Childrens Illustrated Encyclopedia

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572

Wonders

Halicarnassus

Ephesus

Babylon

Giza

Rhodes

Location of the Wonders

the map shows the location of the seven Wonders

of the ancient World. travelers visited many of them

by ship. Most of the wonders were destroyed by 

earthquakes or fire, but some remains can still

be seen in the British Museum in London, england.

Alexandria

of the Ancient World

PyraMids

three pyramids were built at

Giza, egypt, in about 2600 bce

as tombs for three egyptian

kings. the largest, made from

more than two million huge

blocks of limestone, stands

482 ft (147 m) high.

Olympia

coLossus

the bronze statue of

the sun god helios

towered 120 ft

(37 m) over the

harbor entrance

on the island of rhodes

in the aegean sea. Built

in 292 bce, it was about

the same size as the

statue of Liberty.

LiGhthouse

the Greek architect

sostratos designed the

world’s first lighthouse.

it was built around

304 bce on the island

of Pharos, alexandria,

egypt. it stood about

440 ft (134 m) high.

a fire burned at the

top to mark the

harbor entrance.

MausoLeuM

the Mausoleum at halicarnassus (in modern

turkey) was a huge marble tomb built

for Mausolus, a rich governor.

it stood 135 ft (41 m)high, with

a base supporting 36 columns,

under a stepped pyramid.

an earthquake destroyed

most of the mausoleum.

tWo thousand years aGo, ancient Greek and roman tourists visited

the world’s great landmarks just as we do today. ancient “travel agents”

compiled lists of amazing things that travelers should see. these “wonders”

were outstanding examples of human artistic or engineering achievement.

the seven most commonly listed monuments to human endeavor are called

the seven Wonders of the ancient World. they all had qualities that made

them stand out from the rest. some were the most beautiful statues, others the

largest structures of the day. of the seven wonders,

only one, the Great Pyramids, can still be seen

today. the hanging Gardens, the temple

of artemis, the statue of Zeus, the

Mausoleum, the colossus,

and the Lighthouse at

Pharos have all

vanished or are

in ruins.

teMPLe of arteMis

this, the largest temple of its day,

was dedicated to artemis, goddess of the

moon and hunting. Built almost entirely of

marble by the Greeks at ephesus (in modern

turkey), it burned down in 356 bce, leaving

only a few broken statues.

Zeus

the great statue

of Zeus, king of

the Greek gods,

stood 40 ft (12 m)

high at olympia,

Greece. Phidias,

a famous Greek

sculptor, created

the statue in about

435 bce. the god’s

robes and ornaments

were made of gold,

and the skin

 of ivory.

Find out more

alexander the great

Babylonians

egypt, ancient

hanGinG Gardens

in 605 bce, nebuchadnezzar ii, king

of Babylon, built the hanging Gardens

in his kingdom. he planted many exotic

plants on a brick terrace 75 ft (23 m)

above the ground.

Machines worked

by slaves watered

the plants.

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