Seven Wonders of the World

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (from left to right, top to bottom): Great Pyramid of Giza, Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Temple of Artemis, Statue of Zeus at Olympia, Mausoleum of Maussollos, Colossus of Rhodes and the Lighthouse of Alexandria as depicted by sixteenth-century Dutch artist Maarten van Heemskerck.

The Seven Wonders of the World (or the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World) is a widely-known list of seven remarkable constructions of antiquity. It was based on guide-books popular among Hellenic sightseers and includes only works located around the Mediterranean rim. Later lists include those for the Medieval World and the Modern World.

The Seven Wonders of the World consists of: the Great Pyramid of Giza (the most ancient as well as the only surviving structure), the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Mausoleum of Maussollos at Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes, and the Lighthouse of Alexandria.

The notion of "Seven Wonders" can be traced to a Hellenistic recognition of transcultural human achievement that found expression throughout the Hellenistic world. For thousands of years, the Seven Wonders of the World have inspired humankind as representative works symbolic of the great civilizations of antiquity. In terms of innovative design, elaborate construction, technological mastery, and symbolic meaning, the Seven Wonders have not only showcased the highpoints of diverse civilizations, but tied mankind together in the common pursuit of intellectual excellence and self-expression.

Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

Early lists

The historian Herodotus and the scholar Callimachus of Cyrene (ca 305 – 240 B.C.E.) made early lists of "seven wonders," but these 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.' (Greek Anthology IX.58)

A later list, under various titles such as De septem orbis spactaculis and traditionally, though incorrectly, attributed to the engineer Philo of Byzantium, may date as late as the fifth century C.E., although the author writes as if the Colossus of Rhodes, destroyed by an earthquake in 224 B.C.E., were still standing.

Table

The basic characteristics of each of the Seven Wonders 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 first 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. Burned down by a man called Herostratus, it was rebuilt, and ultimately demolished by Saint John Chrysostom, who considered it idolatrous.	356 B.C.E. and 401 C.E.	Arson and later demolition
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 tall.	fifth and sixth centuries C.E.	Fire
Mausoleum of Maussollos at Halicarnassus	351 B.C.E.	Persians, Greeks	Stood approximately 135 feet tall with each of the four sides adorned with sculptural reliefs. Origin of the word mausoleum.	by 1494 C.E.	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	Third century B.C.E.	Hellenistic Egypt	Between 383 feet to 440 feet tall it was among the tallest man-made structures on Earth for many centuries.	1303 – 1480 C.E.	Earthquake

The Greek category describe what we call "wonders" today was "theamata," which translates more like "must-sees." Even as early as 1600 B.C.E., tourist graffiti was scrawled on monuments in the Egyptian Valley of the Kings. The mature list was compiled in the Middle Ages—by which time most 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. Sites from eastern Asia, the Americas, Africa, and northern Europe were thus omitted. Antipater's earlier list replaced the Lighthouse of Alexandria with the Babylon's famous Ishtar Gate.

It was not until the sixth century C.E. 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. One of wonders, the Temple of Artemis, was destroyed intentionally, first by arson and later on the orders of a famous Christian bishop. The Statue of Zeus was destroyed by fire. Four of the wonders were destroyed by earthquakes—the Hanging Gardens, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the Colossus of Rhodes, and the Mausoleum of Maussollos. (The existence of the Hanging Gardens, however, has not been definitively proven.) 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

Stonehenge

The Colosseum

Wonders lists from the Middle Ages are more varied than lists of the ancient wonders. These 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, however, that most of these lists originated in the Middle Ages.

Typically representative of the such lists is the following:

• 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:

• Cairo Citadel
• Ely Cathedral
• Taj Mahal
• Cluny Abbey

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. Several such lists are included below.

Modern wonders

The American Society of Civil Engineers compiled another list of wonders of the modern world:

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

File:IMGP0059.JPG

Great Wall of China

The Taj Mahal

File:Peru Machu Picchu Sunset.jpg

Machu Pichu

The Grand Canyon

The following list of the top seven tourist travel wonders (not including pilgrimages) was compiled by Hillman Wonders:

• 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:

• 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:

• 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. Twenty-one finalists were announced January 1, 2006. The results on 100-million, on-line votes were announced on July 7, 2007. The vote attracted some criticism, including from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which said that the new wonders of the world should not be chosen in a popular vote.

The new Seven Wonders in full are:

• Chichén Itzá, Mexico
• Christ the Redeemer, Brazil
• The Great Wall, China
• Machu Picchu, Peru
• Petra, Jordan
• The Roman Colosseum, Italy
• The Taj Mahal, India

In November 2006 the American national newspaper USA Today in conjunction with the television show Good Morning America also revealed a list of "New Seven Wonders" as chosen by six judges. An eighth wonder was chosen on November 24 from viewer feedback.

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

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Cox, Reg, and Neil Morris. The Seven Wonders of the Modern World. Chelsea House Publications, 2000. ISBN 0-7910-6048-9
• Cox, Reg, Neil Morris, and James Field. The Seven Wonders of the Medieval World. Chelsea House Publications, 2000. ISBN 0-7910-6047-0
• D'Epiro, Peter, and Mary Desmond Pinkowish. 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. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
• Google Maps for Seven Ancient Wonders of the World Retrieved August 24, 2007.
• Image of the Seven Wonders locations Retrieved August 24, 2007.
• Parkin, Tim, ed. Researching Ancient Wonders: A Research Guide (U. of Canterbury, New Zealand) Retrieved August 24, 2007.
• The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World ; An engineer's in-depth view Retrieved August 24, 2007.

Other wonders

• A "list of lists" on most wonders Retrieved August 24, 2007.
• "Seven Wonders of the Modern World" Retrieved August 24, 2007.
• "The World's Top 100 Wonders," by Howard Hillman, renowned travel writer Retrieved August 24, 2007.
• Thirty Wonders of the World Retrieved August 24, 2007.

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