The 7 world wonders of the ancient world

The 7 world wonders of the ancient world

Our presentation is about the 7 world wonders of the ancient world. The reason why we chose this subject is because we wanted to know more about the wonders. These are the 7 world wonders:

- The great Pyramid of Giza
- The hanging Gardens of Babylon
- The Statue of Zeus at Olympia
- The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
- The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
- The Colossus at Rhodes
- The Lighthouse of Alexandria

...A gigantic stone structure near the ancient city of Memphis, serving as a tomb for the Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu...:

The Great Pyramid of Giza

It is the oldest, yet it is the only surviving of the Seven Ancient Wonders. It is the Great Pyramid of Giza.
It is located in Cairo, Egypt
History
There were originally 3 pyramids but only the one built for pharaoh Khufu came to the top of the list for the wonders of the world. The monument was built by the Egyptian pharaoh Khufu around the year 2560 BC to serve as a tomb when he died.
The great pyramid is believed to have been built over a 20 year period. The site was first prepared, and blocks of stone were transported and placed. A layer was put over the surface of the stones to make it smooth, over the years it has slowly disappeared..

....A palace with legendary gardens built on the banks of the Euphrates river by King Nebuchadnezzar II ...:

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

Fruits and flowers... Waterfalls... Gardens hanging from the palace terraces... Exotic animals... This is the picture of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon in most people's minds. It may be surprising to know that they might have never existed except in the minds of Greek poets and historians!
On the east bank of the River Euphrates, about 50 km south of Baghdad, Iraq
History
The Babylonian kingdom flourished under the rule of the famous King, Hammurabi Nebuchadnezzar II (604-562 BC) is credited for building the legendary Hanging Gardens. It is said that the Gardens were built by Nebuchadnezzar to please his wife who had been "brought up in Media and had a passion for mountain surroundings".
The only descriptions of the gardens come from the Greek historians, Babylonian descriptions remain unknown. Even the historians who give detailed descriptions of the Hanging Gardens never saw them. It was the imagination of poets and ancient historians that blended all these elements together to produce one of the World Wonders.
It wasn't until the twentieth century that some of the mysteries surrounding the Hanging Gardens were revealed. Archaeologists are still struggling to gather enough evidence before reaching the final conclusions about the location of the Gardens, their irrigation system, and their true appearance. Some recent researchers even suggest that the Hanging Gardens were built by Senaherib, not by Nebuchadnezzar II (ca. 100 years earlier).

...An enormous statue of the Greek father of gods, carved by the great sculptor Pheidias...:

The Statue of Zeus at Olympia

This is the statue of the god in whose honor the Ancient Olympic games were held. It was located on the land that gave its very name to the Olympics. At the time of the games, wars stopped, and athletes came from Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, and Sicily to celebrate the Olympics and to worship their king of gods: Zeus.
It it located at the ancient town of Olympia, on the west coast of modern Greece, about 150 km west of Athens.
History
The ancient Greek calendar starts in 776 BC, for the Olympic games are believed to have started that year. The magnificent temple of Zeus was designed by the architect Libon and was built around 450 BC.
For the years that followed, the temple attracted visitors and worshippers from all over the world. In the second century BC repairs were skillfully made to the aging statue.
Olympia was further struck by earthquakes, landslides and floods, and the temple was damaged by fire in the fifth century AD. Earlier, the statue had been transported by wealthy Greeks to a palace in Constantinople. There, it survived until it was destroyed by a severe fire in AD 462. Today nothing remains at the site of the old temple except rocks and debris, the foundation of the buildings, and fallen columns.
The statue was made and decorated in gold, and precious stones.

....A beautiful temple in Asia Minor erected in honor of the Greek goddess of hunting and wild nature ...:

The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

Is it simply a temple? How could it take its place among other unique structures such as the Pyramid and the Hanging Gardens,.For the people who actually visited it, the answer was simple. It was not just a temple... It was the most beautiful structure on earth... It was built in honor of the Greek goddess of hunting, wild nature, and fertility. That was the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus.
It is located at the ancient city of Ephesus near the modern town of Selcuk, about 50 km south of Izmir (Smyrna) in Turkey.

History
Although the foundation of the temple dates back to the seventh century BC, the structure that earned a spot in the list of Wonders was built around 550 BC. Referred to as the great marble temple, or temple D, it was sponsored by the Lydian king Croesus and was designed by the Greek architect Chersiphron. The Temple was decorated with bronze statues sculpted by the most skilled artists of their time.
The temple served as both a marketplace and a religious institution. For years, the sanctuary was visited by merchants, tourists, artisans, and kings who paid homage to the goddess by bringing offers.
On the night of 21 July 356 BC, a man named Herostratus burned the temple to ground in an attempt to immortalize his name, which he did indeed. Oddly enough, Alexander the Great was born the same night. The historian Plutarch later wrote that the goddess was "too busy taking care of the birth of Alexander to send help to her threatened temple". And when Alexander the Great conquered Asia Minor, he offered to rebuild the destroyed temple, but the Temple was not restored until after his death in 323 BC.

...A fascinating tomb constructed for King Maussollos, Persian satrap of Caria ...:

The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus

Similar to the Great Pyramid, we are now visiting the burial place of an ancient king. Yet the Mausoleum is different - so different from the Pyramid that it earned its reputation - and a spot within the list - for other reasons. Geographically, it is closer to the Temple of Artemis... And it was the beauty of the tomb rather than its size that fascinated its visitors for years.
It is located in the city of Bodrum on the Aegean Sea, in south-west Turkey.
History
For 16 centuries, the Mausoleum remained in good condition until an earthquake caused some damage to the roof and colonnade. In the early fifteenth century, the Knights of St John of Malta invaded the region and built a massive castle. When they decided to fortify it in 1494, they used the stones of the Mausoleum. By 1522, almost every block of the Mausoleum had been disassembled and used for construction.
Today, the massive castle still stands in Bodrum, and the polished stone and marble blocks of the Mausoleum can be spotted within the walls of the structure. Some of the sculptures survived and are today on display at the British Museum in London.

...A colossus of Helios the sun-god, erected by the Greeks near the harbor of a Mediterranean Island ...:

The Colossus of Rhodes

From its building to its destruction lies a time 56 years. Yet the colossus earned a place in the famous list of Wonders. The Colossus of Rhodes was not only a gigantic statue. It was rather a symbol of unity of the people who inhabited that beautiful Mediterranean island -- Rhodes.
It is located at the entrance of the harbor of the Mediterranean island of Rhodes in Greece.
History
The construction of the Colossus took 12 years and was finished in 282 BC. For years, the statue stood at the harbor entrance, until a strong earthquake hit Rhodes about 226 BC. The city was badly damaged, and the Colossus was broken at its weakest point -- the knee. The Rhodians received an immediate offer from Ptolemy III Eurgetes of Egypt to restore the monument. However, an oracle was consulted and forbade the re-erection.
For almost a millennium, the statue lay broken in ruins. In AD 654, the Arabs invaded Rhodes. They disassembled the remains of the broken Colossus and sold them to a Jew from Syria. It is said that the fragments had to be transported to Syria on the backs of 900 camels.
The staue of liberty originally came from the idea of the colossus of Rhodes

A lighthouse built by the Ptolemies on the island of Pharos off the coast of their capital city

The Lighthouse of Alexandria

Of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, only one had a practical use: The Lighthouse of Alexandria. For sailors, it ensured a safe return to the Great Harbor. For architects, it meant even more: it was the tallest building on Earth. And for scientists, it was the mysterious mirror that fascinated them most... The mirror which reflection could be seen more than 50 km off-shore.
It is located on the ancient island of Pharos, now a promontory within the city of Alexandria in Egypt.
History
Shortly after the death of Alexander the Great, his commander Ptolemy Soter assumed power in Egypt. He had witnessed the founding of Alexandria, and established his capital there. Off of the city's coast lies a small island: Pharos. Its name, legend says, is a variation of Pharaoh's Island, but it is more likely that the name is Greek in origin. The island was connected to the mainland by means of a dike which gave the city a double harbor. And because of dangerous sailing conditions and flat coastline in the region, the construction of a lighthouse was necessary.
The project was started by Soter around 290 BC, but was completed after his death, during the reign of his son Ptolemy Philadelphus. For centuries, the Lighthouse of Alexandria was used to mark the harbor, using fire at night and reflecting sun rays during the day. It was even shown on Roman coins.
The final chapter in the history of the Lighthouse came in AD 1480 when the Egyptian Mamelouk Sultan, Qaitbay, decided to fortify Alexandria's defense. He built a medieval fort on the same spot where the Lighthouse once stood, using the fallen stone and marble.