Alexander the Great’s conquest of much of the known world in the 4th century BC gave Hellenistic travelers access to the civilizations of the Egyptians, Persians, and Babylonians. These visitors, smitten by the landmarks and marvels of the various lands, began to list what they saw. As a way of organizing, a compendium of these places made it easier to remember. Indeed, in place of the contemporary usage of the word "Wonder," the Greeks actually used the word "Theamata", which translates to "Things to be Seen" or "Must-Sees." So, the list was meant to be the ancient World's counterpart of a travel guidebook.
As depicted by Dutch artist Marten Heemskerk in 16th Century the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World as follows:
1. Great Pyramid of Giza,
2. Hanging Gardens of Babylon,
3. Temple of Artemis at Ephesus,
4. Statue of Zeus at Olympia,
5. Mausoleum of Halicarnassus,
6. Colossus of Rhodes, and
7. The Lighthouse of Alexandria
1. Great Pyramid of Giza
The Great Pyramid consists of an estimated 2.3 million limestone blocks with most believed to have been transported from nearby quarries. The Tura limestone used for the casing was quarried across the river. The largest granite stones in the pyramid, found in the "King's" chamber, weight 25 to 80 tonnes and were transported more than 500 miles away from Aswan. Traditionally, ancient Egyptians cut stone blocks by hammering wooden wedges into the stone which were then soaked with water. As the water was absorbed, the wedges expanded, causing the rock to crack. Once they were cut, they were carried by boat either up or down the Nile River to the pyramid.
At completion, the Great Pyramid of Giza was surfaced by white 'Casing Stones'. Slant-faced, but flat-topped, blocks of highly polished white limestone. These were carefully cut to what is approximately a face slope with a seked of 5½ palms to give the required dimensions. Visibly, all that remains is the underlying stepped core structure seen today. The stones can still be seen as parts of these structures to this day. Later explorers reported massive piles of rubble at the base of the pyramids left over from the continuing collapse of the casing stones, which were subsequently cleared away during continuing excavations of the site.
Many alternative, often contradictory, theories have been proposed regarding the Pyramid's construction techniques. Not all even agree that the blocks were quarried; Davidovits claims that they were cast in situ using a "Limestone Concrete", a theory which is rejected by other Egyptologists. The rest accept that it was built by moving huge stones from a quarry, being only unable to agree whether they were dragged, lifted or even rolled into place. The Greeks believed that slave labour was used, but modern Egyptologists accept that it was built by many tens of thousands of skilled workers. They camped near the pyramids and worked for a salary or as a form of paying taxes until the construction was completed.
One mystery of the pyramid's construction is its planning. John Romer suggests that they used the same method that had been used for earlier and later constructions, laying out parts of the plan on the ground at a 1 to 1 scale. He writes that "such a working diagram would also serve to generate the architecture of the pyramid with precision unmatched by any other means." He devotes a chapter of his book to the physical evidence that there was such a plan.
2. Hanging Garden of Babylon
The
Hanging Gardens of Babylon are considered to be one of the original Seven
Wonders of the Ancient World. They were built in the ancient city-state of
Babylon, near present-day Al Hillah, Babil, in Iraq. According to ancient Greek
poets, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were built near the Euphrates River the
Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II around 600 B.C.
The
Gardens was 100 feet long by 100 feet wide and built up in tiers so that it
resembled a theater. Vaults had been constructed under the ascending terraces
which carried the entire weight of the planted garden; the uppermost vault,
which was seventy-five feet high, was the highest part of the garden, which, at
this point, was on the same level as the city walls. The roofs of the vaults
which supported the garden were constructed of stone beams some sixteen feet
long, and over these were laid first a layer of reeds set in thick tar, then
two courses of baked brick bonded by cement, and finally a covering of lead to
prevent the moisture in the soil penetrating the roof. On top of this roof
enough topsoil was heaped to allow the biggest trees to take root. The earth
was leveled off and thickly planted with every kind of tree. And since the
galleries projected one beyond the other, where they were sunlit, they
contained conduits for the water which was raised by pumps in great abundance
from the river, though no one outside could see it being done.
Modern scientists have deduced that for the
gardens to survive they would have had to be irrigated using a system
consisting of a pump, waterwheel and cisterns to carry water from the Euphrates
many feet into the air. Though there are multiple accounts of the gardens in
both Greek and Roman literature, none of them are firsthand, and no mention of
the gardens has been found in Babylonian cuneiform inscriptions. As a result,
most modern scholars believe that the existence of the gardens was part of an
inspired and widely believed but still fictional tale.
Babylon,
too, lies in a plain; and the circuit of its wall is three hundred and
eighty-five stadia. The thickness of its wall is thirty-two feet; the height
thereof between the towers is fifty cubits; that of the towers is sixty cubits;
the passage on top of the wall is such that four-horse chariots can easily pass
one another; and it is on this account that this and the hanging garden are
called one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
The
garden is consists of arched vaults, which are situated, one after another, on
checkered, cube-like foundations. The checkered foundations, which are hollowed
out, are covered so deep with earth that they admit of the largest of trees,
having been constructed of baked brick and asphalt the foundations themselves
and the vaults and the arches. The ascent to the uppermost terrace-roofs is
made by a stairway; and alongside these stairs there were screws, through which
the water was continually conducted up into the garden from the Euphrates by
those appointed for this purpose.
