Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

The Colossus of Rhodes was a statue of the Greek Titan Helios

Built: 292 and 280 BC

Function: To celebrate Rhodes' victory over the ruler of Cyprus, Antigonus I Monophthalmus, who unsuccessfully besieged Rhodes in 305 BC

Destroyed: Hit by an earthquake in 224 BC

Size: Over 30 meters (107 ft) high

Made of: Bronze

One of the tallest statues of the ancient world

The Temple of Artemis (Greek: Artemision), also known less precisely as the Temple of Diana

Location: Ephesus(Greek)

Built: Around 401 BC

Function: To a goddess Greeks identified as Artemis

Destroyed: By flood

Reconstruction: Around 550 BC

Made of: Marble, save the roof

The Statue of Zeus at Olympia

Location: Peloponnesus (Modern Greece)

Built: Around 432 BC

Function: Shine to Greek God Zeus

Destroyed: Fire 5th Century A.D.

Size: Height around 40 ft. (12m)

Made of: Ivory and gold-plated plates on wooden frame.

The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus or Tomb of Mausolus( in Greek)

Built: Between 333 and 350 BC

Function: For Mausolus, a satrap in the Persian Empire, and Artemisia II of Caria, his wife and sister

Destroyed: Damaged in earthquakes, used for building materials and was in ruins by CE 1400

Size: 45m (148ft) in height

Made of: Marble. Some of it was made out of stone but only a small percentage of the tomb.

The Lighthouse of Alexandria, also known as the Pharos of Alexandria (in Ancient Greek)

Built: Between 280 and 247 BC on the island of Pharos at Alexandria, Egypt

Function: To guide sailors into the harbour at night time

Destroyed: Badly damaged in the earthquake of 956, then again in 1303 and 1323

Size: Between 393 and 450 ft(120 and 140m)

Made of: Enormous, thick blocks of stone, whilst the watchtower was made of marble blocks held together with molten lead.

It was for many centuries among the tallest manmade structures on Earth

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

Built: Starting in 605 BC (There is a less-reliable, alternative story that the gardens were built by the Assyrian Queen Semiramis during her five year reign starting in 810 BC)

Function: To please his homesick wife, Amytis

Destroyed: The gardens were destroyed by several earthquakes after the 2nd century BCE. 

Size: 100 ft (30m) long by 100 ft wide

Made of:mud brick and stone, a series of terraces, one on top of the other

The Great Pyramid of Giza (also called the Pyramid of Khufu and the Pyramid of Cheops)

Built: Around 2560 BC

Function: As a tomb for Fourth Dynasty Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu

Size: 146.5 metres (480.6 ft)

Made of : Casting stones.

Oldest and largest the pyramid was built as a tomb