. www.chicagotribune.com. Retrieved July 4, 2007.
- "The World's Top 100 Wonders", by Howard Hillman, renowned travel writer.. www.hillmanwonders.com. Retrieved July 4, 2007.
- Thirty Wonders of the World. www.shekpvar.net. Retrieved July 4, 2007.
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