What happened to the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World?

Opening doors

Opening doors, Ancient lists, A brief overlap, A wonder of utilitarian brilliance, A new structure, An architectural marvel, Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, The grand temple, Colossus of Rhodes, A fallen giant, The god of Olympia, A workshop’s memory, Ingenious irrigation, A competing theory, An eternal monument

In the 4th century BCE, Alexander the Great’s sweeping conquests connected Greek travelers with the wonders of Egypt, Persia, and Babylon. Awed by the grandeur they encountered, these explorers began cataloging the most extraordinary landmarks they saw during their journeys.

Ancient lists

Opening doors, Ancient lists, A brief overlap, A wonder of utilitarian brilliance, A new structure, An architectural marvel, Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, The grand temple, Colossus of Rhodes, A fallen giant, The god of Olympia, A workshop’s memory, Ingenious irrigation, A competing theory, An eternal monument

Greek scholars like Antipater of Sidon and Diodorus Siculus compiled lists of the world’s most breathtaking creations. Though the specific details varied, the same seven monuments consistently emerged.

A brief overlap

Opening doors, Ancient lists, A brief overlap, A wonder of utilitarian brilliance, A new structure, An architectural marvel, Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, The grand temple, Colossus of Rhodes, A fallen giant, The god of Olympia, A workshop’s memory, Ingenious irrigation, A competing theory, An eternal monument

Astonishingly, all Seven Wonders of the Ancient World existed at the same point in history for a short window of time, between 280 BCE and 226 BCE. This was a span of only 54 years! So why were they built? And what happened to them?

A wonder of utilitarian brilliance

Opening doors, Ancient lists, A brief overlap, A wonder of utilitarian brilliance, A new structure, An architectural marvel, Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, The grand temple, Colossus of Rhodes, A fallen giant, The god of Olympia, A workshop’s memory, Ingenious irrigation, A competing theory, An eternal monument

Unlike the other Wonders on this list, the Lighthouse was proudly utilitarian: a triumph of engineering that served a commercial reason. Ancient descriptions speak of a multi-tiered tower: a broad square base, an octagonal midsection, and a cylindrical top, perhaps crowned by a statue of Zeus or Poseidon.

A new structure

Opening doors, Ancient lists, A brief overlap, A wonder of utilitarian brilliance, A new structure, An architectural marvel, Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, The grand temple, Colossus of Rhodes, A fallen giant, The god of Olympia, A workshop’s memory, Ingenious irrigation, A competing theory, An eternal monument

Around 150 years after its collapse, the Mamluk Sultan Qa’it Bay cleared the remaining debris, using the stones to build the Citadel of Qaitbay on the foundations of the lighthouse. The fortress still stands to this day.

An architectural marvel

Opening doors, Ancient lists, A brief overlap, A wonder of utilitarian brilliance, A new structure, An architectural marvel, Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, The grand temple, Colossus of Rhodes, A fallen giant, The god of Olympia, A workshop’s memory, Ingenious irrigation, A competing theory, An eternal monument

Rising about 148 feet (45 meters) high, the Mausoleum was adorned with hundreds of statues sculpted by the finest artists of the Greek world. It had a tiered design, capped by a pyramid roof, upon which Mausolus and Artemisia rode in a four-horse marble chariot.

Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

Opening doors, Ancient lists, A brief overlap, A wonder of utilitarian brilliance, A new structure, An architectural marvel, Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, The grand temple, Colossus of Rhodes, A fallen giant, The god of Olympia, A workshop’s memory, Ingenious irrigation, A competing theory, An eternal monument

The last of the Seven Wonders that we have physical remains for is the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, located in modern-day Turkey. Originally, the temple was built as a shrine in the Bronze Age to honor Artemis, goddess of the hunt. King Croesus of Lydia sponsored its construction.

The grand temple

Opening doors, Ancient lists, A brief overlap, A wonder of utilitarian brilliance, A new structure, An architectural marvel, Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, The grand temple, Colossus of Rhodes, A fallen giant, The god of Olympia, A workshop’s memory, Ingenious irrigation, A competing theory, An eternal monument

The third and final Temple of Artemis, completed in the late 4th century BCE, was the most renowned version. It stood for 600 years, and was double the size of the Parthenon in Athens.

Colossus of Rhodes

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The Colossus of Rhodes is possibly one of the most famous of the Wonders. It was a war memorial built in 280 BCE on the island of Rhodes in modern-day Greece. After surviving a major siege on the city, the people of Rhodes melted down the enemy’s weapons and erected a massive statue of the sun god Helios.

A fallen giant

Opening doors, Ancient lists, A brief overlap, A wonder of utilitarian brilliance, A new structure, An architectural marvel, Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, The grand temple, Colossus of Rhodes, A fallen giant, The god of Olympia, A workshop’s memory, Ingenious irrigation, A competing theory, An eternal monument

Just 56 years after its creation, the Colossus collapsed in an earthquake. Though never rebuilt, its shattered remains attracted curious visitors for centuries. Pliny the Elder noted its hands were so large that few men could wrap their arms around a thumb.

The god of Olympia

Opening doors, Ancient lists, A brief overlap, A wonder of utilitarian brilliance, A new structure, An architectural marvel, Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, The grand temple, Colossus of Rhodes, A fallen giant, The god of Olympia, A workshop’s memory, Ingenious irrigation, A competing theory, An eternal monument

Ancient Greeks regarded the Olympia statue not as mere art but as Zeus’ earthly embodiment. Visitors referred to it simply as “the god,” and believed that the artist had captured his divine essence. To stand before the immense Zeus was to feel the presence of the deity himself.

A workshop’s memory

Opening doors, Ancient lists, A brief overlap, A wonder of utilitarian brilliance, A new structure, An architectural marvel, Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, The grand temple, Colossus of Rhodes, A fallen giant, The god of Olympia, A workshop’s memory, Ingenious irrigation, A competing theory, An eternal monument

Today, nothing of the great statue survives. In the 1950s, archaeologists discovered Phidias’ workshop at Olympia, which confirmed the statue’s creation date. The temple where Zeus once sat lies in ruins, and only the tools and molds from the sculptor’s shop hint at the lost masterpiece.

Ingenious irrigation

Opening doors, Ancient lists, A brief overlap, A wonder of utilitarian brilliance, A new structure, An architectural marvel, Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, The grand temple, Colossus of Rhodes, A fallen giant, The god of Olympia, A workshop’s memory, Ingenious irrigation, A competing theory, An eternal monument

For centuries, writers described the Hanging Gardens as an engineering marvel: an ascending series of tiered gardens overflowing with blossoms and waterfalls. Ingenious pumps were said to draw water from the Euphrates River to keep this man-made paradise lush in the desert.

A competing theory

Opening doors, Ancient lists, A brief overlap, A wonder of utilitarian brilliance, A new structure, An architectural marvel, Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, The grand temple, Colossus of Rhodes, A fallen giant, The god of Olympia, A workshop’s memory, Ingenious irrigation, A competing theory, An eternal monument

An alternative theory suggests the fabled gardens were actually in nearby Nineveh, not Babylon. Assyrian King Sennacherib reportedly constructed elaborate terraces there in the 7th century BCE, with aqueducts and sloped gardens that may have inspired tales of Nebuchadnezzar’s elusive marvel.

An eternal monument

Opening doors, Ancient lists, A brief overlap, A wonder of utilitarian brilliance, A new structure, An architectural marvel, Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, The grand temple, Colossus of Rhodes, A fallen giant, The god of Olympia, A workshop’s memory, Ingenious irrigation, A competing theory, An eternal monument

Khufu’s tomb once gleamed with white casing stones and a gold capstone. Millennia of natural disasters and human activity have stripped these original pieces away from the structure to expose the bare limestone beneath.

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