Download - Seven wonders of the world

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  • 1. ORIGINAL SEVENWONDERS OF THE WORLDMade byFahad

2. The Great Pyramid of Giza From the original seven wonders of the world, theGreat Pyramid of Giza is the only one still standing.It is also known as the pyramid of Khufu or thepyramid of Cheops. It was constructed around theyear 2560 BC and is said to have been built as thetomb of King Khufu. There are three knownchambers deep inside the pyramid, the upper twobeing the king and queens chambers. It took over20 years to construct and remained the highestmanmade structure for over 3500 years (146.6meters). The total mass of the pyramid is estimatedto be close to 6 million tons and if it took 20 years toconstruct, it would mean moving 250 tons oflimestone a day. 3. Hanging Gardens of Babylon Among the original seven wonders of the world, theHanging Gardens of Babylon have captured ourimagination for several centuries. Though there issome controversy about the actual site of thesegardens, many believe that they were located at thepresent-day Al Hilla, Babil in Iraq. The existence ofthe lush Hanging Gardens was documented byStrabo and Diodorus Siculus, the famed Greekhistorians. They were built around the year 600 BCby King Nebuchadnezzar II to please his sick Persianwife who longed for the fragrant plants and trees ofher homeland. According to Diodorus the historian, itwas a terraced garden in several tiers and eachgarden plot was 100x100 feet and as these terraces 4. The Statue of Zeus atOlympia The statue of the Greek god Zeus was 39 feet talland depicted the Greek god in a sitting position. Thestatue was housed in the temple of Zeus and formany centuries people from all over the civilizedworld visited Olympia to see the statue. The statuewas sculptured by the renowned Greek sculptorPheidias around the year 432 BC. The statue wasmade of bronze with inlay ivory work and plated withgold, ebony, precious stones and occupied the entirewidth of the temple. A very detailed description ofthe statue and its throne was recorded by thetraveler Pausanias in the second century. As per hisdescription, the sculpture depicted the Greek godZeus holding a small statue of Nike, the goddess ofVictory in his right hand and a scepter inlaid with 5. Temple of Artemis The temple was constructed in Ephesus which isabout 50 kilometers south of the present port city ofIzmir in Turkey, around the year 550 BC. Also knownas the temple of Diana, it was a Greek templededicated to Artemis, the Greek Goddess who wasvenerated with great passion. It is said thatearlier, another temple stood at the same site around800 BC but was destroyed by floods and in its placethe new temple began to be built around 550 BC.Except for the roof, the new temple was built ofwhite marble. The roof stood on huge marble pillarsto make a wide ceremonial passage. At present, onlythe foundations and fragments of the temple remain.The construction was supervised by an architectnamed Chersiphron and his son Metagenes. 6. Mausoleum of Mausolus Mausolus was a wealthy king of a small kingdomwhich had its capitol at Halicarnussus. Fond ofgrandeur, he along with his wife Artemisia startedbuilding his capitol city with the help of the bestarchitects and sculptors from Greece. They spentlarge sums of the state taxes to commissionstatues, temples and buildings in sparkling whitemarble. In the center of the city, Artemisia plannedto construct a grand tomb as a final resting place forher husband and herself after their death. The tombwas built between 353 and 350 BC and wasdesigned by the Greek architects Satyros and Pythis.It stood approximately 45 meters high and all foursides of the mausoleum had intricate sculpturedreliefs by famous Greek sculptors. On top of thewalls of the structure were 36 columns (nine perside), and standing between each column was a 7. Lighthouse at Alexandria Work on the construction of the lighthouse wasstarted by Egypts first Macedonian ruler Ptolemyand completed by his son in the 3rd Century BC. Itwas constructed on the island of Pharos, a smallisland off the coast of Alexandria, Egypt. Since theEgyptian coastline was very flat and devoid of anyprominent landmarks, it was initially constructed as alandmark showing the location of the harbor tosailors. Many years later (around the 1st century), itwas converted into a lighthouse by the Romans. Thebuilding was square, about 8.5 meters on each sideand the height was estimated to be between 115 to135 meters. There are ancient claims that thelighthouse could be seen as far off as 35 miles bysailors. It was constructed from large blocks of lightcolored stone and rose in three stages: the lower 8. Colossus of Rhodes The Colossus of Rhodes was a statue of theGreek god Hilios and was constructed on theGreek island of Rhodes between 292 and 280 byChares of Lindos. The statue was approximately30 meters tall and straddled the harbor(according to descriptions by manyhistorians), though ancient accounts differ onthe size, shape and its very existence. Thestatue was mounted on two white marblepedestals that were each 15 meters high. Thestructure was built using iron tie bars and after itwas shaped, brass plates were fixed as the skinof the statue. It is said that much of the metalused to construct the statue was from variousweapons left behind by Demetriuss army whenthey withdrew after a failed invasion. The statuestood for only 56 years when Rhodes was hit byan earthquake in 226 BC. The statue snapped at