TheSeven Wonders of the Ancient World, also known as theSeven Wonders of the World or simply theSeven Wonders, is a list of seven notable structures present duringclassical antiquity, first established in the 1572 publicationOcto Mundi Miracula using a combination of historical sources.[1][2]
The seven traditional wonders established by theOcto Mundi Miracula are theGreat Pyramid of Giza, theColossus of Rhodes, theLighthouse of Alexandria, theMausoleum at Halicarnassus, theTemple of Artemis, theStatue of Zeus at Olympia, and theHanging Gardens of Babylon. Using modern-day countries, two of the wonders were located in Greece, two in Turkey, two in Egypt, and one in Iraq. Of the seven wonders, only the Pyramid of Giza, which is also by far the oldest of the wonders, remains standing, while the others have been destroyed over the centuries. Remains exist from the Lighthouse, Temple of Artemis and the Mausoleum – eitherin situ or in museums. There is scholarly debate over the exact nature of the Hanging Gardens, and there is doubt as to whether they existed at all.
All known ancient and classical lists of wonders differ from theOcto Mundi Miracula version. The first known list of seven wonders dates back to the 2nd–1st century BC; at least 8 full lists and 10 partial lists are known. Three other wonders appear more than twice across these lists: theWalls of Babylon, the Palace ofCyrus the Great, and thePergamon Altar.
Background
Alexander the Great's conquest of much of the western world in the 4th century BC gave Hellenistic travellers access to thecivilizations of theEgyptians,Persians, andBabylonians.[3] Impressed and captivated by the landmarks and marvels of the various lands, these travellers began to list what they saw to remember them.[4][5]
Instead of "wonders", the ancient Greeks spoke of "theamata" (θεάματα), which means "sights", in other words "things to be seen" (Τὰ ἑπτὰ θεάματα τῆς οἰκουμένης [γῆς]Tà heptà theámata tēs oikoumenēs [gēs]). Later, the word for "wonder" ("thaumata" θαύματα, "wonders") was used.[6] Hence, the list was meant to be the ancient world's counterpart of a travel guidebook.[3]
Known lists
The first reference to a list of seven such monuments was given byDiodorus Siculus; he did not provide the list itself, mentioning only the Walls of Babylon and the Pyramids.[7][8] The epigrammistAntipater of Sidon,[9] who lived around or before 100 BC,[10] gave a list of seven "wonders", including six of the present list (substituting the walls of Babylon for the Lighthouse of Alexandria):[11]
I have gazed on the walls of impregnable Babylon along which chariots may race, and on the Zeus by the banks of the Alpheus, I have seen the hanging gardens, and the Colossus of the Helios, the great man-made mountains of the lofty pyramids, and the gigantic tomb of Mausolus; but when I saw the sacred house of Artemis that towers to the clouds, the others were placed in the shade, for the sun himself has never looked upon its equal outside Olympus.
Another ancient writer who, perhaps dubiously, identified himself asPhilo of Byzantium, wrote a short account entitledThe Seven Sights of the World.[5] The surviving manuscript is incomplete, missing its last pages. Still, from the preamble text, it is possible that the list of seven sights exactly matches Antipater's (the preamble mentions the location of Halicarnassus, but the pages describing the seventh wonder, presumably the Mausoleum, are missing).[13] Earlier and later lists by the historianHerodotus (c. 484 BC – c. 425 BC) and the poetCallimachus ofCyrene (c. 305 BC – c. 240 BC), housed at the Museum ofAlexandria, survive only as references.
The listing of seven of the most marvellous architectural and artistic human achievements continued beyond the Ancient Greek times to the Roman Empire, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and to the modern age. The Roman poetMartial and the Christian bishopGregory of Tours had their versions.[3] Reflecting the rise of Christianity and the factor of time, nature and the hand of man overcoming Antipater's seven wonders, Roman and Christian sites began to figure on the list, including theColosseum,Noah's Ark, andSolomon's Temple.[3][5] In the 6th century, a list of seven wonders was compiled by St.Gregory of Tours: the list[14] included the Temple of Solomon, thePharos of Alexandria, and Noah's Ark.
German classical scholarWilhelm Heinrich Roscher's list of 18 known classical lists of wonders, both complete and incomplete, published in 1906, showed only two of the 18 lists being identical – and considered the second was simply a later copy of the first. Roscher’s list of lists is shown below; none of the lists match the modern "canonical" seven (shown inbold).[15] The 18 lists contain 82 names, with a total of 22 distinct buildings or places:[16]
Modern historians, working on the premise that the original Seven Ancient Wonders List was limited in its geographic scope, also had their versions to encompass sites beyond the Hellenistic realm—from the Seven Wonders of theAncient World to the Seven Wonders of theWorld. The "seven wonders" label has spawned innumerable versions among international organizations, publications and individuals based on different themes—works of nature, engineering masterpieces, constructions of the Middle Ages, etc. Its purpose has also changed from just a simple travel guidebook or a compendium of curious places to a list of sites to defend or preserve.
Timeline, and map of theOcto Mundi Miracula's Seven Wonders. Dates in bold green and dark red are of their construction and destruction, respectively.
The modern canonical list was first established in the 1572 publicationOcto Mundi Miracula using a combination of historical sources.[1][2]
The list covered only the Mediterranean andMiddle Eastern regions,[119] which then comprised the known world for the Greeks. The primary accounts from Hellenistic writers also heavily influenced the places included in the wonders list. Five of the seven entries are a celebration of Greek accomplishments in construction, the exceptions being the Pyramids of Giza and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
TheColossus of Rhodes was the last of the seven to be completed, after 280 BC, and the first to be destroyed, by an earthquake in 226/225 BC. It was therefore already in ruins by the time the list was compiled, and all seven wonders existed simultaneously for less than 60 years.
Of the canonical wonders, the only one that has survived to the present day is the Great Pyramid of Giza. Its brilliant white stone facing had survived intact until around 1300 AD, when local communities removed most of the stonework for building materials. The existence of the Hanging Gardens has not been proven, though theories abound.[120] Records and archaeology confirm the existence of the other five wonders. The Temple of Artemis and the Statue of Zeus were destroyed by fire, while the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the Colossus, and tomb of Mausolus were destroyed by earthquakes. Among the surviving artifacts are sculptures from the tomb of Mausolus and the Temple of Artemis, currently kept in theBritish Museum in London.
The revival of Greco-Roman artistic styles caught the imagination of European artists and travellers. Paintings and sculptures alluding to the canonical list were made, while significant numbers of adventurers travelled to the actual sites to personally witness the wonders. Legends circulated to further complement the superlatives of the wonders.[121]
^abClayton & Price 2013, p. 5: "It is perhaps only with the execution of these drawings that the list became fixed for all time, but the details of each monument have been scrutinised ever since under the scientific eye of such scholars as Johann Fischer von Erlach."
^abTobin 2011, p. 6: "The 'canonical' list of the Seven Wonders that we use today was actually drawn up in the sixteenth century by Dutch artist Maarten van Heemskerck, who produced a set of drawings of the Seven Wonders compiled from his perusal of ancient authors. His list contained two statues, the Zeus from Olympia and the Colossus of Rhodes; two sets of tombs, the Pyramids of Egypt and the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus; and several buildings, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Walls and Hanging Gardens of Babylon (counted as one 'wonder'), and the Lighthouse of Alexandria."
^Diodorus Siculus.Bibliotheca Historica, Books I-V. Perseus Project, Tufts University. 2.11.5.Archived from the original on June 15, 2021. RetrievedFebruary 21, 2021.
^Greek Anthology, Volume III. Perseus Project, Tufts University. Book 9, chapter 58.Archived from the original on June 13, 2021. RetrievedFebruary 21, 2021.
^Clayton, Peter and Price, Martin: The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (Routledge, 1988), pp. 162–163.
^Roscher 1906:Roscher’s list of Complete lists andRoscher’s list of Incomplete lists. Note that the Lighthouse (Φάρος), number XVI, only appears in 3 of the 18 lists, alongside few of the other "canonical" wonders. The hanging gardens, number XIII, is shown separately from the walls of Babylon in Antipater of Sidon's list, but appears as the only Babylonian monument in the other 5 lists where it is mentioned.
^Roscher 1906, p. 187, 191: "Suchen wir uns jetzt einen Überblick über die hierfür in Betracht kommenden Zeugnisse der Schriftsteller zu verschaffen, so stellt sich freilich alsbald heraus, wie schwankend und unsicher die Ansichten von der Zugehörigkeit gar mancher θεάματα zu der Siebenergruppe waren, insofern im ganzen mindestens 22 verschiedene Bau- und Kunstwerke darauf Anspruch erhoben, zu jener Gruppe zu gehören, während es nur wenigen gelang, sich in allen oder doch der Mehrzahl der erhaltenen Listen zu behaupten, viele von ihnen sogar sich damit begnügen mußten, nur in einer einzigen Liste oder in zweien derselben zu figurieren. Offenbar hat in dieser Beziehung große Willkür geherrscht und insbesondere ein stark ausgeprägter Lokalpatriotismus einen bedeutenden Einfluß geübt; aber gerade jene Willkür im einzelnen gegenüber der so gut wie immer streng festgehaltenen Siebenzahl zeigt, welch außerordentliches Ansehen gerade diese Zahl im damaligen Zeitalter genoß. Die sämtlichen mir bekannt gewordenen vollständigen und unvollständigen Listen der sieben Wunderwerke habe ich in den beiden vergleichenden Tabellen auf S. 188 und S. 189 zusammengestellt... Beide Tabellen enthalten zusammen 18 Listen, die mit ganz wenigen Ausnahmen mehr oder weniger starke Abweichungen aufweisen; als völlig miteinander identisch können wir mit Sicherheit nur zwei (A u. F) betrachten, was sich ohne Zweifel aus der Tatsache erklärt, daß Gregor v. Nazianz entweder das Epigramm des Antipater v. Sidon oder dieselbe Liste wie dieser benutzt hat... Ferner beobachten wir, daß nicht weniger als 52 von den 82 von uns aufgeführten Erwähnungen der θεάματα wenn wir das unmittelbar an der Küste Asiens gelegene Rhodos wie billig mit zu diesem Weltteile rechnen sich auf asiatische Bau- und Kunstwerke, dagegen bloß je 14 von ihnen auf ägyptische und griechische und nur 2 (offenbar späteren Listen angehörige) auf Rom (Kapitol) beziehen."
^Palatine Anthology,IX 58: “I have set eyes on the wall of lofty Babylon on which is a road for chariots, and the statue of Zeus by the Alpheius, and the hanging gardens, and the colossus of the Sun, and the huge labour of the high pyramids, and the vast tomb of Mausolus ; but when I saw the house of Artemis that mounted to the clouds, those other marvels * lost their brilliancy, and I said, " Lo, apart from Olympus, the Sun never looked on anything so grand."”
^Fabulae 223: “SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD: The temple of Diana at Ephesus which the Amazon Otrera, wife of Mars, made. The Monument of King Mausolus made of marble blocks, 80 feet high, 1,340 feet around. The bronze statue of the Sun at Rhodes, which is colossal, being 90 feet high. The statue of Olympian Jove which Phidias made, a seated statue of gold and ivory, 60 feet high. The palace of Cyrus the King in Ecbatana, which Memnon made, of many colored and shining white stones bound with gold. The wall in Babylon, which Semiramis, daughter of Dercetis, made, of baked brick and bitumen, bound with iron, 25 feet broad, 60 feet high, and 300 stades in circuit. The pyramids in Egypt, whose shadow isn't seen, 60 feet high.”
^abUnger, Robert August (1839).Thebana paradoxa: sex libris. Lippert. "LXVII. Bibl. Matrit. p. 232. col. II. extat hic: Περὶ τῶν ἑπτὰ θεαμάτων· Αἰγύπτου πυραμίδες· Βαβυλώνια τεῖχη· Ἑκατόμπυλοι Θῆβαι· Μαυσωλεῖου τάφος ἐν Καρίᾳ· Κολοσσὸς ἐν Ῥόδῳ· Ναὸς ἐν Κυζίκῳ· Θέατρον Ἡρακλείας. Καὶ ἄλλα ἑπτά. Πύργος ἀστερος ἐξισούμενος Φάρῳ· Θέατρον Λυκίας τῶν Μύων ὃπερ κατέσκαψεν Ἰσμαὴλ γένος· Ρουφονίου ναὸς ἐν τῇ Περγάμῳ οὕπερ τὸ κάλλος πάσας διέβηκε χθόνας· Ῥώμης Καπιτώλιον· Ἑπτάπυλοι Θῆβαι ἐν Ἑλλάδι"; translation: "In manuscript no. LXVII of the Madrid Library, p. 232, column II, the following list is found: “Concerning the Seven Wonders: The pyramids of Egypt; the walls of Babylon; the hundred-gated Thebes; the tomb of Mausolus in Caria; the Colossus at Rhodes; the temple at Cyzicus; the theatre at Heraclea. And another group of seven: the tower equalling the star of Pharos; the theatre of the Lycian Muses, which the race of Ishmael destroyed; the temple of Rufonius in Pergamon, whose beauty surpassed all lands; the Capitol at Rome; and the seven-gated Thebes in Greece.”
^ab Peri Apiston:graeci 3:2, section 321, page 88-89: "II. Τὰ ἑπτὰ θεάματα. α’ ὁ ἐν Ὀλυμπίᾳ Ζεὺς πήχεων λς’. β’ ὁ τῆς Ἐφεσίας Ἀρτέμιδος ναός. γ’ ὁ ἐν Δήλῳ κεράτινος βωμός, ὃς λέγεται γενέσθαι ἐκ θυμάτων τοῦ θεοῦ μιᾶς ἡμέρας δεξιῶν κεράτων. δ’ τὸ Μαυσωλεῖον τὸ ἐν Ἁλικαρνασσῷ. ε’ αἱ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ πυραμίδες, ὧν ἡ μείζων πήχεις ἔχει υ’.ϛ’ τὰ Βαβυλώνια τεῖχη. ζ’ ὁ ἐν Ῥόδῳ κολοσσὸς πήχεων ο’, ὃν ἐποίησε Χάρης ὁ Λίνδιος. Τινὲς δὲ τάττουσι καὶ τὸν ἐν Ἐπιδαύρῳ Ἀσκληπιὸν καὶ τὸν ἐν Παρίῳ βωμὸν. καὶ τοὺς κρεμαστοὺς κήπους καὶ τὴν ἱσταμένην Ἀθηνᾶν ἐν Ἀθήναις καὶ τὰ Κύρου βασίλεια.Appendix II Translation of Anonymous, Peri Apiston: II. The seven wonders. 1. The statue of Zeus at Olympia, 36 cubits tall. 2. The temple of Artemis at Ephesus. 3. The altar of horn at Delos, said to have been created from the right horns of victims sacrificed to the god in a single day. 4. The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. 5. The pyramids of Egypt, of which the largest is 400 cubits tall. 6. The walls of Babylon. 7. The Colossus of Rhodes, 70 cubits tall, which Chares of Lindus built. Some include on this list also the Asclepion at Epidauros, the altar at Parion, the hanging gardens, the standing Athena statue in Athens, and the palace of Cyrus.
^Palatine Anthology,Book VIII Epigram 177: “ These are the seven wonders of the world: a wall, a statue, gardens, pyramids, a temple, another statue, a tomb. The eighth was I, this vast tomb rising high above these rocks; and among the dead I am most celebrated, owing to the greed of thy furious hand, murderer.”
^Palatine Anthology,Book IX Epigram 656: “I surpass the celebrated wonders of the Italian land. Beauty of the Capitolian hall, give place to thy betters, even though thy roof of bronze dazzles the eye. Hide, Pergamus, thy splendid ornament, the grove of Rufinus, narrow now beside the halls of this limitless palace; and thou, Cyzicus, no longer sing of thy noble temple of Hadrian standing fast on the long cliff. The pyramids are not capable of vying with me, or the colossus, or the Pharos; I alone surpass a great legion of buildings. My prince himself, after his victory over the Isaurians, completed me, the house of the Dawn, shining with gold, on all sides exposed to the breezes of the four winds.”
^Commentary on the Odyssey, pp. 1623, 10: “(Vers. 190.) βαθέϊ ἔτετυκτο πέλωμον, εἰλήφασιν οἱ μεθ’ Ὅμηρον φαίνεσθαι τινα ἐν κόσμῳ λέγειν τὰ παραδόξα θεάματα, οἷος ὁ τοῦ Μαυσωλοῦ τάφος, ὁ ἐν Ἐφέσῳ ναὸς τῆς Ἀρτέμιδος, ὁ Βαβυλῶνος κῆπος, αἱ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ πυραμίδες καὶ ἕτερα.”; translation: “(Verse 190) “A deep and vast cavern was built. Those after Homer have taken this to mean that he was describing one of the marvels of the world — such as the tomb of Mausolus, the temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the gardens of Babylon, the pyramids of Egypt, and other such wonders.”
^Factorum et dictorum memorabilium IX 4.6; inPliny,Natural History 36.30.
^Description of Greece 4.31.5 “Round Messene is a wall, the whole circuit of which is built of stone, with towers and battlements upon it. I have not seen the walls at Babylon or the walls of Memnon at Susa in Persia, nor have I heard the account of any eye-witness; but the walls at Ambrossos in Phocis, at Byzantium and at Rhodes, all of them the most strongly fortified places, are not so strong as the Messenian wall.”
^There is some conjecture as to whether the Hanging Gardens actually existed, or were purely legendary (see Finkel, Irving (1988)"The Hanging Gardens of Babylon"Archived 2024-05-21 at theWayback Machine, InThe Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, Edited by Peter Clayton and Martin Price, Routledge, New York, pp. 38 ff.ISBN0-415-05036-7).
^Kostof, Spiro (1985).A History of Architecture. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 9.ISBN0-19-503473-2.
^Gloag, John (1969) [1958].Guide to Western Architecture (Revised ed.). The Hamlyn Publishing Group. p. 362.
Further reading
Berndt, J. (2003), ‘Die Listen der Sieben Weltwunder’, in W. Hoepfner(ed.), Der Koloss von Rhodos und die Bauten des Helios: neue Forschungen zu einem der Sieben Weltwunder, Mainz, pp. 103–4.
Clayton, Peter and Price, Martin, 1988, The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Routledge.ISBN9780710211590
Condello, Federico; Floridi, Lucia (2023).Pseudo-Filone di Bisanzio, "Le sette meraviglie del mondo": introduzione, testo critico, traduzione, note esegetiche e testuali. Berlin: De Gruyter.ISBN9783111166469.
Higgins, Michael Denis (2023).The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World: Science, Engineering and Technology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.ISBN9780197648155.
Parkin, Tim,Researching Ancient Wonders: A Research Guide, from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. – a collection of books and Internet resources with information on seven ancient wonders.
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