Seven Wonders Of The Ancient World Essays - , Term Papers

Seven Wonders Of The Ancient World How many individuals can name the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World? These ancien, man made monuments were compiled into a list considerable in their enormous size or some other unusual quality (Donovan 325). We should not let these legacies be left behind in the past, because each of these Seven Wonders has a story hidden within their ruins, or in one case, within its remains. Picture these architectural structures as I uncover the legends of The Statue of Zeus, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Pyramids of Egypt, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, and the Temple of Artemis. The first full modern version of the list appeared less than four centuries ago in Italy in 1608 (Romer IX). After that the lists varied, sometimes naming ten wonders, but always keeping the honored name of The Seven Wonders of the World (IX). The listing of these wonders initiated by Greeks and Romans listed memorable things that they thought travelers should see (Donovan 325). The origianl authorship of the list is not completely proven, but it is believed to be composed by Bede and Philo (Romer X). Philo's list is the most impressive, because of it's uncomparable text, in length, poetry, and information given (Romer X). At one time, classical writers argued over the true list, but today there is one most commonly used (Virtual Tours 1). Few drawings or sketches exist of the vanished monuments, so archeologists have relied on ancient tales and literary works to get an idea of appearance and history (2).Every one of the seven wonders is connected to the legendary King Alexander (Romer XII). He founded Egyptian Alexandria, the city of Pharos; he stormed Halicarnassus, the city of the Mausoleum; the Rhodian of Colossus was cast in his image; he died in Babylon, the city of the Hanging Gardens, and all of them stood within his shortlived Empire (Romer XII). Apart from the Statue of Zeus in the west and the Hanging Gardens in the east, they all lay in the center of the Greek Empire (McLeish 4). In the Fourth Dynasty, built 4600 years ago, the Giza Pyramids came known as the greatest of the Seven Wonders (Grigson 18). These pyramids are the largest of the 70-odd pyramids built (18). The largest of the three Giza Pyramids is the Pyramid of Cheops (18). Its base is 57,000 square feet and has 2,300,000 limestone blocks each weighing two and one-half tons (18). It is made up of a King's Chamber, Queen's Chamber, grand gallery, vents, ascending and descending passages, and a Greaves Shaft (Krystek 4). Cheop's Pyramid is surrounded by rows of low flat tombs, mastabas, and three small pyramids in which his family and other high officials were buried (Grigson 20). The second pyramid is called the Pyramid of Chephren and the third if the pyramid of Mycerinus (20). These pyramids all have an astonishing accuracy in their construction (18). There is only about eight inches difference between the longest and the shortest baseline and teh four corners make an almost perfect right angle (18). It is believed that the Eyqyptians worked by observing teh stars because all the sides are aligned to face the cardinal points of the compass (18). Richard Procter, and astronomer, observed hat the descending passage could have b een used to observe transit stars and he grand gallery could have been used to map the sky when on the top (Krystek 3). The pyramid is probably connected with Egyptain sun worship and a pyramid stone, the benben, symbolizes the sun god ( Grigson 20). When the sun's rays breaks through at exactly the angle of teh Giza Pyramids, the Egyptians regarded that as a stairway to heaven for their kings (20). They believed the body was the spirit's house and so they want to perserve the body as long as they can (Mc Leish 5). Priests began by removing all the soft parts of the body, such as the brain, lungs, heart, liver, and intestines (5). A great archeologist, Sir Flanders Petrie, estimated that it took 100,000 men to haul stones and another 4,000 to work on the actual construction (Grigson 20). They used no pulleys, but must have used an incline plane to raise the blocks (20). How the inside of teh pyramid is built is unknown (20). The center of the pyramid is the home of Cheop's burial chamber (20). Before and after the construction of the Pyramids, Egyptians interned