Facts About the 7 Ancient Wonders of the World, Part 1

The 7 Ancient Wonders include a list of remarkable achievements of the ancient world, compiled by various authors. It consists of the Great Pyramid of Giza, Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Temple of Artemis, the Statue of Zeus, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Lighthouse of Alexandria and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus

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• The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus is actually the Tomb of Mausolus.
  
• It was built by Artemisia after her husband Mausolus died to honour his death.
  
• She hired the most talented artist to design this structure. It’s one of the seven still standing today.
  
• Artemisia, the initiator of the mausoleum at Halicarnassus, was the sister, wife, and later, the successor of Mausolus.
  
• She died two years after the death of her husband without witnessing the completion of her project. She was also buried at this site.

The Colossus of Rhodes

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• The Colossus of Rhodes was a giant statue of the Greek sun god, Helios, located in Rhodes, Greece.

• This statue was a symbol of freedom but was later destroyed by an earthquake after surviving 54 years.

• After the fall of this great statue, the King of Egypt offered to pay for the reconstruction. Still, his hospitality was declined because the Rohodians assumed the sun god, being angered by the statue, caused the earthquake that destroyed this statue.

• This statue has a similar height to the Statue of Liberty. Therefore, some regard the Statue of Liberty as the new colossus.

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

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• It was built in the 7th century by king Nebuchadnezzar for his wife, Amytis.

• Debates on the existence of the hanging gardens of Babylon remains to date, as some individuals believe it’s just a myth. The truth is that the exact location of these gardens is not known. Researchers have also made constructive efforts into getting its location, but all they have are descriptions of the garden.

• The hanging gardens were considered as part of the seven wonders mainly because of the situation surrounding its existence. It’s located in a desert, and its height should be that of a five-storey building, with beautiful green flowers covering each layer. It, therefore, needed a well-structured irrigation system to preserve the flowers of the garden.