An Intro to the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World

As my first Hub ever, I thought writing a series of posts about world wonders would be an appropriate foundation for what I plan to post through Hub pages. First and foremost it’s important to note that there are thousands of world wonder lists constructed for various eras, locations, cultures or specialties. The generally accepted Seven Wonders of the Ancient World consists of the Great Pyramids of Giza, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the Colossus of Rhodes, and the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus.

It’s quite the list of wonders. This collection of seven was developed as a way to document and honor the most impressive sites around the Mediterranean Sea rim. Historians have largely given credit to two writers, Philon of Byzantium and Antipater of Sidon, as being the main authors of the list. Philon of Byzantium, also known as Philo of Byzantium or Philo Mechanicus, was a Greek engineer and writer. You may recognize his name from the geometric construction equation called the Philo line, which is used to develop how to double a cube. In addition to his works on construction and mathematics Philon also invented simple devices such as an inkwell the never spilled its ink, an automatic arrow launcher and a basic water disposal device used as part of a washstand.

Antipater of Sidon, also known as Antipatros or Antipatros Sidonios, was a Greek writer of elegiacs, which are poems or songs often written for funerals, memorials or obituaries. It was Antipater of Sidon who first documented the Seven Wonders in a poem he composed roughly around 140 B.C.

“I have set eyes of the wall of Babylon on which is a road for chariots, and the statue of Zeus by the Alpheus, and the hanging gardens, and the Colossus of the Sun, and the huge labor of the high pyramids, and the vast tomb of Mausolus; but when I saw the house of Artemis that mounted to the clouds, those other marvels lost their brilliancy, and I said ‘Lo, apart from Olympus, the Sun never looked on aught so grand.”

Antipater of Sidon, Greek Anthology IX

Of course it’s important to point out that even though the list was composed by Greeks, not all items on the list are indeed Greek. In fact two – the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the Great Pyramids of Giza – are wonders constructed by Babylon and the Egyptian cultures respectively. It’s probably pertinent to note at this point that in fact the original list was of theamatawhich doesn't directly translate to wonders. Rather it refers to ‘sights’ or ‘of things to be seen’, which would lead an observer to believe that the original writers were, in fact, advising their contemporaries of places they should visit. One could even conclude that Antipatros and Philo were writers of one of the first tour books ever written.

Another important thing to recognize is that most of the wonders have been lost or destroyed. In fact the only surviving wonder is the Pyramids of Giza, which also happen to be the oldest on the list. Most others were destroyed by earthquakes, fires, flood or invaders.

Others, in addition to Antipatros and Philo, who are given credit as to helping to construct the Seven Wonders list, are Strabo, Herodotus, and Diodoros of Sicily. All writers were Greek and ranged in careers from philosophers, historians, geographers, writers, to mechanics. With their combined understandings of their modern world they were able to compose the list that today we know as The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

"The Great Book of Archaeology", ISBN: 978-88-540-0395-8