The Great Pyramid of Giza- It’s believed that this pyramid was built as a tomb for the Egyptian Pharoah Khufu around 2560 BC. When first built the pyramid stood at 480 ft tall making it the largest man made structure for just under 4,000 years.
**Hanging Gardens of Babylon- **It’s believed the gardens were built by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II around 600 BC in order to please his wife. It is said that the gardens were destroyed by Earthquakes.
Statue of Zeus at Olympia- This 43 ft tall seated statue of the Greek god was made by the sculpter Phidias around 430 BC. The statue sat in the atrium of the temple of Zeus and was made of ivory and gold plated bronze.
**Temple of Artemis- **A Greek temple dedicated to the goddess Artermis that was completed around 550 BC. The temple was made of marble and only the foundations remain today.
**Mausoleum of Halicarnassus- **A tomb built for Mausolus, a governer of the Persian empire, around 350 BC. His wife was also buried in this tomb.
**Colossus of Rhodes- **A statue of the Greek god Helios erected in Rhodes around 280 BC to celebrate Rhodes’ victory over Cyprus. The statue was 107 ft tall before it was destroyed by an earthquake in 226 BC.
**Lighthouse of Alexandria- **A lighthouse built around 250 BC which stood at a height of around 400ft. It was constructed to help guide sailors safely into the harbour during the night.
Only the great pyramid of Giza still remains today even though it is the oldest of the seven, the rest have been destroyed and lost in history.
What other historical buildings would you consider wonders of the world?
I definately have to rate the Great wall of China as one of the greatest human constructions of all time… it runs at least 2000 miles across some of the most breathtaking landscapes of Northern China and was originally built by Shi Huang Ti who founded the original Chin dynasty from which we get the word China. He was the first to unite the various warring states into one nation.
Theres many more too but the great wall stood out for me becuase of obvious reasons which deserve a whole thread of thier own to be honest.
I agree the Taj Mahal is indeed very amazing not just to look at but as an engineering work too....
The great wall of China was built in 15years and has been updated many times.... but the original structure was indeed built at a rate of 1mile a day perhaps more.
The Taj took 22 years to build and both projects had an army of labourers... I guess the Wall was built much by forced labour where as the Tag was probably built by more metticulous engineers and craftsmen.
Sigiriya (Lion's rock) is an ancient rock fortress and palace ruin situated in the central Matale District of Sri Lanka, surrounded by the remains of an extensive network of gardens, reservoirs, and other structures. A popular tourist destination, Sigiriya is also renowned for its ancient paintings (frescos),which are reminiscent of the Ajanta Caves of India. The Sigiriya was built during the reign of King Kassapa I (AD 477 – 495), and it is one of the seven World Heritage Sites of Sri Lanka.
Sigiriya may have been inhabited through prehistoric times. It was used as a rock-shelter mountain monastery from about the 5th century BC, with caves prepared and donated by devotees to the Buddhist Sangha. According to the chronicles as Mahavamsa the entire complex was built by King Kasyapa, and after the king's death, it was used as a Buddhist monastery until 14th century.
They still haven't figured out how they pumped the water up the rock and into reservoirs. I remember climbing this rock when I was really small..and it was dangerous, but the view from up there is magnificent!!!
Yes Sigiraya fort is one of the most famous and entrancing forts of the Subcontinent.
As for the water cisterns you speak of I am working on projects like that with my friends and trust me it is an engineering marvel… Nothing exists like it in the West.
I’ll digress briefly to explain the sheer feat of engineering behind those Asian water pump systems, the first Water pumps mentioned in ancient texts are those such as Archimedes screw but they are very difficuilt and costly to build besides the quantity of water pumped is only small considering the effort you use to get it. In ancient times it would have been very difficuilt.
I believe the Shri Lankans used a water engine which I have seen in Arab/Turkic texts from the Seljuk times, basically it was a two stroke six cylinder engine that could pump water as well as any modern engineering system. It is an amazing peice of technology which if harnesed could even fuel future electricity or more… Amazing
^ Yeah i wonder if the same technology was used to pump water around the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the original and now lost water features of Shalimar gardens in Lahore…
The great wall of China and the Taj Mahal came to my mind as well. I'd also include the Colosseum in Rome...that place was capable of seating 50,000 people.
My uncle always used to tell me the KKH was a wonder of the World, after knowing it all these years I think the old fellow was right the Karakorum highway is a spectacular achievment and is one of the most marvelous feats of engineering it is the highest highway in the World.
Another fantastci wonder of the world would be the mighty spectacal that greets the eyes as a person walks the South Western Desert of Khorrasan (now in Modern Iran)
Where to this day you can still see the magnificent remains of Cyrus the greats empire arguably the worlds first superpower. When Alexander the great came by Cyrus’s Tomb it was allready ancient and the inscription once read…
“Tread carefully Mortal, for I am Cyrus the Great, lord of the Persians and king of the world…”
Even the conquering Alexander paid homage to the man whose achievments outdid his own… Here what is left of Cyrus’s Tomb.
If you venture towards the region of the old Persian capital marked by the ruins of Persepolis you can still see inscriptions and grand murals hacked into the cliffs hundreds of feet above you… the sheer scale of the 100 pillar palace is a mind bogling piece of engineering that would have rivalled the Pyramids… you can still see the ruins to this day…
Heres just an overview of the once mighty Persian capital
From Persia I must venture westwards to the amazing Inca structure known as the once lost City of Machu Pichu.. if anyone of you has ever walked the famous Inca trail you will recognise this magical place instantly… it still has a haunting atmosphere to this day is is achingly beutifull and has a long and tragic history… it’s one of those places that still evokes great awe on those that look upon it.
I guess speaking of modern Wonders of the World I am fascinated by many of the bridges in America such as Brooklyn Bridge... the sheer scale is amazing.
