Read
Write Math. com where learning is never too early for Kids or is never too late for Adults|
|
At the entrance of the harbor of the Mediterranean island of Rhodes in Greece.
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.
The island of Rhodes was an important economic center in the ancient world. It is located off the southwestern tip of Asia Minor where the Aegean Sea meets the Mediterranean.
The capitol city, also named Rhodes, was built in 408 B.C. and was designed to take advantage of the island's best natural harbor on the northern coast.
The Colossus of Rhodes, which was commissioned by Chares of Lindos, was believed to be started after 304 B.C. and took 12 years to finish.
The statue was constructed of bronze plates over an iron framework (very similar to the Statue of Liberty which is copper over a steel frame). In the seventh century A.D. the Arabs conquered Rhodes and broke the remains of the Colossus up into smaller pieces and sold it as scrap metal. Legend says it took 900 camels to carry away the statue. A sad end for what must have been a majestic work of art.
The Great Pyramid is the largest and finest of three large pyramids on the Giza plateau near modern-day Cairo, Egypt. The Great Pyramid itself is the only surviving member of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Egyptologists say the Great Pyramid was built as a tomb for the great Cheops, who ruled in the Fourth Dynasty about 2600 B.C.
The Great Pyramid rests on a stone platform 55 centimeters tall.
Dedicated to the proposition that the Great Pyramid is a rational (in the mathematical sense) structure, designed and built by normal people.
The monument was built by the Egyptian pharaoh Khufu of the Fourth Dynasty around the year 2560 BC to serve as a tomb when he dies. The tradition of pyramid building started in Ancient Egypt as a sophistication of the idea of a mastaba or "platform" covering the royal tomb.
The great pyramid is believed to have been built over a 20 year period. It is the oldest, and the only surviving Seven Ancient Wonders of the world.
The ancient Hanging Gardens of Babylon in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar II (604-562 BC) is one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
Located in Babylon, one of the most important cities of the ancient world, whose location today is marked by a broad area of ruins just east of the Euphrates River, 90 km (56 mi) south of Baghdad, Iraq.
The Hanging Gardens were built on top of stone arches 23 metres above ground and watered from the Euphrates by a complicated mechanical system.
Located in the city of Bodrum on the Aegean Sea, in south-west Turkey. The Mausoleum was completed around 350 BC. In 377 B.C., the city of Halicarnassus was the capitol of a small kingdom along the Mediterranean coast of Asia Minor.Mausolus, with his queen Artemisia, ruled over Halicarnassus and the surrounding territory for 24 years. As a tribute to him, the queen decided to build the most splendid tomb in the known world after the death of the king.
The tomb was erected on a hill overlooking the city. The whole structure sat in an enclosed courtyard. The total height of the Mausoleum was 45 m (140 ft). The beauty of the Mausoleum is not only in the structure itself, but in the decorations and statues that adorned the outside at different levels on the podium and the roof.
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 crusader 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.
Located on the ancient island of Pharos, now a promontory within the city of Alexandria in Egypt. The Pharaoh's Island island was connected to the mainland by means of a dike - the Heptastadion - 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 initiated around 290 BC, For centuries, the Lighthouse of Alexandria (occasionally referred to as the Pharos Lighthouse) was used to mark the harbor, using fire at night and reflecting sun rays during the day.
The history of the Lighthouse came to an end 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. The Lighthouse of Alexandria was the last ancient wonder to disappear
Located on the ancient town of Olympia, west coast of modern Greece, about 150 km west of Athens. The Temple of Zeus was build around 450 BC. Designed by Athenian sculptor Pheidias.
The temple was built on a raised, rectangular platform. Thirteen large columns supported the roof along the sides and six supported it on each end. A gently-peaked roof topped the building. The triangles, or "pediments," created by the sloped roof at the ends of the building were filled with sculpture.
A magnificent statue of Zeus forty foot high was commissioned for the interior that would become one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
The statue was located at the western end of the temple. It was 22 feet wide and some 40 feet tall. The figure of Zeus was seated on an elaborate throne.
Olympia was 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
Located on The ancient city of Ephesus near the modern town of Selcuk, about 50 km south of Izmir (Smyrna) in Turkey.
The temple served as both a marketplace and a religious institution.
Temple of Artemis was built and destroyed seven times. It was always rebuilt on the same site. Built on the River Selinus, the building was made completely of marble except for a tile-covered wooden roof. It had 127 (some sources say 117 or 128) columns that were 20 meters high with Ionic capitals. On July 21, 356 BCE Herostratus burned the temple to the ground. The temple was rebuilt and restored by another architect Dinocrates, who kept almost the same proportions. Supposedly, this temple lasted anywhere from 120 to 220 years. In 262 CE, the temple was finally destroyed by a Gothic fleet.