The Seven Wonders of the World

In a new series of articles, we will examine the seven architectural wonders of ancient history

It was the Greek historian Herodotus in his famed work Histories that first named what he considered to be among the greatest architectural achievments in the ancient world. He marveled at the architecture of the ancient civilizations, particularly the ones to the east. Herodotus was impressed with the size of the monuments he recognized, as they represented the grand accomplishments of the civilizations they stood in and for.

When he formulated his list in the mid 5th century B.C., some of the greatest monuments, and ones that are on the list today, had yet to be constructed (The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus was built 200 hundred years after his death). But Herodotus planted the seeds of the list, a list that includes only one monument that stands today (The Pyramid at Giza).

Why seven wonders? Seven is an indivisible number, and therefore is not limiting, and the contents of a list of seven need not be listed in order of importance. Througout ancient history, the number seven is significant (the Menorah at the Jerusalem Temple, the seven muses in Greek mythology, the seven Pleiades [seven stars named by the Greeks to represent Atlas' daughters]).

We will take a closer look at the seven monuments, which include the Pyramid at Giza, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes, and the Pharos at Alexandria. We will look at why they were built, and we will examine their cultural and historical significance. The architecture of any civilization is a powerful footprint, leaving behind stories of how and why it came and went, and influencing the future.