This is a project on

The Seven Ancient Wonders

of the World

By Hugh Mac Craith

Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

The Seven Ancient Wonders are now all gone except for the Great Pyramid of Giza which is still in Egypt today. People have to guess what

they looked like. The Seven Ancient Wonders of the World were:

The Colossus of Rhodes

The Temple of Artemis

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

The Lighthouse of Alexandria

The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus

The Temple of Zeus

The Great Pyramids of Giza

Temple of Artemis

Artemis was the Greek goddess of hunting and nature and to worship her, the Greeks built a temple.

The temple was built in Ephesus, Turkey.

It took 120 years to build. It was finished in 550 B.C. The temple was supported by 127 stone columns, all hand carved. It was made of marble and was decorated inside and out with gold.

It was built on a bog which is probably why it took so long.

Temple of Artemis pt2

Shortly after the temple was built, Turkish soldiers destroyed it. It was rebuilt by the Greeks.

In 356 B.C. a man called Herostratus burned the temple down just to be famous in history (I suppose he is part of history now - he's in this project!)

Because the temple was burned down not much of it remains today. (as shown left)

Temple of Zeus The Olympic games were held in a shrine

devoted to Zeus. Zeus was the king of the Greek gods. The shrine was in the capital city of Peloponnessus in Athens. When the games became more and more popular, the Greeks needed a new temple. Between 460B.C. and 470 B.C. they built the Temple of Zeus in Olympia. The creator's name was Libon.

At the back of the temple was a giant throne on which was a giant statue of Zeus. The statue was made of ebony (ebony is a hard black wood ) covered over with ivory and gold.

But it was destroyed by earthquakes and now not much of the temple is left. (as shown here)

Mausoleum at Halicaranassus

King Masusolus ruled Halicarnassus for 24 years with his wife Artimisia at the area around Bodrum in Turkey. In Greek times this area was called Halicarnassus.

When King Masusolus died Artimisa made him a mausoleum. She got together many artists to design the mausoleum. The mausoleum was made of three parts. There was a giant square bottom block with 36 stone columns on top of that. They held up the roof.

Fact: The mausoleum was 45 metres tall.

Mausoleum at Halicarnassus pt2

Soon after the mausoleum was built news that King Masusolus had died went to Rhodes. (King Mausolus ruled the island of Rhodes for many years so when he died the Rhodeans wanted revenge.) The Rhodeans sent fleets to capture Halicarnassus. Artimisia knew what they had planned and had her own fleet prepared for battle. When the Rhodeans attacked, the fleets of Halicarnassus defeated them and Rhodes was captured again.

The mausoleum stood till the middle ages but it was destroyed by earthquakes so now only a few pillars remain (as shown on the left)

Fact: the word 'mausoleum' is still used today. It means a huge tomb. It comes from the king's name, Mausolus.

Hanging Gardens of Babylon

The Hanging Gardens were made in the dry deserts of Babylon. Babylon was a kingdom that once existed in the part of Asia which is now called Iraq. It was a present from King Nebuchadnezzer the second for his wife. She was homesick for the mountainous areas where she grew up.

The Hanging Gardens was a giant South-American style step temple with many tiers. In each tier there were many trees and various exotic plants.

Hanging Gardens of Babylon pt2

Archaeologists say the gardens may have been watered by a giant chain system with two huge wheels spinning and bringing up buckets of water from the Euphrates river.

Many years ago the temple collapsed and now barely anything remains.

The Lighthouse of Alexandria

The Lighthouse of Alexandria was built on an island called the Island of the Pharos off the coast of Alexandria in Egypt. Alexandria was one of the seven places named after Alexander the Great. He died at a young age, in 323 B.C.

King Ptolmey, the ruler of Egypt, now owned the city. They needed a symbol to guide ships into the harbour so King Ptolmey started to build a lighthouse in 290B.C. It was finished 20 years later.

Lighthouse at Alexandria pt2

A man named Sostrates of Kindos designed the lighthouse. It was built in three parts - a huge box shaped bottom square, another box shaped middle square, and a beacon room on the top.

The lighthouse was made of white marble. On the top, there was a giant curved mirror lit by a giant flaming bonfire by night and the sun by day. It stood for 1500 years but then, like many of the other Seven Wonders, was hit by an earthquake and collapsed into the sea.

This photograph shows the remains of the lighthouse which now lie underwater.

Colossus of Rhodes

The Colossus of Rhodes was a giant statue of the sun god Helios which once stood on the island of Rhodes. Rhodes is an island just off the Turkish coast and is about half the size of Cyprus. It was placed in a spot on the coast so that it faced where the Aegean sea meets the Mediterranean sea.

A man called Antigous sent his son Semetrious to capture Rhodes but the Rhodeans built a giant wall around the island and so the attackers had to use siege towers to invade. They had a long war but eventually they made peace and built a statue to celebrate their freedom.

Colossus of Rhodes

The Rhodeans built the statue of Helios. The statue was made of an iron frame, plated with bronze and the statue was 30 and a half metres high. Legend has it that they melted down the spears and shields of the war to make the bronze used in the statue. The statue stood for 56 years but it fell into the sea due to earth tremors.

Today none of the statue remains.

Fact: The word 'colossal' actually comes from the Colossus

Hey! Where did the Colossus go?

The Great Pyramid of Giza

The Pyramid of Giza is the only one of the Seven Wonders left. The Egyptians built Pyramids as reminders of their Pharaohs.

The Pyramids were made of giant yellow stone blocks which weighed two and a half tonnes each. The pyramids appeared white because the yellow blocks were covered with limestone blocks. Later the limestone was ripped off and used to make other buildings so they are now yellow.

Great Pyramid of Giza pt2

Interior of the Pyramid of Giza

The pyramids were actually mausoleums for the pharaohs. They were decorated inside with gold statues of animals and anything else they might need in the afterlife. The pyramids are four sided because one side faces north, one south, one east and one west.