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Most people have heard of the Seven Wonders of the World, but what many don’t know is that we have engineers to thank for creating such remarkable objects. The practice of listing the Seven Wonders began in ancient times, when Greeks and Romans compiled lists of memorable things that travelers should see. Numerous lists were made that included many different wonders, but all the lists of ancient wonders included only objects created by human beings (ancient engineers) and considered notable because of their size or other unusual quality. Students might find it fun and interesting to do a little research about the ancient wonders. For example, with no machinery or iron tools, how did ancient man build such marvels? Why did all but one disappear? Ancient Wonders • Pyramids of Egypt, oldest of all the ancient wonders and the only one still standing. The largest, the Great Pyramid, is a marvel of building skill, containing more than 2 million stone blocks that average 5,000 pounds each.
• Hanging Gardens of Babylon near modern Baghdad, Iraq. No positive trace of the gardens remains, but scholars know about them from an account by a Babylonian priest of the 200s B.C. • Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, one of the largest and most complicated temples built in ancient times. • Statue of Zeus at Olympia, Greece; perhaps the most famous statue in the ancient world.
• Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, in what is now southwestern Turkey, was a huge marble building built as a tomb for Mausolus, an official of the Persian empire. Its size and decorations made it so famous that all large tombs are now called mausoleums. • Colossus of Rhodes, a huge bronze statue that stood near the harbor of Rhodes on the Aegean Sea. In 224 B.C., the statue was destroyed by an earthquake. • Lighthouse of Alexandria stood on the island of Pharos in the harbor of Alexandria, Egypt. It became so famous that the word "pharos" came to mean lighthouse. Sources Construction & Contract News. Online. Internet. Zeta Talk. 30 April 1997. "Seven Wonders: Past and Present," "Engineering Marvels," Architecture Overview, Bay Source Guardian Online; "Chunnel Feat Defies the ‘Impossible’," "The Panama Canal," For Kids Only: Facts About China; "Preview Vacations—Rome Attractions;" "The Great Pyramids of Giza;" World Book Encyclopedia. Online. Internet. Zeta Talk, The Active Mind. 5 May 1997.
Slinky
Science | Engineers | Engineering
Feats | Serendipity
Last Updated: 02/16/03 |
