Douglas Burke age 9, of West Newton, Mass., for his questions
What were the Seven Wonders of the World?
Everybody loves to be a tourist and enjoy the sights of strange places. There is nothing new in this happy idea. Those who could afford it toured the ancient world between 2,000 and 3,000 years ago. When we go on a tour we take a guide book to tell us of the special sights to see. This idea is not new, either. The ancient Greeks had many guide books for the tourist: To them the number seven had a magic charm. So it was natural to select seven wonders for the well‑traveled tourist.
Most of the ancient world has crumbled to dust or stands in ruins, The only one of the Seven Wonders in good repair is the Pyramids of Egypt, Those massive tombs hove awed the tourist for more than 4,000 years:
The second of the Seven Wonders has long since crumbled into dust. It was a vast terraced building which towered above the flat plains of ancient Babylon. The terraces were festooned with vines, planted with gardens and shade trees where birds sang and butterflies flitted among the flowers: This ancient Wonder, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, was built by King Nebuchadnezzar for his wife who was homesick for her hilly homeland.
The third Wonder was a 40‑foot statue of ivory and gold It was created about 400 B.C. by the Greek artist Phidias: This, the great statue of Zeus, stood in a shrine at Olympia until early in the Middle Ages.
The fourth Wonder was a tomb on the shores of :4sia Minor. It was built in the Fourth Century B.C. by Queen Artemisia at Halicarnassus for her husband, King Mausoleum of Caria. A few relics of the magnificent building still exist,
The fifth Wonder was a temple, also in Asia Minor. Greek settlers in Ephesus built it to Artemis, goddess of the hunt. To the Romans this was the goddess Diana, also sacred to the moon.
The huge building was begun around 550 B.C. and dedicated 120 years later. In 356 B:C,, on the night that under the Great was born, a fire bug named. Herostratus destroyed the famous shrine.
The sixth Wonder was a bronze statue 150 feet tall. It represented Lclios, the sun god, and it stood at the harbor of Rhodes, chief city cw: the small Greek island of Rhodes. Some say the huge figure straddled the entrance to the city harbors but more likely it stood on one side. The Colossus of Rhodes was toppled by an earthquake in 224 B.C. The ruins were admired for almost another 1,000 years. Then, in 656 AD,, a junk dealer bought up the old metal and carted it away.
The seventh Wonder was a lighthouse. It was a tally tierred, cone‑shaped building on the island of Pharos. The isle was joined to the Egyptian city of Alexandria by a causeway and, this Wonder was called the Pharos of Alexandria. The 400‑foot high lighthouse was made of white marble. It was felled by an earthquake in 955 AD.