the 6 Wonders of the Choose 4 of the 6 Wonders of the Ancient World (excluding the Great Pyramid of Egypt which we covered in class) and report on them.

A Report on Four of the Seven Great Wonders of the Ancient World

The seven wonders of the ancient world refer to sculptures and architectures that were considered to be the most fabulous by the ancient Greeks and Romans (Encarta , Seven Wonders of the World . All seven are inspired by mythology , religion and art (CNN Interactive , A Virtual Tour of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World . Since the list encompasses architectures and sculptures from Greece , Asia Minor and Egypt , coming up with a final list is no easy task . Actually , the

list was not completed by the ancient Greeks and Romans it was only completed and made official during the middle ages . Of the seven wonders , I chose to report on the following : the Hanging Gardens of Babylon , the Statue of Zeus at Olympia , the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus , and the Colossus of Rhodes

Hanging Gardens of Babylon

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon is exactly what its name tells us , an artificial terraces of gardens composed of different plants and trees What made it marvelous is not only its size which is 400 feet wide and 400 feet long and more than 80 feet in height (Thinkquest , The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World , but the fact that a garden so huge and artificial was made possible under a foundation of clay bricks . The irrigation system consisting of chain pump that sent water from the Euphrates River to the top of these gardens is another feat . These gardens were built inside the ancient city of Babylon (present day Iraq near Barhdad . It was built by King Nebuchadnezzar II to one of his wives , Amyitis (Thinkquest , Hanging Gardens of Babylon . Amyitis is the daughter of the King of Medes who married Nebuchadnezzar to seal an alliance . Medes is known for its rich flora , and as such , Amyitis could expectedly be homesick in the dry Mediterranean Babylon . Because of this , Nebuchadnezzar decided to build the gardens for Amyitis . These gardens were approximately built around 605 B .C , the time of Nebuchadnezzar 's reign . What happened to these gardens and how they eventually turned to ruins are largely unknown . Actually , to complicate matters , some even claim that these gardens never existed . Nevertheless an archaeological find by the German archaeologist , Robert Koldewey in 1899 seems to confirm the existence of these gardens . It should be noted that most of what we know about these gardens , prior to these archeological findings , were from Greeks , not Babylonians . As such , the real existence of these gardens has been put into question

The Statue of Zeus at Olympus

This statue of Zeus at Olympus is a grand sculpture of Zeus in the Temple of Zeus in the City of Olympia in Ancient Greece . This statue was made by the Athenian Sculptor , Phidias . Zeus ' statue stands (or rather sits ) 40 feet tall , and is mostly made of ivory and gold . Zeus ' body is made of ivory while his robe and ornaments were made of gold

In its right hand the statue held the figure of Nike (the goddess of victory ) and in its left was a scepter "inlaid with every kind of metal " which was topped with an eagle . Perhaps even more impressive than the statue itself was the throne made out of gold , ebony , ivory and inlaid with precious stones . Carved into the chair were figures of Greek gods and mystical animals , like the sphinx . The figure 's skin was composed of ivory and the beard , hair and robe of gold (Thinkquest The Statue of Zeus at Olympia

This grand statue was commissioned to Phidias because the beautifully made Doric Temple of Zeus lacked a statue . Actually , the importance of this grand statue could best be understood by the fact that this temple was in Olympia , the place where the Greek Olympics were held . Such a grand event could not be represented by a lesser god and a lesser work of art . The statue was finally finished around 435 BC . This wonderfully made statue stood the test of time , and even persisted beyond Christian Rome . Wealthy Greeks transferred this statue to Constantinople to safeguard it from the Christian emperors . Nevertheless , in 462 , this great statue was consumed by fire

The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

This is a temple dedicated to the goddess of hunting , wild nature , and fertility . This temple was commissioned by the Lydian king Croesus Chersiphron was the architect that designed this temple , though the sculptures inside this majestic temple were from other great sculptors like Pheidias , Polycleitus , Kresilas , and Phradmon (Ashmawy , The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus . The temple was finally done by 550 BC . This temple is a wonder for many reasons . The fact that the sculptures inside it were made by the greatest sculptors is just one . It is in fact a majestic temple made of marble and had 127 Ionic columns ligned orthogonally over the whole platform area , except for the central cella or house of the goddess (Ashmawy , The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

The temple was put down by fire by a certain Herostratus in 356 BC . It was not restored until 323 BC . It was eventually put down by St . John Chrysostom in 401 AD due to the spread of Christianity

The Colossus of Rhodes

This huge statue that stood approximately 110 feet was put up in Rhodes in 282 BC . It was made as a memorial of Rhodes ' winning in the war against Macedonia . This was a bronze statue of the god Helios that stood on Rhodes ' harbor

Actually , this finely made colossus stood for only 50 years since an earthquake shattered its foundation . Restoration fund was offered by Ptolemy III but an oracle forbade this restoration

Of the four great wonders I have discussed here , I would have loved to visit the Temple of Artemis . It was a great artistic temple that contained a great number of amazing sculptures . As such , visiting it would mean experiencing both a wonderful architecture and a wonderful collection of sculptures

Works Cited

Ashmawy , Alaa . The Seven Great Wonders of the World . January 21 , 2004 University of San Francisco . 28 June 2007 HYPERLINK "http /ce .eng .usf .edu /pharos /wonders http /ce .eng .usf .edu /pharos /wonders

Clayton , Peter A . and Martin J . Price . The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World . New York : Routledge , 1988

CNN Interactive . May 1997 . A Virtual Tour of the Seven Great Wonders of the World . 28 June 2007 HYPERLINK "http /www .cnn .com /TRAVEL /DESTINATIONS /9705 /seven .wonders http /www .cnn .com /TRAVEL /DESTINATIONS /9705 /seven .wonders

Curlee , Lynn . Seven Wonders of the Ancient World . New York : Simon Schuster , 2002

Lane , Frederick , et . al . The World 's History , 3rd ed . New York , Chicago Hartcourt , 1963

Thinkquest . The Seven Great Wonders of the Ancient World . 28 June 2007 HYPERLINK "http /library .thinkquest .org /C0123829 /Index2 .html http /library .thinkquest .org /C0123829 /Index2 .html ...