Seven Wonders of the World

The Seven Wonders of the World (or the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World) is a widely-known list of seven remarkable constructions of classical antiquity. The earliest known version of the list was compiled in the 2nd century BC by Antipater of Sidon; it appears to be based on the guide-books popular among Hellenic sight-seers and only includes works located around the Mediterranean rim.

Listed in order of their construction, the seven wonders are—

• the Great Pyramid of Giza
• the Hanging Gardens of Babylon
• the Statue of Zeus at Olympia
• the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
• the Mausoleum of Maussollos at Halicarnassus
• the Colossus of Rhodes
• the Lighthouse of Alexandria

Of these, the only one which has survived to the present day is the oldest—the Great Pyramid at Giza. The Great Pyramid was built by the ancient Egyptians, the Hanging Gardens by the Babylonians, and the Maussollos Mausoleum by the Hellenized Carians; the Lighthouse of Alexandria and the Colossus of Rhodes by Hellenistic civilization; the others were built by the ancient Greeks. Interestingly, two of the wonders, the Temple of Artemis and the Statue of Zeus, were destroyed by fire, and three of the other wonders, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, Colossus, and Mausoleum of Maussollos, were destroyed by earthquakes.

More recent lists

In the tradition of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, many other lists of wonders have been proposed, including both human feats of engineering and wonders of nature. However, there is no general consensus in any particular list.

Among these lists:

• the one compiled by Hillman Wonders, including ancient and natural wonders;
• the Seven Wonders of the Modern World, compiled by the American Society of Civil Engineers, including modern wonders;
• the list of natural wonders compiled by CNN ^[1];
• the list, of unknown origin, of underwater wonders^{[2] [3]};
• the list to be compiled with an on-line poll launched by the "New 7 Wonders" foundation [4], with 21 sites on its shortlist;

See also

• Wonders of the World (disambiguation)
• Eighth Wonder of the World

External links and references

• The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World — an in-depth look from a professor of civil engineering at the University of South Florida
• Official web site for voting new wonders of the World
• The World's Top 100 Wonders - a list of architectural, engineering and natural wonders by Howard Hillman, a renowned travel writer.
• WonderClub.com - a "list of lists", with information about most wonders.
• Parkin, Tim, "Researching Ancient Wonders, A (fairly idiosyncratic) Research Guide". (an archived link to www.clas.canterbury.ac.nz/wonders.html) Department of Classics, University of Canterbury, New Zealand. - a collection of books and Internet resources with in-depth information on seven ancient wonders.
• Seven Wonders of the Modern World - a list of modern wonders compiled by the American Society of Civil Engineers
• Seven Wonders of Chicago - A list compiled by the Chicago Tribune and voted on by residents of the Chicagoland area.
• ^  [5]^  Underwater Wonders of the World
• ^ 2nd list of Underwater Wonder

Further reading

• Cox, Reg, and Neil Morris, "The Seven Wonders of the Modern World". Chelsea House Publications: Library. October, 2000. ISBN 079106048
• Cox, Reg, Neil Morris, and James Field, "The Seven Wonders of the Medieval World". Chelsea House Publications: Library. October, 2000. ISBN 0791060470
• D'Epiro, Peter, and Mary Desmond Pinkowish, "What Are the Seven Wonders of the World? and 100 Other Great Cultural Lists". Anchor. December 1, 1998. ISBN 0385490623
• Morris, Neil, "The Seven Wonders of the Natural World". Chrysalis Books. December 30, 2002. ISBN 184138495X