the world wonders
...s. The bodies of Egyptian queens were buried in smaller pyramids, near the large ones. Some of the earliest history of the great Pyramid comes from a Greek traveler named Herodotus of Halicanassus. He visited Egypt around 450 B.C. and included a description of the Great Pyramid in a history book he wrote. Herodotus was told by his Egyptian guides that it took twenty-years for a force of over one-hundred-thousand oppressed slaves to build the pyramid. Stones were lifted into position by the use of immense, yet simple machines. John Greaves, an English mathematician visited the pyramid in 1638. He discovered a narrow shaft, hidden in the wall that connected the Grand Gallery with the descending passage. Both ends were tightly sealed and the bottom was blocked with debris. Some archaeologists suggested this route was used by the last of the Pharaoh's men to exit the tomb, after the granite plugs had been put in place, and by the thieves and grave-diggers to get inside. Given the small size of the passageway and the amount of debris it seems unlikely that the massive amount of treasure, including the huge missing sarcophagus lid, could have been removed through this passage. Some historians have suggested that the pyramid was never meant as a tomb, but as an astronomical observatory. Richard Proctor, an astronomer, did observe that the descending passage could have been used to observe the transits of certain stars and major celestial objects. He also suggested that the Grand Gallery, when open at the top during construction, could have been used for mapping the sky. Nobody knows what happened to Pharaoh Khufus mummy and treasure. Extensive explorations have found no other chambers or passageways. Still one must wonder if, perhaps in this one case, the King and his architects out smarted both the ancient thieves and modern archaeologists and that somewhere in, or below, the last wonder of the ancient world, rests Khufu and his sacred gold. *** To the traveler’s eyes, the city of Babylon ruled by King Nebuchadnezzar II must have been a wonder. Herodotus, a historian in 450 B.C., wrote: "In addition to its size, Babylon surpasses in splendor any city in the known world." He claimed that the outer walls were 90 miles in length, 24 meters thick and 97 meters high. Wide enough to allow a four horse chariot to turn, he said. The inner walls were "not as thick as the first, but hardly less strong." Fortresses and temples containing immense statues of solid gold were constructed inside the city walls. Rising above the city, and seeming to reach to the heavens, was the famous Tower of Babel, a temple to the god Marduk. While archaeological examination has disputed some of Herodotus's claims, his narrative does give us a sense of how awesome the features of the city appeared to those that visited it. Interestingly enough, though, one of the city's most spectacular sites is not even mentioned by Herodotus: one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon,. Accounts indicate that the garden was built by King Nebuchadnezzar, who ruled the city for 43 years starting in 605 B.C. He constructed an astonishing array of temples, streets, palaces, and walls. This was the height of the city's power and influence. According to some historians, the gardens were built to cheer up Nebuchadnezzar's homesick wife, Amyitis. Amyitis, daughter of the king of the Medes, was married to Nebuchadnezzar to create an alliance between the nations. The land she came from was green, rugged and mountainous. The king decided to recreate her homeland by building an artificial mountain with rooftop gardens. The Greek geographer Strabo, who described the gardens in the 1st century B.C., wrote, "It consists of vaulted terraces raised one above another, and rests upon cube-shaped pillars. These are hollow and filled with earth to allow trees of the largest size to be planted. The pillars, the vaults, and terraces are constructed of baked brick and asphalt." In contrast, Diodorus Siculus, a Greek historian, stated that the platforms on which the garden stood consisted of huge slabs of stone, covered with layers of reed, asphalt and tiles. Over this was put "a covering with sheets of lead, that the wet which drenched through the earth might not rot the foundation. Upon all these was laid earth of a convenient depth, sufficient for the growth of the greatest trees. When the soil was laid even and smooth, it was planted with all sorts of trees, which both for greatness and beauty might delight the spectators." Diodorus also tells us that the gardens were about 120 meters wide by 120 meters long, and more than 24 meters high. Other accounts indicate the height was equal to the outer city walls. In any case the gardens were an amazing sight: A green, leafy, artificial mountain rising off the plain. But did it actually exist? After all, Herodotus never mentions it. This was one of the questions that occurred to German archaeologist Robert Koldewey in 1899. For centuries before that the ancient city of Babel was nothing but a mound of muddy debris. Though unlike many ancient locations, the city's position was well-known, and nothing visible remained of its architecture. Koldewey dug on the Babel site for some fourteen years and unearthed many of its features including the outer walls, inner walls, foundation of the Tower of Babel, Nebuchadnezzar's palaces and the wide processional roadway which passed through the heart of the city. During excavations, Koldewey discovered a basement with fourteen large rooms with stone arch ceilings. Records indicated that only two locations in the city had made use of stone, the north wall of the Northern Citadel, and the Hanging Gardens. The north wall of the Northern Citadel had already been found and had, indeed, contained stone. This made it seem likely that Koldewey had found the cellar of the gardens. He continued exploring the area and discovered many of the features reported by Diodorus. Finally a room was unearthed with three large, strange holes in the floor. Koldewey concluded this had been the location of the chain pumps that raised the water to the garden's roof. The foundations that Koldewey discovered measured some 30 by 45 meters. Smaller than the measurements described by ancient historians, but still impressive. *** In ancient times the Greeks held one of their most important festivals, The Olympic Games, in honor of the King of their gods, Zeus. Like our modern Olympics, athletes traveled from distant lands, including Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt and Sicily, to compete in the games. The Olympics were first started in 776 B.C. and held at a shrine to Zeus located on the western coast of Greece in a region called Peloponnesus. The site consisted of a stadium and a sacred grove, or Altis, where temples were located. The shrine to Zeus was simple in the early years, but as time went by and the games increased in importance, it became obvious that a new, larger temple, one worthy of Zeus, was needed. Between 470 and 460 B.C., the construction of a new temple began. The designer was Libon of Elis and his masterpiece, The Temple of Zeus, was completed in 456 B.C.. This temple followed a design used on many large Grecian temples. It was similar to the Parthenon in Athens and the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus. The temple was built on a raised, rectangular platform. Thirteen large columns supported the roof along the sides and six supported it on each end. A gently-peaked roof topped the building. The triangles, or "pediments," created by the sloped roof at the ends of the building were filled with sculptures. Under the pediments, just above the columns, were more sculptures depicting the twelve labors of Heracles. Though the temple was considered one of the best examples of the Doric design, it was decided the temple alone was too simple to be worthy of the King of the gods. To remedy this, a statue was commissioned for the interior- a magnificent statue of Zeus. The sculptor chosen for this great task was a man named Phidias. He had already rendered a 12 meter high statue of the goddess Athena for the Parthenon in Athens and had also done much of the sculpture on the exterior of that temple. After his work in Athens, Phidias traveled to Olympia to start on what was considered his best work, the statue of Zeus. The first archaeological work on the Olympia site was done by a group of French scientists in 1829. They were able t...