Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

Here is a list of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world:

  1. The Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt (near Cairo), c.26th century BC
  2. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon (in present-day Iraq), c.7th century BC
  3. The Statue of Zeus at Olympia (on the Pelopponese, in Greece), c.5th century BC
  4. The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus (near Izmir - Turkey), c.6th century BC
  5. The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus (in Bodrum - Turkey), c.4th century BC
  6. The Colossus of Rhodes, c.3rd century BC
  7. The Lighthouse (Pharos) of Alexandria in Egypt, c.3rd century BC

Here you can see the interactive Google Maps of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Mausoleum of Halicarnassus
Temple of Artemis
What Makes These Wonders So Wonderful?

These Wonders of the World are originated from the history, mostly during the Greek era. These were built during a period of time that extended more than two thousand years; from the ancient kingdoms of Egypt and Babylon to the Golden Age of Classical Greece, somewhere between 2580 BC - 280 BC.

A Greek poet named Antipater (also known as Antipatros) of Sidon created a list of seven marvelous structures, later to be known as the Seven Wonders of the World. This list was created by him as a tribute to the ancient world's achievements, a summary of mankind's outstanding accomplishments in creation. Antipater, however, was not alone in compiling list of these great works. Another nearly-complete list of Wonders of the World has existed through the years. This was found in a book said to have been written by a famous Greek engineer and mathematician named Philon of Byzantium, yet many scholars and historians believe that Philon had not written the book - they believe that a man had written it after Philon's death and had signed it under Philon's name to gain recognition. In these two lists consistency was dominant in several of these Wonders of the World, yet an only six were originally on these lists. The final Wonder of the World - The Lighthouse of Alexandria - was added to the list later on. Of the original seven wonders, only the Great Pyramid exists today meanwhile others are in ruins or disappeared.

What about the other Wonders of the World?

The Greeks were limited, like the rest of the early European Civilization, to their general region. Many Wonders of the World lay around the globe, out of site from these Mediterranean based civilizations. Actually, you may have noticed that all of these Wonders of the World are situated around the Mediterranean exclusively. Besides Philon of Byzantium and Antipater of Sidon, other ancient writers and historians such as Herodotus and Callimachus of Cyrene cited other sites which could be "wonders" too, or disagreed on some on the list.