Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
The SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD (or the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World) is a commonly known list of seven remarkable constructions of classical antique style architecture. The earliest known version of the list was compiled in the [2nd century BC] by Antipater of Sidon; it appears to be based on the guide-books popular among Hellenic sight-seers and only includes works located around the Mediterranean rim.
[==The Seven Wonders==] Listed in order of their construction, the seven wonders are:
- Great Pyramid of Giza-2550 BCE
- Hanging Gardens of Babylon-600 BCE
- Statue of Zeus at Olympia-435 BCE
- Temple of Artemis at Ephesus-550 BCE
- Mausoleum of Maussollos at Italic textHalicarnassus-351 BCE
- Colossus of Rhodes-292-280 BCE
- Lighthouse of Alexandria-3rd century BCE
Of these, the only one that has survived to the present day is the Great Pyramid of Giza. (Beind the oldest too.) The Great Pyramid was built by the ancient Egyptians, the Hanging Gardens by the Babylonians, and the Maussollos Mausoleum by the Hellenized Carians; the Lighthouse of Alexandria and the Colossus of Rhodes by Hellenistic civilization; the others were built by the ancient Greeks. The existence of the Hanging Gardens has not been verified. The other five wonders were destroyed by the powers of mother nature: the Temple of Artemis and the Statue of Zeus were destroyed by fire; the Lighthouse of Alexandria, Colossus, and Mausoleum of Maussollos, were destroyed by earthquakes.
More recent lists
In the tradition of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, many other lists of wonders have been proposed, including both human feats of engineering and wonders of nature. However, these lists are rather informal, and there is no general consensus in any particular list.
Modern wonders
The following list of the top seven existing wonders was compiled by Hillman Wonders:
- Great Pyramid of Giza
- Great Wall of China
- Taj Mahal
- Serengeti Migration
- Galapagos
- Grand Canyon
- Machu Picchu
The American Society of Civil Engineers compiled another list of wonders of the modern world:
- Channel Tunnel
- CN Tower
- Empire State Building
- Golden Gate Bridge
- Itaipu Dam
- Netherlands' Tidal Defences
- Panama Canal
Natural wonders
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 between how large the list should be. One of the many lists was compiled by CNN [1]:
- Grand Canyon
- Great Barrier Reef
- Harbor of Rio de Janeiro
- Mount Everest
- Northern Lights
- Paricutín volcano
- Victoria Falls
Underwater wonders
This list of underwater wonders is of an unknown origin but has been repeated sufficiently often to gain a degree of notability:[2] [3]
- Palau
- Belize Barrier Reef
- Great Barrier Reef
- Deep-Sea Vents
- Galapagos Islands
- Lake Baikal
- Northern Red Sea
Alternative list
The New 7 Wonders foundation [4] has launched a poll to decide another new list of 7 Wonders, with 21 sites on its shortlist, as follows:
- Acropolis (Athens, Greece)
- Alhambra (Granada, Spain)
- Angkor (Cambodia)
- Chichen Itza (Yucatán, Mexico)
- Christ Redeemer (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
- Colosseum (Rome, Italy)
- Easter Island Statues (Chile)
- Eiffel Tower (Paris, France)
- Great Wall (China)
- Hagia Sophia (Istanbul, Turkey)
- Kremlin (Moscow, Russia)
- Kiyomizu Temple (Kyoto, Japan)
- Machu Picchu (Peru)
- Neuschwanstein Castle (Füssen, Germany)
- Newgrange (Ireland)
- Petra (Jordan)
- Pyramids of Giza (Egypt)
- Statue of Liberty (New York, United States)
- Stonehenge (Amesbury, United Kingdom)
- Sydney Opera House (Australia)
- Taj Mahal (Agra, India)
- Timbuktu (Mali)
See also
External links and references
- Seven Ancient Wonders
- The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World — an in-depth look from a professor of civil engineering at the University of South Florida
- Map of the Seven Wonders
- Parkin, Tim, Researching Ancient Wonders: A Research Guide, from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. - a collection of books and Internet resources with in-depth information on seven ancient wonders.
- Other Wonders
- Official web site for voting new wonders of the World
- The World's Top 100 Wonders - a list of architectural, engineering and natural wonders by Howard Hillman, a renowned travel writer.
- WonderClub.com - a "list of lists", with information about most wonders.
- Seven Wonders of the Modern World - a list of modern wonders compiled by the American Society of Civil Engineers
- Seven Wonders of Chicago - A list compiled by the Chicago Tribune and voted on by residents of the Chicagoland area.
- ^ [5]^ Underwater Wonders of the World
- ^ 2nd list of Underwater Wonder
Further reading
- Cox, Reg, and Neil Morris, "The Seven Wonders of the Modern World". Chelsea House Publications: Library. October, 2000. ISBN 079106048
- Cox, Reg, Neil Morris, and James Field, "The Seven Wonders of the Medieval World". Chelsea House Publications: Library. October, 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. December 1, 1998. ISBN 0385490623
- Morris, Neil, "The Seven Wonders of the Natural World". Chrysalis Books. December 30, 2002. ISBN 184138495X