The seven wonders of ancient times are the seven wonders of ancient times. Ancient buildings and statues are amazing for their scale, aesthetic feeling or unique construction methods.
The list of the seven ancient wonders was compiled in the third century BC. By today's standards, we may think that these seven wonders are not particularly eye-catching in terms of scale. However, their extraordinary beauty and long history are still sincerely praised by people.
In fact, the "Seven Wonders of the World" only includes the historic sites along the coast of West Asia, North Africa and the Mediterranean, but the whole world in the eyes of ancient westerners, and the Great Wall of China is too far away from them. This area had a splendid civilization in ancient times. In BC, Phoenician traveler Antiparker called the seven places he considered the greatest "Seven Wonders of the World" when summing up the man-made landscape in this area, and this formulation has been passed down to this day. But except for the Egyptian pyramids, which still stand tall in the desert, six other places have been lost in the dust of history. They are: Egyptian Pyramid, Alexandria Lighthouse, Hanging Garden, Temple of themis, Statue of Zeus, Mausoleum of Solas, Colossus of Rhode Island.
Buildings and statues, their scale, beauty or unique construction methods are amazing.
pyramid
pyramid
The pyramid is the oldest of the Seven Wonders and the only relatively well-preserved relic, and we have not yet uncovered all its secrets.
Construction time: about 2700-2500 BC
Location: Giza Plateau near Cairo, Egypt
According to legend, before the third dynasty in ancient Egypt, both princes and ministers and ordinary people were buried in a rectangular tomb made of mud bricks, which the ancient Egyptians called "Mastaba". Later, a clever young man named Imhotep invented a new building method when designing a mausoleum for the Egyptian Pharaoh Zuosai. He replaced mud bricks with square stones picked from the ground, constantly revised the design scheme of building a mausoleum, and finally built a six-story trapezoidal pyramid-this is the prototype of the pyramid we see now. In ancient Egypt, pyramids were called hierarchical pyramids because they were trapezoidal and layered. This is a tall pyramid building with a square base and a triangle on each side, which looks like the Chinese character "gold", so we call it "pyramid". The tower mausoleum designed by Imhotep is the first stone mausoleum in Egyptian history.
Alexander's lighthouse
According to the order of Alexander the Great (King of Macedonia), the lighthouse of the Faroe Islands in Alexandria was built on an artificial island in 300 BC. It is at least 65,438+0.22 meters high and made of shiny white limestone or marble.
Construction time: about 300 BC
Construction site: Alexandria, Egypt
When the Alexander Lighthouse was completed, its height deserved to be the tallest building in the world at that time. His designer is Chattus of Sotheby's, a Greek architect. An Arab traveler recorded in his notes: "The lighthouse was built on three steps. At its top, a mirror reflects sunlight during the day and guides the ship with fire at night. " /kloc-for 0/500 years, the Alexandria lighthouse has been guiding sailors to the harbor in the dark. It is also the latest of the six wonders to disappear. /kloc-it was completely destroyed by the earthquake in the 0/4th century.
Hanging gardens in Babylon
This hanging garden was built by King Nebuchadnezzar II of new Babylon around 600 BC. Writers who have seen the "Hanging Garden" describe it as a layered platform building with palm trees and other trees planted on each floor.
Construction time: about 600 BC
Construction site: Babylon near Baghdad, Iraq.
This mysterious building was built by Nebuchadnezzar II for one of his concubines. About 120 square meters, more than 20 meters from the ground. It is said that slaves need to turn a mechanical device to pump a lot of water from the Euphrates River below to irrigate the flowers and plants in the garden.
The most amazing thing about the hanging garden is the water supply system. Because there is not much rain in Babylon, and the ruins of the Hanging Gardens are believed to be far away from the Euphrates River, researchers believe that the Hanging Gardens should have many water conveyance facilities. The slaves kept pushing the handle with gears to transport the groundwater to the top storage tank and then return to the ground through the artificial river. Another problem is maintenance, because it is impossible for ordinary buildings to withstand the erosion of rivers for many years without falling down. Because there are not many stones in Mesopotamia, researchers think that the bricks used in hanging gardens are different. They added reeds, asphalt and tiles, and there are even documents that the stone was covered with lead to prevent the river from infiltrating into the foundation.
Selcuk Al-themis Temple
Built by Chloe, he was the king of Lydia in the ancient kingdom of Ephesus. Themis, the goddess of fertility and fertility, is enshrined in the temple. The temple was burned down in 356 BC.
Construction time: about 550 BC
Construction site: Ephesus, the Greek city-state, which is now the west coast of Turkey.
Temple buildings are based on marble and covered with wooden roofs. The designers of the whole building are Chersiphron and his son. Its biggest feature is that there are two rows of columns at least 106, and each row is about 12 to 18 meters high. The base of the temple is about 60 times 120 meters. The original temple was destroyed by a fire in 356 BC, and it was built after the original site caught fire again in 262 AD.
The Temple of Al themis has been rebuilt seven times. The first temple of Al themis was designed in 550 BC by architects Samos, Cherxihong and his son Mette kinnis, supported by Ionian marble columns. This was the first largest building built entirely of marble at that time. The whole building was decorated with bronze, silver, gold and ivory reliefs of famous artists at that time, such as Pheidias, Polly Cletus, keresey Ras and Vladmont. The statue of Al themis was placed on the central U-shaped altar for people to worship. Later, in 356 BC, the temple was destroyed by fire and invasion. After the transformation, the length of the marble column increased to 2 1.7 meters, and thirteen steps were added around it. Finally, due to the conversion of people who love free souls to Christianity, the temple was destroyed by St. John Christom in 40 1 and disappeared from the world forever.
Statue of Zeus
The statue of Zeus on Mount Olympus is the masterpiece of ancient sculptor phidias. He made Zeus's body out of ivory and his robe out of gold.
Construction Time: About In 457 Bc.
Construction site: Olympia, Greece
Zeus is the god of Greek gods. The statue of Zeus built for worship was the largest indoor statue in the world at that time. The Temple of Zeus, where the statue of Zeus is located, is the birthplace of the Olympic Games-Olympia, Greece, where the first Olympic Games (776 BC) were held.
The temple is made of limestone with plaster on the surface and marble on the top. The temple is supported by thirty-four Corinthian columns, with an area of 41.1m×107.75m. The Temple of Zeus is a Dullis-style building. The whole statue and the robe he wears are made of gold. He wore an olive ring on his head and ivory and gold in his right hand. In his left hand, he holds a scepter inlaid with glittering metal with an eagle on it. The throne he sits on is decorated with the Sphinx, the goddess of victory and mythical figures. Except for the throne, only the statue is equivalent to a four-story modern building, so that Zeus' head sitting on the throne is almost close to the top of the temple. In 5 AD, the temple in Olympia was destroyed by fire. Although the statue of Zeus survived because it was transported to Constantinople, it was doomed in the end and was destroyed by fire in 462 AD.
Radical mausoleum
It is said that the Mausoleum of Mo Solas in Halicarnassus is about 45 meters high, and the upper part of the base is in the shape of a stepped pyramid. The statue of King Mo Solas of the Kingdom of Caria may stand at the top. This mausoleum was destroyed in an earthquake in the third century.
Construction time: about 353 BC
Construction site: present-day southwest Turkey.
This huge white marble mausoleum was built for Mo Solas and his wife. The whole building was designed by two Greek designers and decorated with strange carving patterns. Fu Yi's achievements are well known. It was destroyed by a great earthquake at the beginning of15th century. There are still some remaining sculptures in the British Museum in London.
Mo Solas's mausoleum was built in Halicarnassus. The ground floor building is rectangular, with an area of 40m by 30m and a height of 45m. The pier wall is 20m high, the column is12m high, the pyramid is 7m high, and the top carriage statue is 6m high. The building is surrounded by pier walls and decorated with stone statues. The statue at the top is four horses pulling an ancient two-wheeled chariot. In addition to its architecture, this mausoleum is also famous for its sculptures. The sculpture of the Mausoleum of Mo Solaris was made by four famous sculptors, who were responsible for one side of the Mausoleum.
The colossus of Rhodes
The colossus was built at the entrance of Rhodes harbor. It is a bronze statue of Helius, the Greek sun god, about 33 meters high. This is 56 years after the colossus was cast, and it was destroyed in an earthquake in 226 BC.
Construction time: completed in 282 BC.
Construction site: Aegean Sea in Rhodes Port, Greece
The Colossus of Rhode Island is located in the port of Rhode Island in Greece leading to the Mediterranean Sea. Rhode Island in BC is an important commercial center, located at the junction of Aegean Sea and Mediterranean Sea. Port Rhodes was built in 408 BC. Historically, Rhode Island was ruled by many spheres of influence, including Mo Solas (whose tomb is also one of the Seven Wonders) and Alexander the Great. But after the death of Alexander the Great, the whole island was plunged into a long war. Macedonian aggressor Dmitry led 40,000 troops (more than the population of the whole island) to surround the port. After a hard war, Rhode Island defeated the invaders. To celebrate this victory, they decided to build a statue with bronze weapons abandoned by the enemy. This statue has been built for 12 years and is about 33 meters high, which is similar to the height of the Statue of Liberty in New York. The statue is hollow and reinforced with complex stones and iron columns. But this great statue was destroyed by a strong earthquake just over 50 years after it was built. Legend has it that the statue stood in the harbor with its legs apart and boarded the ship only through the middle of its legs, which was very spectacular and interesting.
This colossus is actually the Greek sun god and their patron saint Helius. It was designed by architect Charles. After 12 years of construction, the Colossus of Rhode Island was completed in 282 BC. The whole colossus is 33 meters high, made of marble and covered with bronze, and was later used as a lighthouse. However, the earthquake in 226 BC knocked down the colossus, and its fragile knee became the fatal wound of the colossus, and the colossus fell to the shore near the port of Mandraki. In 654 AD, Rhode Island was invaded by Arabs, and the invaders even transported the remains to Syria, which made it more difficult to investigate this spectacle.