10 Questions about The Amazing Wonders of the Ancient World | World

Answer: Philon of Byzantium

Philon of Byzantium was a second-century BCE engineer who published many works on mathematics. Many modern historic scholars do not believe he is the actual author of the work, but rather his name was used as a pseudonym. It has been suggested that the actual author wrote the account several hundred years later. Regardless, the work is the oldest surviving text on the original list of the seven accepted ancient wonders.

There were other lists that predate Philon's work, but none of them have survived.

Some like to give Herodotus credit for the list, but it must be noted that a few of the wonders were not built until long after Herodotus was dead.

Answer: Tower of Babel

The Tower of Babel is not listed as an ancient wonder but is described in Genesis, Chapter 11 as an ambitious work of early man to build a tower to the heavens. According to Genesis, God decided to confuse the language of men in order to stop the building of the tower.

Many modern scholars have suggested that the idea for the Tower of Babel might be based on one of the Sumerian ziggurats. It is worth noting that in the Hebrew text the actual term "Tower of Babel" never appears but rather is listed as "the city and the tower".

This makes it even less certain if and where such a tower was actually built.

Answer: Khufu

Khufu was the second pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty and was considered to be the commissioner of the Great Pyramid. Khufu's father was Sneferu who had built three true pyramids of his own which helped develop the building technology. It makes sense that Khufu would want to build a pyramid even grander than his father; however, the number of resources needed to build the great pyramid would lead it never to be surpassed.

The Great Pyramid was the first ancient wonder of the world constructed and had been in existence for almost 2,000 years before the construction of the second ancient wonder. On top of that, the Great Pyramid is the only ancient wonder still standing today.

Answer: Babylon

The Hanging Gardens were thought to of been built by Nebuchadnezzar II about 600 BCE for his lover Amytis who was homesick for Media. The Hanging Gardens are frequently listed as being up to 75 feet tall with terraces. It is worth noting that none of the ancient Babylonian records mention the garden.

In fact, if there were any eyewitnesses, they do not have surviving documentation. Of the seven wonders, this one is the most questioned for if it may not have really existed at all.

Answer: Pharos

Pharos is the main island off the coast of Alexandria just out in the Mediterranean Sea. The city of Alexander the Great grew quickly due to its strategic location at the mouth of the Nile River. The lighthouse was built around 270 BCE to help ships navigate to shore. Along with the Colossus, it was one of the last ancient wonders to of been built. Most scholars believe the lighthouse stood at around 380 ft in height.

Unfortunately, earthquakes in 956 CE and 1323 CE led to the ultimate collapse of the lighthouse.

Answer: A Greek temple

The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus resembled a Greek temple with 36 columns with statues between each column. The tomb was built around 350 BCE for Mausolus, a satrap of the Achaemenid empire, and, interestingly enough, the man who we can thank for the word "mausoleum".

The white marble stone tomb stood at around 42 meters in height. The top of the tomb had a pyramid structure with a horse-drawn chariot at the top. It is unclear when the tomb fell into decline but many of the stones of the tomb were still at the site until the 15th century CE.

The crusaders used several of the stones to fortify a nearby castle. The remains of the wonder are in Bodrum, Turkey, and the statue of Mausolus is now at the British Museum in London.

Answer: Ephesus

The Temple of Artemis was constructed in the city of Ephesus in modern western Turkey. The temple was built by the Lydian king Croesus around 550 BCE. On top of being beautiful and well-adorned, the temple was massive at 110 meters by 55 meters. The Greeks believed Artemis to be the goddess of wild animals and the hunt. Sadly, the Goths destroyed the temple in 262 CE and it was never reconstructed. Ephesus was a thriving city of the early Christian movement and a place where Paul sent two of his epistles.

Answer: Helios

The Colossus of Rhodes was the largest ancient statue at approximately 33 meters in height. The statue was built to honor the Greek sun god Helios. The construction consisted of iron overlayed with bronze to form the skin. Finished in 280 BCE, it is estimated that construction took about 12 years.

The structure stood for all of 54 years before an earthquake caused the knees to buckle and the whole statue to topple. Ptolemy III would have paid for the statue to be repaired, but the locals feared they had offended Helios and declined.

Interestingly enough, the ruins sat where they fell for 800 years before the parts were scrapped and reused. Even on its side, the statue was considered impressive enough to warrant a visit by many tourists.

Answer: Ivory

Ivory was used in thin sheets over wood as the flesh for the Statue of Zeus. The statue was of the seated god coming to a height of around 12.5 meters and was adorned with gold and jewels. Phidias built the statue on a cedarwood throne around 435 BCE.

In the year 391 CE, the Christian emperor Theodosius I closed down pagan temples including the Temple of Zeus allowing the structure to go into disrepair. The ultimate fate of the statue is unknown, but the temple was destroyed by fire in 425 CE.

Answer: The Lighthouse at Alexandria

The Lighthouse at Alexandria was first damaged in 956 CE by an earthquake. Two more earthquakes left the lighthouse structure abandoned, and by 1323 CE it was no longer in use. The structure still stood until 1480 CE when the defensive fortress of Citadel of Qaitbay was built by Sultan Qayt Bay on the site of the lighthouse.

The Citadel can still be visited today due to recent efforts to restore the structure.