The Mysterious Seven Wonders of Ancient World

The Mysterious Seven Wonders of Ancient World

"I have gazed on the walls of impregnable Babylon, along

which chariots may race, and on the Zeus by the banks of

the Alphaeus. I have seen the Hanging Gardens and the

Colossus of Helios, the great man-made mountains of the

lofty Pyramids, and the gigantic tomb of Mausolus. But when

I saw the Sacred House of Artemis that towers to the clouds,

the others were placed in the shade, for the sun himself has

never looked upon its equal outside Olympus." - Antipater of

Sidon (Curlee 1)

The Seven Wonders of Ancient World, like the name already says, are wonders

or mysteries. The Seven Wonders of Ancient World were built thousands of years ago

by humans. Ever since people were able to write, lists appeared, mostly by Greek and

Roman writers, with the most astonishing architecture they have seen. They started a

list with the most amazing buildings in their world, the Mediterranean in southern

Europe. Those ancient writers unfortunately never made it to Mexico or China;

otherwise, there might be more wonders on the list. Other writers added buildings and

objects until there were seven objects on one final list which are today known as the

Seven Wonders of Ancient World. Seven has always been a mystical number, which

might be the reason why the list just includes seven buildings and not more. Of course,

those monuments were built thousands of years ago; almost all were destroyed by wars

or natural disasters. Only one made it into our time: The Great Pyramid of Giza.

The first ancient wonder which is also the one and only wonder that still exists, is

the Great Pyramid of Giza which was "built approximately 4,500 years ago [and which]

is one of the most famous structures on earth" (Williams 4). Even in the 1700s the

Pyramid was already popular and had been visited by both Julius Caesar and

Napoleon. The Pyramids are not castles or buildings to live in; they are tombs for the

Pharaohs. As soon as a new Pharaoh