The Seven Wonders of The Ancient World

Peter Tong

On our recent trip to Greece and Istanbul, we came across a number of ruins that are sites of some of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. What is the definition of the Ancient World and who chose these Wonders? To many of us, the burning question is why does the list not include our 'Great Wall'.

Here are the answers to the questions provided by the Encyclopedia Britannica. There are apparently different lists in existence but the best known of these is selected by the writer Antipater of Sidon in 2nd Century B.C. His list consists of

1. Pyramids of Giza

2. The Hanging Garden of Babylon

3. Statue of Zeus at Olympia

4. Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

5. Mausoleum of Halicarnassus

6. Colossus of Rhodes

7. Pharos of Alexandria

Given the list was made in the 2nd Century B.C., the Ancient World is at least 2200 years old and at that time, the Great Wall is probably not well known in the Middle East which was then the center of the Western world.

Of the Seven, the only Wonder still standing is the Pyramids in Egypt. On our recent trip, we visited the sites of Zeus at Olympia, Temple of Artemis and the Colossus of Rhodes. The statues are completely gone now but the skeleton of the Temple of Artemis is still in Ephesus. Indeed, a few of its green marble columns can be found in Hagia Sophia in Istanbul which we also visited.

One final note, recently archaeologists found the remains of the Lighthouse of Alexandria.