Seven Wonders of the World, in ancient classifications, were the Great Pyramid of Khufu (see pyramid pyramid. The true pyramid exists only in Egypt, though the term has also been applied to similar structures in other countries. Egyptian pyramids are square in plan and their triangular sides, which directly face the points of the compass, slope upwards at
..... Click the link for more information. ) or all the pyramids with or without the sphinx sphinx (sfĭngks), mythical beast of ancient Egypt, frequently symbolizing the pharaoh as an incarnation of the sun god Ra .
..... Click the link for more information. ; the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, with or without the walls; the mausoleum mausoleum (môsəlē`əm)
..... Click the link for more information. at Halicarnassus; the Artemision at Ephesus Ephesus (ĕf`əsəs)
..... Click the link for more information. ; the Colossus of Rhodes Colossus of Rhodes (kəlŏs`əs), large statue of Helios, the sun god, destroyed by an earthquake in antiquity.
..... Click the link for more information. ; the Olympian Zeus, statue by Phidias Phidias or Pheidias (both: fĭd`ēəs), c.500–c.432 B.C.
..... Click the link for more information. ; and the lighthouse at Pharos Pharos (fâr`ŏs), peninsula, extending into the Mediterranean Sea, N Egypt, NE Africa, forming two harbors at Alexandria.
..... Click the link for more information. , Alexandria, or, instead, the walls of Babylon.

Bibliography

See L. Cottrell, Wonders of the World (1959).

Seven Wonders of the World

Preeminent architectural and sculptural achievements of antiquity, as listed by various Greco-Roman observers. Included on the best-known list were the Pyramids of Giza (the oldest of the wonders and the only one substantially in existence today), the Hanging Gardens of Babylon (thought to be a series of landscaped terraces, ascribed to King Nebuchadrezzar II, the semilegendary Queen Sammu-ramat, or the Assyrian king Sennacherib), the Statue of Zeus at Olympia (a large gold-and-ivory figure of the god on his throne by Phidias), the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus (a temple, built in 356 BC, famous for its imposing size and the works of art that adorned it), the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes, and the Pharos of Alexandria (a lighthouse built c. 280 BC on the island of Pharos off Alexandria, said to have been more than 350 ft, or 110 m, high). These wonders inspired the compilation of many other lists of seven attractions, or “wonders,” by later generations.