Seven Wonders of the Ancient World Essays

Seven Wonders of the Ancient World Essays Seven Wonders of the Ancient World Essay Seven Wonders of the Ancient World Essay The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus was the tomb of king Mausolus. Halicarnassus (Modern Bodrum, Turkey) was the capital of a small Mediterranean kingdom. In 377 B. C. , Hecatomnus of Mylasa, the ruler of this land, died and left control of the kingdom to his son, Mausolus. Mausolus’ reign lasted for 24 years. He loved and adored the Greek culture and founded several cities of Greek design along the coast. In 353 B. C. , Mausolus died, leaving his queen Artemisia broken hearted. She decided to build the most splendid tomb in the known world as a tribute to him. The tomb became so famous that Mausolus’s name is now associated with all stately tombs throughout the world as Mausoleum. It became one of the seven wonders of the ancient world because of its rich statuary and carvings in relief. Artemisia sent messengers to Greece to find the most talented sculptors; she decided that no expense was to be spared in building the tomb. The tomb was errected on a hill overlooking the city. The entire structure sat in the center of an enclosed courtyard on a stone platform. A staircase, flanked with stone lions, led to the top of this platform. There were many statues of gods and godesses along the outer wall of the courtyard. The tomb was guarded by stone warriors mounted on horseback at each corner stone. [pic] The tomb itself was at the center of the platform. The marble structure rose as a square, tapering block to about one-third of the Mausoleum’s 1140 feet height. This section was covered wit relief sculptures showing action scenes from Greek mythology. Thirty-six slim columns rose on top of this section for another third of the height. Between each column were more statues. A solid block behind the columns carried the weight of the tomb’s massive roof. [pic] Map showing the layout of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus Artemisia died two years after Mausolus’s death. Both of them were buried in the yet unfinished tomb. The craftsmen took up the responsibility of completing the structure. The Mausoleum overlooked the city for several centuaries before it was damaged and destroyed by attacks from pirates, invaders and series of earthquakes. Very similar to this ancient wonder is the Taj mahal in India. TAJ MAHAL Like the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Taj was built in the memory of Shah Jahaan’s beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal. It was and still continues to be a symbol of eternal love. The Taj also is a marble structure standing on the banks of River Yamuna. It rises ona high sandstone base topped by four tappering minarets. The jewel-inlaid cenotaph of the queen lies within the dome. The design on the stucture is said to be so exquisite that the Taj has been described as â€Å" having been designed by giants and finished by jewellers† pic] STATUE OF ZEUS [pic] The statue of Zeus is located in Peloponnesus. The statue stands 40 feet high and is made of ivory and gold. Zeus is depicted sitting with olive wreath on his head, a sceptre (with an eagle sitting on it) in his left hand, and his messenger Nike in his right hand. The temple is built on a raised rectangular platform. Thirteen large columns support the r oof along the sides and six support it on each end. A gently peaked roof the topped the building, which was filled with sculpture. However, now the statue stands destroyed by numerous earthquakes and conquests. SHIVA STATUE AT MURUDESHWARA [pic] The Shiva statue at Murudeshawara is very similar to the statue of Zeus. However, in this case, the statue is outside the temple. The statue of Shiva measures 123 feet in height. The statue is constructed in such a way that it gets sun light and thus appears sparkling. The temple has the tallest gopura in the world too. It is 249 feet high and is called the Raja Gopura. There are other small statues surrounding the main Shiva statue. There is one depicting Ravan giving the atma-lingam to a Brahman. There are many statues of elephants (life size ), and the holy bull, Nandi. TEMPLE OF ARTEMIS [pic] The temple of Artemis was built in the honour of Artemis. It is 425 feet long and 225 feet wide. The foundation of the temple was rectangular in form, similar to most temples at the time. Unlike other sanctuaries, however, the building was made of marble, with a decorated facade overlooking a spacious courtyard. 127 columns, each of which is 60 feet high, support the roof. This temple was built and destroyed several times. The temple was built in such a way that one could see the other side through the temple; it was like a hollow structure. Thus, when the sun rose and set it felt as though it was happening inside the temple. PARTHENON [pic] The Parthenon was built for the Greek goddess, Athena. Structurally, it is very similar to the temple of Artemis at Ephesus. The Parthenon is a temple of the Doric order with eight columns at the facade, and seventeen columns at the flanks, conforming to the established ratio of 9:4. This ratio governed the vertical and horizontal proportions of the temple as well as many other relationships of the building like the spacing between the columns and their height. The Parthenon, in comparison with the temple of Artemis however, is only 100 feet wide, 230 feet long, and has 58 pillars. Ubud Hanging Gardens, Bali If Babylons ancient Hanging Gardens existed today, they could definitely look something like this. Perched around an Eden-like gorge are 38 serene villas, a soothing double-tiered pool, and a Hindu temple; youll need to take a funicular from reception to your suite, and most everywhere else (though a few hundred stairs will take you to the bottom of the valley if you are up to adventure. Each villa has its own private heated infinity pool, looking out over the verdant gardens of the valley and bordered by an outdoor terrace. There is step greenery and vegetation just like the supposedly floored gardens of Babylon. It is today one of the hottest tourist destinations in Bali. [pic] [pic]Bottom of Form The Lighthouse of Alexandria, Egypt. (Ancient wonder) [pic] One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Lighthouse of Alexandria was built in 200 BC on the small island of Pharos and was connected to the mainland by a massive causeway. Thought to have stood 492 feet high, it is considerably taller than any modern-day lighthouses. Though it has been lost in the pages of history and there is no concrete proof about whether it really existed or not, many claim you could see the light beacon from 35 miles away and that the structure had unique Roman features including a statue of Poseidon, a mirror that would reflect the sunlight, four statues of Triton on each corner and a church located at the top. Unfortunately, after years of destruction from earthquakes, the building collapsed in the 4th century, most probably due to an earthquake. The lighthouse served the purpose of warning the ships and showing them the way. At that time, it was an architectural marvel, indigenous and with a well-defined new idea. Lighthouse of Alexandria, Shenzhen, China. The Window of the World is a theme park located in the western part of the city of Shenzhen in the Peoples Republic of China. It has about 130 reproductions of some of the mo st famous tourist attractions in the world including an exact replica of the Lighthouse of Alexandria. Built by an eccentric businessman, it does or does not do justice to the original monument that has long been destroyed, is debatable. The monument though has been built to scale in comparison of the original Lighthouse of Alexandria. Due to the prevalence of other replicas of ancient wonders and modern wonders of the world, Window of the World is a major tourist hotspot of Shenzhen. [pic] The inspiration for the statue of liberty†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. the Colossus of Rhodes. How often do New Yorkers and other Americans gaze at the Statue of liberty with pride and amazement! Standing on a small island in the harbour, the statue is of a robed and crowned woman, holding a book in one hand and lifting a torch to the sky. The statue measures almost one-hundred and twenty feet from foot to crown. This awe-inspiring statue was a gift from France to America as a symbol of friendship. It is often referred to as â€Å"The modern colossus. † However what most people don’t know is that there stood an ancient statue in Rhodes named â€Å"The Colossus of Rhodes†; The original colossus. Like the Statue of Liberty, this colossus was also built as a celebration of freedom. This amazing statue, standing the same height from toe to head as the modern colossus, was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The statue was built sometime between 292-280 BC to celebrate the surprising victory of Rhodesians against many attackers. It was the statue of HELIUS The Sun God to The Rhodesians. The engineering of the colossus was done by a local sculptor named Harrays. First a wooden frame was made and then bronze plates of over 200 tons were put up surrounding it. This took about 12 years and innumerable labour to complete the construction. However in about 226 BC there was an earthquake in Rhodes that the statue couldn’t survive. On the other hand The Statue of Liberty was built around 2000 years later and still stands with pride looking over the sea. [pic] | | | | The inspiration for the pyramids of louvre- Paris.. The pyramids of Giza. The Great Pyramids were built between 2650-2500BC. It is said that they were a tomb of Pharaoh Khufu. They are located in Giza, Egypt. The largest pyramid is 756 feet long on each side and 450 feet high and is composed of 2,300,000 blocks of stone, each averaging 2 1/2 tons in weight. The sides are oriented to the four cardinal points of the compass and the length of each side at the base is 755 feet (230. 4 m). They rise at an angle of 51 52 to a height, originally, of 481 feet (147 m) but nowadays 451 feet (138 m). Despite the makers limited surveying tools, no side is more than 8 inches different in length than another, and the whole structure is perfectly oriented to the points of the compass. Even in the 19th century, it was the tallest building in the world and, at the age of 4,500 years, it is the only one of the famous Seven Wonders of the Ancient World that still stands. Even today it remains the most massive building on Earth. About 4000 years later, in 1989 The pyramid of Louvre museum was built by the renowned American architect I. M. Pei. This time a pyramid made up of crystal clear glass to allow the sunlight to come in on the underground floor. It is made up of rhombus shaped glass sheets fitted in a triangular shaped framework. The modern addition originally received mixed reviews, as it contrasts sharply with the classical design of the surrounding buildings of the museum of Louvre, but today it is generally accepted as a clever solution which has given the museum a spacious central entrance without the need to touch the historic patrimony. Surprisingly it too serves as an entrance to the museum like the pyramids of Giza serve as entrances to the tomb of Pharaoh Khufu. Hence because of the similarities one comes to believe that it was built by the inspiration by the pyramids of Giza.