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01.08.2020 17:01

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The list of the Seven Ancient Wonders comprises: 1. The Pyramid of Cheops (Egypt, III millennium B. C.) This gigantic structure near the ancient city of Memphis was being raised for 20 years. More than 100 000 workers were engaged in its construction. Its height was about 150 m. The total weight of the pyramid was almost 6, 5 million tons. The pyramid was faced with the snow white limestone plates and served as a tomb for the Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu (Cheops). The pyramid was amazing in the sun’s rays. It outshone all the Egypt pyramids built before and ranked as the tallest structure on the earth for more than 43 centuries. 2. The Semiramis’s Hanging Gardens (Babylon, VI century B. C.) According to the legend, Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Chaldea, arranged these beautiful hanging gardens on the banks of the Euphrates river (96 km south of Baghdad) for his beloved wife, the Persian tsarevna, to please her. The gardens rose in terraces, supported by the arches, to the height of 300 feet. They were irrigated from the reservoir built at the top, to which water was lifted from the river Euphrates. The gardens were filled with the finest flowers and rare plants from different countries of the world. They were very beautiful and had no equals in the world of those days. They were named after Semiramis, a Queen of Assyria and a legendary foundress of Babylon and many other cities, a woman of great wisdom and beauty. In 323 B. C. Alexander the Great of Macedonia with his victorious troops entered Babylon on his way to Egypt and further to Europe. But he never left it, because he died in the Hanging Gardens built by the Chaldean king. 3. The Statue of Zeus at Olympia (Greece, IV century B. C.) Zeus was the most loved God in the ancient Greece. According to the legend, he lived on the mountain of Olymp. It was just the place, where the ancient Olympic Games were held. The Greeks believed that it was Zeus himself who left these Games to them. No armed man could invade this sacred land. During the Games all wars stopped, bringing everlasting peace to Olympia. The grateful Greeks raised the most beautiful temple to Zeus, the Greek Father of Gods, with his gigantic statue (12 m), carved by the great sculptor Pheidias, that was recognized as the third wonder of the world. Its trace has been lost except for the reproduction on coins. 4. The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus (Greece, IV century B. C.) It was the most beautiful and largest temple in Asia Minor made of the white marble. The temple was dedicated to Artemis, the Greek goddess of hunting and wild nature, and was recognized as the fourth wonder of the world. 5. The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus (Caria, IV century B. C.) The famous tomb of the king Mausolus, Persian satrap of Caria, built in Halicarnassus amazed the ancient world’s people with its dimensions and magnificence. It was so much unlike all the tombs built before, that people called it “a mausoleum” (i. e. “massive tomb”) after their satrap Mausolus. This tomb became the world’s first mausoleum. It was raised by the famous Greek architects Pypheus and Satyrus. Its construction was finished after the king’s death. The tomb’s total height was 22m. 6. The Lighthouse of Alexandria or the Pharos of Alexandria (Egypt, Alexandria, III century B. C.) Among all the towns in the world conquered by Alexander of Macedonia and named after him, the Egypt Alexandria is the most famous one. It was here, on the island of Pharos, where the gigantic lighthouse was built by Ptolemies at the end of the III century B. C. The lighthouse was faced with the white marble plates and towered over the land for 130 m. It was the world’s first tower with a signal light and was recognized as one of the wonders of the world. 7. The Colossus of Rhodes (Rhodes, III century B. C.) In 305 B. C. Demetrius, the tsar of Asia Minor tried to conquer the island-town of Rhodes. But its people prayed Helios, the God of Sun, to protect them and promised to raise his statue. According to the legend, Helios protected the people of Rhodes and they built his gigantic statue near the harbor of the Mediterranean island. It was a beautiful 40 m statue covered with bronze (12 tons) that was destroyed by the earthquake 66 years later. All the above mentioned creations make up “the Magnificent Seven” of the ancient world’s wonders. However, as it turned out, there are much more wonders on the Earth. Mankind has never stood still. People always made various discoveries and created unique monuments.