Seven Wonders of the Ancient World ARTS 111 - Resource Guide

Reference articles about the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

Seven Wonders of the World: preeminent architectural and sculptural achievements of the ancient Mediterranean and Middle East, as listed by various observers. The best known are those of the 2nd-century-bce writer Antipater of Sidon and of a later but unknown observer of the 2nd century bce who claimed to be the mathematician Philon of Byzantium.

Brief description of the seven wonders.

Large statue of Helios, the sun god, destroyed by an earthquake in antiquity. Consider one of the Seven Wonders of the World by the ancients, it was built in part by Chares of Lindus (Rhodes) between 292 and 280 B.C. Its bronze was taken from the machines and tools left behind by Demetrius I after his unsuccessful siege of Rhodes. According to legend, the 100 ft (30.5 m) statue stood astride the harbor and ships passed between its legs. In reality, it stood on a promontory overlooking the harbor, and the representational type is well known from images on coins of the same period.

The largest of the Egyptian pyramids, built by Cheops.
The Great Pyramid at Giza was built by Cheops (or Khufu), the 26th-century bc king of Memphis. It is the largest of the pyramids of Egypt and one of the legendary Seven Wonders of the World.

Article in JSTOR
Muqarnas 23:1-14 2006
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ONE OF THE FIRST-KNOWN lists of wonders was drawn up in the third century B.C., when a Greek scholar at the Library of Alexandria, Callimachus of Cyrene (305-240 B.C.), wrote a treatise called "A collection of wonders in lands throughout the world." The essay has been lost, but his choices may have become the basis for later selections, such as the famous list attributed to the engineer Philo of Byzantium around 250 B.C. Of course, the whole idea of Seven Wonders started with antiquity's fondness for the number seven: being indivisible, it gave each of its elements equal status and so enjoyed a privileged position in numerology.

Under Ptolemy II, the city gained one of what were to become known as the seven wonders of the ancient world: the Pharos, or lighthouse at Alexandria. The approximately 350-foot-high lighthouse was an engineering wonder for its time. Situated on the island of Pharos in the city's harbor, the lighthouse was built by Sostratus of Cnidus and stood for centuries. Records indicate the lighthouse survived until the twelfth century, but by the mid-fifteenth had become so dilapidated that the Mamluke sultan Qait Bey built a fortress atop the ruins. Like the lighthouse, neither the Mouseion nor the library survived into modern times. The Mouseion complex, including the library, was destroyed by civil war under the Roman emperor Aurelian in 272; a companion library, housed in a separate complex, was destroyed by Christians in 391.

The city had, on one occasion, played a leading role in the history of Greek architecture and art. This distinction was owed to the tomb of Mausolus, which has brought the term ‘Mausoleum’ into modern languages. Before his death the king had already started work on the building, which was subsequently continued by Artemisia II and Ada. Surmounted, according to Pliny the Elder, by a twenty-four-step pyramid, the colonnaded Mausoleum ranked as one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

Of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Great Pyramid at Giza is the sole survivor. It stands on a limestone plateau in the desert outside Cairo, the present-day capital of Egypt. Reaching a height of 481 feet, it towers over the modern city. Although it was built more than 4,000 years ago. it is still one of the most impressive monuments in the world.

The ruins of the Temple of Artemis at Sardis, Turkey. Greek civilisation, 4th Century BC.

An essay is presented on the historical accounts of the Zeus statue located at his temple in Olympia, Greece. Topics discussed include the statue's descriptions from the writings of geographer Pausanias with information on the throne, footstool and base, the workshop at Olympia, and the work's inclusion to the seven wonders of the ancient world. An overview of the statue's construction by sculptor Pheidias is also given, including details on measurement and dating.

Stratasys Ltd. (Nasdaq:SSYS), the 3D printing and additive manufacturing solutions company, today announced the company is teaming with Atlanta’s Millennium Gate Museum to resurrect one of the rarest pieces of art in Ancient Greece – led by the true-to-life realism of 3D printing.
Statue of Zeus at Olympia

This program films Empereur and his team performing salvage archaeology as they scramble to find clues to the Pharos Lighthouse-one of the seven wonders of the ancient world-and the magnificent Caesareum.

The rebuilt Acropolis included the Parthenon. Wonders of the World include Phydias's Zeus, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Mausoleum, and the Temple of Artemis.

Millennia after its destruction, the city of Babylon remains a symbol of extravagance and wealth. Its most celebrated feature was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The so-called Hanging Gardens of Babylon astounded and perplexed observers.

Ptolemy II took over rule of Egypt in 283 BC. The library flourished under his and his sister's reign in this Golden Age of Alexandria. He also built a lighthouse on Pharos, which became one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

The Great Pyramid of Cheops is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis bordering what is now El Giza, Egypt. It is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only one to remain largely intact.

The Temple of Artemis was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. See artists' interpretations of what the structure may have looked like.