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 original 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.

Contents

1 Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
2 Later lists
3 Modern lists

3.1 American Society of Civil Engineers
3.2 New7Wonders Foundation's seven wonders of the world
3.3 USA Today's New Seven Wonders
3.4 Seven Natural Wonders of the World

3.4.1 Seven wonders of the underwater world


3.5 Seven Wonders of the Industrial World
3.6 Travel wonders of the world

3.6.1 Man-made travel wonders
3.6.2 Natural travel wonders




4 Notes
5 References
6 External links

6.1 Seven Ancient Wonders
6.2 Other wonders


7 Credits



The notion of "Seven Wonders" can be traced to a Hellenistic recognition of trans-cultural 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 high points of diverse civilizations, but tied humankind together in the common pursuit of intellectual excellence and self-expression.

Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
The historian Herodotus and the scholar Callimachus of Cyrene (c. 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 labor 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"[1]
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.
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, the temple was begun by Croesus of Lydia and took 120 years to build. It was destroyed by arson in 356 B.C.E., rebuilt and destroyed during a raid by the Goths in 262, rebuilt again and finally demolished by a mob allegedly led by John Chrysostom.[2]

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


Did you know?Instead of the Seven "Wonders" the ancient Greeks spoke of "theamata" or "sights," "things worth seeing"
The Greek category to describe what people call "wonders" today was "theamata," which translates as "something worth seeing" or "must-sees." 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. Five of the seven entries are a celebration of Greek accomplishments in the arts and architecture (the exceptions being the Pyramids of Giza and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon). 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 finally by a mob allegedly led by the Christian bishop St. John Chrysostom. 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.

Later lists
 Stonehenge
 The Colosseum
Many lists of "wonders of the world" are said to have existed during the Middle Ages, although it is unlikely that these lists originated at that time. 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." Many of the structures on these lists were built much earlier than the Medieval Ages, but were well known. The lists are more properly seen as a continuing type or genre in the Seven Wonders tradition than a specific list.
The following is a typical representative of such lists:

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
Many lists have been made of the greatest structures built during modern times or of the greatest wonders existing today. Some of the most notable lists are presented below.

American Society of Civil Engineers
The American Society of Civil Engineers compiled a list of wonders of the modern world:[3]



Wonder
Date Started
Date Finished
Locations


Channel Tunnel

December 1, 1987

May 6, 1994

Strait of Dover, between the United Kingdom and France


CN Tower

February 6, 1973

June 26, 1976, tallest land structure in the world until September 12, 2007. Surpassed by Burj Dubai

Toronto, Ontario, Canada


Empire State Building

January 22, 1930

May 1, 1931

New York, NY, U.S.


Golden Gate Bridge

January 5, 1933

May 27, 1937

Golden Gate Strait, north of San Francisco, California, U.S.


Itaipu Dam

January 1970

May 5, 1984

Paraná River, between Brazil and Paraguay


Delta Works

1950

May 10, 1997

Netherlands


Panama Canal

January 1, 1880

January 7, 1914

Isthmus of Panama


New7Wonders Foundation's seven wonders of the world
 Great Wall of China
 The Taj Mahal
 Machu Pichu
 The Grand Canyon
In 2001, an initiative was started by the Swiss corporation New7Wonders Foundation to choose the New Seven Wonders of the World from a selection of 200 existing monuments for profit.[4] Twenty-one finalists were announced on January 1, 2006.[5] Egypt was not happy with the fact that the only original wonder would have to compete with the likes of the Statue of Liberty, the Sydney Opera House, and other landmarks; and called the project absurd. To solve this, Giza was named an honorary Candidate. The results were announced on July 7, 2007 in Benfica's stadium in a big ceremony in Lisbon, Portugal:[6]



Wonder

Date of construction

Location


Great Wall of China

Fifth century B.C.E. – sixteenth century CE

China


Petra

Sixth century B.C.E.

Jordan


Christ the Redeemer

Opened October 12, 1931

Brazil


Machu Picchu

c. 1450

Peru


Chichen Itza

c. 600

Mexico


Roman Colosseum

Completed 80 C.E.

Italy


Taj Mahal

Completed c. 1648

India


Great Pyramid (Honorary Candidate)

Completed c. 2560 B.C.E.

Egypt



USA Today's New Seven Wonders
In November 2006, the American national newspaper, USA Today, in cooperation with the American television show, Good Morning America, revealed a list of New Seven Wonders as chosen by six judges. The wonders were announced one per day over a week on Good Morning America. An eighth wonder was chosen on November 24 from viewer feedback.[7]



Number

Wonder

Location


1

Potala Palace

Lhasa, Tibet, China


2

Old City of Jerusalem

Jerusalem, Israel


3

Polar ice caps

Polar regions


4

Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument

Hawaii, United States


5

Internet

N/A


6

Maya ruins

Yucatán Peninsula, México


7

Great Migration of Serengeti and Masai Mara

Tanzania and Kenya


8

Grand Canyon (viewer-chosen eighth wonder)

Arizona, United States

Seven Natural Wonders of the World
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:[8]

Grand Canyon
Great Barrier Reef
Harbour of Rio de Janeiro
Mount Everest
Aurora
Parícutin volcano
Victoria Falls
Seven wonders of the underwater world
 An aerial photograph of the Great Barrier Reef
The Seven Underwater Wonders of the World was a list drawn up by CEDAM International, an American-based non-profit group for divers, dedicated to ocean preservation and research. In 1989, CEDAM brought together a panel of marine scientists, including Dr. Eugenie Clark, to pick underwater areas which they considered to be worthy of protection. The results were announced at The National Aquarium in Washington DC by actor Lloyd Bridges, who played in a TV show titled Sea Hunt:[9]

Palau
Belize Barrier Reef
Great Barrier Reef
Deep-Sea Vents
Galápagos Islands
Lake Baikal
Northern Red Sea
Seven Wonders of the Industrial World
 Schematic of the Panama Canal, illustrating the sequence of locks and passages
British author Deborah Cadbury wrote Seven Wonders of the Industrial World, a book telling the stories of seven great feats of engineering of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In 2003 the BBC made a seven-part documentary series on the book, with each episode dramatising the construction one of the wonders. The seven industrial wonders are:

SS Great Eastern
Bell Rock Lighthouse
Brooklyn Bridge
London sewerage system
First Transcontinental Railroad
Panama Canal
Hoover Dam
Travel wonders of the world
Travel writer Howard Hillman is one of many such writers who has compiled lists of the top man-made[10]
and natural[11] tourist travel wonders of the world.

Man-made travel wonders
 Forbidden City located in the center of Beijing, China
Giza pyramid complex
Great Wall of China
Taj Mahal
Machu Picchu
Bali
Angkor Wat
Forbidden City
Bagan Temples & Pagodas
Karnak Temple
Teotihuacán
Natural travel wonders
 Victoria Falls, seen from the Zambian side.
Serengeti Migration
Galápagos Islands
Grand Canyon
Iguazu Falls
Amazon Rainforest
Ngorongoro Crater
Great Barrier Reef
Victoria Falls
Bora Bora
Cappadocia
Notes

↑  Paul Trebilco, The Early Christians in Ephesus from Paul to Ignatius (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2007, ISBN 0802807690).

↑ John Freely, The Western Shores of Turkey: Discovering the Aegean and Mediterranean Coast (Tauris Parke Paperbacks, 2004, ISBN 978-1850436188).

↑ Civil Engineering Wonders 7wonders.org. Retrieved April 8, 2022.

↑  New Seven Wonders New 7 Wonders. Retrieved April 8, 2022

↑ Finalist Page New 7 Wonders. Retrieved April 8, 2022.

↑  Opera House snubbed as new Wonders unveiled ABC News, July 7, 2008. Retrieved April 8, 2022.

↑  What Are The USA Today 7 Wonders Of The World? Listerious, December 15, 2020. Retrieved April 8, 2022.

↑  The Seven Natural Wonders of the World CNN, 1997. Retrieved April 8, 2022.

↑  The Seven Underwater Wonders of the World Retrieved April 8, 2022.

↑ Howard Hillman, World's top 10 man-made travel wonders Hillman's Top 10 Lists for Travelers. Retrieved April 8 2022.

↑ Howard Hillman, World's top 10 natural travel wonders, Hillman's Top 10 Lists for Travelers. Retrieved April 8 2022.


ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
Cox, Reg, and Neil Morris. The Seven Wonders of the Modern World. Chelsea House Publications, 2000. ISBN 0791060489.
Cox, Reg, Neil Morris, and James Field. The Seven Wonders of the Medieval World. Chelsea House Publications, 2000. ISBN 0791060470.
D'Epiro, Peter, and Mary Desmond Pinkowish. What Are the Seven Wonders of the World? and 100 Other Great Cultural Lists. Anchor, 1998. ISBN 0385490623.
Freely, John. The Western Shores of Turkey: Discovering the Aegean and Mediterranean Coast. Tauris Parke Paperbacks, 2004. ISBN 978-1850436188
Morris, Neil. The Seven Wonders of the Natural World. Chrysalis Books, 2002. ISBN 184138495X.
Trebilco, Paul. The Early Christians in Ephesus from Paul to Ignatius. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2007. ISBN 0802807690
External links
All links retrieved January 26, 2023.

Seven Ancient Wonders
"Eternal wonder of humanity's first great achievements" by Jonathan Glancey, The Guardian.
Parkin, Tim, ed. Researching Ancient Wonders: A Research Guide (U. of Canterbury, New Zealand)
[https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/seven-wonders-of-the-ancient-world
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World] History.com

Other wonders
Complete Listing of World Wonders Wonder Club
Hillman Wonders of the World Howard Hillman's Top 100 Wonders
7 Wonders of the World – The New, the Natural, and the Ancient The Planet D

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