# Seven Wonders of the Ancient World



## FLAWDA-FELLA (Oct 8, 2005)

I have only been to 2 of the 7 Wonders of the World which I guess isn't too bad, considering the distance between them all. 

1.) Pyramids of Giza
2.) Colesseum of Rome


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## ReiAyanami (May 14, 2008)

Benonie said:


> Was the statue of Zeus at Olympia a wonder? I can't see why...


Probably because it costs more than the Pyramids, and was made by the greatest sculptor in history....


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## NYCD (Aug 10, 2005)

Yes the Zeus statue was very ornate and detailed, it was covered in loads and loads of gold and stones. The carving was said to be pretty amazing and not to mention just how tall it really was, it was huge, made you feel pretty small.

I think they are a good list of Ancient Wonders as most said because really these were monumental in construction and the rest of the world, there weren't too many records of such precise construction at the time, perhaps besides maybe in places like China.


But as you can see, all of the wonders are from the B.C. era, even before the Great Wall of China was built.


However many Greeks and people in Europe didn't travel to China and vice versa unless you were merchants.

Sure there are bias attitudes here placing only Western style monuments for the most part in the list, but they were some of the most amazing and wonderfully constructed monuments in history, it is a pity some of them only were destroyed because of people's attitudes and religious views, like the Temple of Artemis, the statue of Zeus, even the Lighthouse went into disrepair and eventually fell after an Earthquake.

But we were lucky to have them for the time we did. It would be a sight to see such great architecture and art today.


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## Marathaman (Jul 24, 2007)

What had the Chinese built circa 500 BC? 

Here are the approx. dates of the other wonders: 

Great Pyramid of Giza -	2584-2561 BC
Hanging Gardens of Babylon -	605-562 BC
Statue of Zeus at Olympia -	466-456 BC (Temple) 435 BC (Statue)
Temple of Artemis -	c. 550 BC
Mausoleum of Halicarnassus -	351 BC
Colossus of Rhodes -	292-280 BC
Lighthouse of Alexandria -	c. 280 BC


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## Adrian12345Lugo (May 12, 2008)

intresting discussion here...i would of thought there to be more "wonders" to choose from that date to around 400BCE


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## Marathaman (Jul 24, 2007)

In India most construction during that period was in wood or brick. The brick buildings were mostly simple square or round structures with wooden roofs and supports. No megalithic wonders here.

eg. the buddhist town of Sanchi.










Other than that, there are lots of rock-cut temples like Ajanta, Bhaja, Karla, Bedse etc. from around 2nd century BC to 2nd Century AD that mimicked the wooden buildings. 

Stone temples began in earnest only in the 5th century AD.


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## Adrian12345Lugo (May 12, 2008)

that structure in the middle looks impressive...

in Mexico we have some stone structures from that time period..most of them are in bad condition 

this *circular pyramid temple in Cuicuilco* was built around *800BC* and is mesoamerica's first major stone structure








http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/3871798812/









http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiedosto:Piramide_Cuicuilco_1.jpg

*pyramid of the flowers 700BC*








http://www.flickr.com/photos/templaria_azteca/3243311410/


they're not much to look at now but im sure they would have looked better 2,500 years ago


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## OakRidge (Mar 9, 2007)

I nominate the following:

*Hagia Sophia*
*Built: 6th century A.D.
Location: Constantinople*

















*Pantheon*
*Built: 2nd century A.D.
Location: Rome*

























In my opinion two of the greatest structures built by man.


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## Marathaman (Jul 24, 2007)

Isn't AD a bit too late? We're talking about more like 500-200 BC...although these two buildings are probably the most amazing things built for their time.


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## Adrian12345Lugo (May 12, 2008)

*Persepolis 500BC*









http://www.flickr.com/photos/sebastiagiralt/197313844/in/set-72157600564884967/









http://www.flickr.com/photos/1pezeshk/194768616/









http://www.flickr.com/photos/michelinecanal/4292539373/


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## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

Marathaman said:


> What had the Chinese built circa 500 BC?
> 
> Here are the approx. dates of the other wonders:
> 
> ...



You do know China had the largest cities in the world in much of the ancient times 1300BC - 400BC - Louyang, Xidu, Luoyi, Haoqing, Yinxu each of them holding the title at one time or other. However Chinese cities were wood built, and thus little remains of them, or is known about them. There was a 500ft pagoda at Nanjing, and several palaces multiple times the size of the current world's largest (the Forbidden City) at Chang'an (3x, 5x and 7.5x larger), that was the Eastern counterpart to the Roman Empire in the West. This isn't to mention the Great Walls (the stone built one near Beijing dates from only the Ming Dynasty, but there were several earthen ones built thousands of years earlier, and that remain the biggest manmade structures to date). Then there's the 1776 km Grand Canal, a feat as great as the walls, and that remains the largest, longest manmade waterway in the world.

Then of course there are the great emperor's tombs, of which one famous one is being excavated, the 2,200 year old terracotta army, that has taken 35 years to excavate so far and will likely take another 80 to finish. This is only 1 out of 400 tombs and pyramids in that area, none of which have been excavated, the most extravagant of which is said to hold a city in miniature floating on a lake of mercury (of which recent ground tests seem to verify).


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## abraham (Jul 6, 2005)

How could they design those superb buildings with no AutoCAD. Mind-boggling.


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## Marathaman (Jul 24, 2007)

the spliff fairy said:


> You do know China had the largest cities in the world in much of the ancient times 1300BC - 400BC - Louyang, Xidu, Luoyi, Haoqing, Yinxu each of them holding the title at one time or other. However Chinese cities were wood built, and thus little remains of them, or is known about them. There was a 500ft pagoda at Nanjing, and several palaces multiple times the size of the current world's largest (the Forbidden City) at Chang'an (3x, 5x and 7.5x larger), that was the Eastern counterpart to the Roman Empire in the West. This isn't to mention the Great Walls (the stone built one near Beijing dates from only the Ming Dynasty, but there were several earthen ones built thousands of years earlier, and that remain the biggest manmade structures to date). Then there's the 1776 km Grand Canal, a feat as great as the walls, and that remains the largest, longest manmade waterway in the world.
> 
> Then of course there are the great emperor's tombs, of which one famous one is being excavated, the 2,200 year old terracotta army, that has taken 35 years to excavate so far and will likely take another 80 to finish. This is only 1 out of 400 tombs and pyramids in that area, none of which have been excavated, the most extravagant of which is said to hold a city in miniature floating on a lake of mercury (of which recent ground tests seem to verify).


I think you've misunderstood. I didn't mean to say that the Chinese hadn't built anything, I was just asking because I didn't know.


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## maldini (Jul 5, 2003)

the spliff fairy said:


> You do know China had the largest cities in the world in much of the ancient times 1300BC - 400BC - Louyang, Xidu, Luoyi, Haoqing, Yinxu each of them holding the title at one time or other. However Chinese cities were wood built, and thus little remains of them, or is known about them. There was a 500ft pagoda at Nanjing, and several palaces multiple times the size of the current world's largest (the Forbidden City) at Chang'an (3x, 5x and 7.5x larger), that was the Eastern counterpart to the Roman Empire in the West. This isn't to mention the Great Walls (the stone built one near Beijing dates from only the Ming Dynasty, but there were several earthen ones built thousands of years earlier, and that remain the biggest manmade structures to date). Then there's the 1776 km Grand Canal, a feat as great as the walls, and that remains the largest, longest manmade waterway in the world.
> 
> Then of course there are the great emperor's tombs, of which one famous one is being excavated, the 2,200 year old terracotta army, that has taken 35 years to excavate so far and will likely take another 80 to finish. This is only 1 out of 400 tombs and pyramids in that area, none of which have been excavated, the most extravagant of which is said to hold a city in miniature floating on a lake of mercury (of which recent ground tests seem to verify).


I just did a search about the Great Wall. The stone wall near Beijing was first built in 5th century BC. But it was built and rebuilt many times between 5th century BC and the 16th century.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Wall_of_China


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## Brightondan (Jan 15, 2010)

What about Stonehenge in the UK







erected 2500BC


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## ReiAyanami (May 14, 2008)

No it didn't. It took them from Stonehenge I to Stonehenge 3 IV, what we see today, 1500 years to build, until 1600 bc. That is far from impressive, especially when you have the Minoans, the Middle Kingdom in Egypt and the Assyrian empire that period and their awesome constructions.

The list of Ancient wonders is rather fair for their time period. The only monument that is really left out quite unfairly is the Athenian Acropolis which can easily outrank many if not all of the 7 wonders, yet it is not on the list because the composer(s) of the wonder list was Athenian in the first place. Something like an foreign sightseeing guide that left the local attractions out.


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## Brightondan (Jan 15, 2010)

The first Stonehenge was a large earthwork or Henge, comprising a ditch, bank, and the Aubrey holes, all probably built around 3100 BC. The Aubrey holes are round pits in the chalk, about one metre wide and deep, with steep sides and flat bottoms. They form a circle about 284 feet in diameter. Excavations have revealed cremated human bones in some of the chalk filling, but the holes themselves were probably made, not for the purpose of graves, but as part of the religious ceremony. Shortly after this stage Stonehenge was abandoned, left untouched for over 1000 years.

The Second Stage
The Arrival of the Bluestones

The second and most dramatic stage of Stonehenge started around 2150 BC. Some 82 bluestones from the Preseli mountains, in south-west Wales were transported to the site. It is thought these stones, some weighing 4 tonnes each were dragged on rollers and sledges to the headwaters on Milford Haven and then loaded onto rafts. They were carried by water along the south coast of Wales and up the rivers Avon and Frome, before being dragged overland again to near Warminster in Wiltshire. The final stage of the journey was mainly by water, down the river Wylye to Salisbury, then the Salisbury Avon to west Amesbury.

This astonishing journey covers nearly 240 miles. Once at the site, these stones were set up in the centre to form an incomplete double circle. ( During the same period the original entrance of the circular earthwork was widened and a pair of Heel Stones were erected. Also the nearer part of the Avenue was built, aligned with the midsummer sunrise.)
For lively debate and alternative views on this please see: - http://www.brianjohn.f2s.com/enigma1.html
http://www.brianjohn.f2s.com/bluestonesimp58.html

Third Stage 


The third stage of Stonehenge, about 2000 BC, saw the arrival of the Sarsen stones, which were almost certainly brought from the Marlborough Downs near Avebury, in north Wiltshire, about 25 miles north of Stonehenge. The largest of the Sarsen stones transported to Stonehenge weigh 50 tonnes and transportation by water would have been impossible, the stones could only have been moved using sledges and ropes. Modern calculations show that it would have taken 500 men using leather ropes to pull one stone, with an extra 100 men needed to lay the huge rollers in front of the sledge.

These were arranged in an outer circle with a continuous run of lintels. Inside the circle, five trilithons were placed in a horseshoe arrangement, whose remains we can still see today.

The Final Stage

The final stage took place soon after 1500 BC when the bluestones were rearranged in the horseshoe and circle that we see today. The original number of stones in the bluestone circle was probably around 60, these have long since been removed or broken up. Some remain only as stumps below ground level.


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## YelloPerilo (Oct 17, 2003)

NYCD said:


> ... ...
> Sure there are bias attitudes here placing only Western style monuments for the most part in the list, ...


Egyptian and Mesopotamian architectures are "western"? :lol:


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## TomTack (Sep 20, 2009)

Moai, or mo‘ai (pronounced /ˈmoʊ.аɪ/), are monolithic human figures carved from rock on the Polynesian island of Easter Island, Chile between the years 1250 and 1500. Nearly half are still at Rano Raraku, the main moai quarry, but hundreds were transported from there and set on stone platforms called ahu around the island's perimeter.

The statues' production and transportation is considered a remarkable intellectual, creative, and physical feat.[2] The tallest moai erected, called Paro, was almost 10 metres (33 ft) high and weighed 75 tonnes;[3] the heaviest erected was a shorter but squatter moai at Ahu Tongariki, weighing 86 tons; and one unfinished sculpture, if completed, would have been approximately 21 metres (69 ft) tall with a weight of about 270 tons.


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## juaniyo (Mar 5, 2007)

YelloPerilo said:


> Egyptian and Mesopotamian architectures are "western"? :lol:


Well, I think that the style of the Mesopotamian arquitecture it looks so "western".............


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