The Seven Wonders

Definition

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World were The Great Pyramid at Giza, Egypt; The Hanging Gardens of Babylon; The Statue of Zeus at Olympia, Greece; The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus; The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus; The Colossus of Rhodes and the Lighthouse at Alexandria, Egypt.

The Seven Wonders were first defined as “themata” (Greek for 'things to be seen’ which, in today’s common English, we would phrase as 'must sees’) by Philo of Byzantium in 225 BCE, in his work 'On The Seven Wonders’. Other writers on the Seven Wonders include Herodotus, Callimachus of Cyrene and Antipater of Sidon.

The Seven Wonders were hardly an objective agreed-upon list of the greatest structures of the day but were, rather, very like a modern-day tourist pamphlet informing travelers on what to see on their trip. Herodotus disagreed with Philo’s original list and felt the Egyptian Labyrinth was greater than them all. Antipater replaced the Lighthouse with the Gate of Ishtar and Callimachus, and others, listed the great Walls of Babylon. Philo’s list, however, has long been accepted as the 'official’ definition of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Written by Joshua J. Mark, published 02 September 2009.

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Articles

• The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus: A Tomb for a King and a Testament to Greek Architecture

  The term mausoleum, since the Roman era, has meant any large-scale tomb. It is what we think of today as a big marble building that houses the remains of the deceased. The term mausoleum, though, has very specific origins that can be traced back to one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, The Mausoleum...

• The Lighthouse at Alexandria: the Seventh Wonder of the Ancient World

  The Pharos at Alexandria was the last structure to be named on Antipater of Sidon's list of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It was constructed at the beginning of the 3rd century BC, begun by Ptolemy Soter, the ruler of the Egyptian region after the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC. It...

• The Hanging Gardens of Babylon: The Mysterious Wonder of the Ancient World

  The Hanging Gardens of Babylon evoke a romantic picture of lush greenery and colorful flowers cascading from the sky. The grandeur of their sight must have been awe-inspiring, which is why Herodotus would have considered them one of his 7 Wonders of the Ancient World. However, not only are the Hanging Gardens...

• The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus: The Un-Greek Temple and Wonder of the Ancient World

  The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, also known as the Artemesium, was constructed in the mid 6th century BC. It was located in Ephesus (modern Turkey), and was considered to be one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Antipater of Sidon included it on his definitive list of monuments, partly because...

• The Statue of Zeus at Olympia

  In the ancient world, there were many temples dedicated to Zeus, the king of the Greek gods. But there was only one temple to Zeus that housed one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The Temple of Zeus at Olympia was home to one of greatest sculptural achievements of ancient history. The Statue...

Illustrations

The Seven Wonders Books

• Sprezzatura: 50 Ways Italian Genius Shaped the World Peter D'Epiro Anchor (02 October 2001) Price: $12.21

• The Seventy Great Mysteries of the Ancient World: Unlocking the Secrets... Anonymous Thames & Hudson (12 October 2001) Price: $23.78

• The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World Peter A Clayton Routledge (19 April 1990) Price: $36.26

• The Seventy Wonders of the Ancient World: The Great Monuments and How They... Anonymous Thames & Hudson (12 October 1999) Price: $37.60

• Seven Wonders of the World: People & Places iMinds iMinds (31 January 2010) Currently unavailable