The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were built by the king of Babylon Nebuchadnezzar. The gardens were built in 600 B.C. They were built near River Euphrates in the modern Iraq. Exclusive art was involved in the construction as the gardens had been built 75 feet above the ground on a big brick terrace that was square in shape. The brick had been designed in a steps-like theater (Laliberte et al 35).
King Nebuchadnezzar had designed the towering gardens with the aim of pleasing his lover. The art was meant to be romantic to Amytis following her admiration for the exclusive beauty of her home in the current Iran. The king wished that his wife the Queen would enjoy being in Iraq like she used to enjoy in Iran. Therefore, the art was extremely significant for the individuals at the time. The king used the art to fulfill his purpose of making life beautiful for the queen (Snowden 48). Later writers explained how individuals could walk beneath the beautiful gardens, which had been anchored on tall columns of stone.
The garden was amazing since it defiled the normal conditions of a garden. The survival of plants in height would have called for irrigation with pumps, water wheel, and cisterns. Therefore, people could not understand the Hanging Gardens did not have any of the forms of irrigation. However, exclusive water engineering which was involved in the maintenance of the garden defined the Hanging Garden as a world wonder. The art in the gardens was unique as the modern water engineering technology was represented in a detailed manner with easy identification of the processes at the time (Laliberte et al 95).
Statue of Zeus at Olympia
The famous Zeus statue had been crafted by Phidias who is an Athenian sculptor. After the art was completed, it was placed at Olympia in the Zeus temple, which is the location of the olden Olympics. The art was sculptured at the middle of the fifth century B.C. The Zeus was in the image of the god of thunder who sat bare-chest on a section that wooden (Snowden 55).
The statue was made holding up armrests of the throne, which were two sphinxes, which had attractive curves. There were mythical creatures which had the head as well as a woman’s chest. Also, the art had the structure of a lion as well as the bird’s wings. The combination of the creatures gave exclusive attractiveness of the statue (Laliberte et al 47).
Also, the statue was decorated richly with gold as well as ivory. The sculptor had equally perfected the art of height as it sought to attract people. The statue had 40 feet height, which almost touched the temple to the top. After the completion, Phidias the sculptor requested for a sign from Zeus on his approval of the statue (Laliberte et al 65).The sign for approval was surely given as lightning struck the temple.
The statue was extremely attractive to the Olympia temple for approximately eight centuries. However, around the fourth century A.D., the Christian priests requested the Roman leadership for the closure of the temple. Upon approval, the statue was transferred to a Constantinople’s temple. It is thought that the statue was destroyed in 462 in a fire. The statue had been designed with exclusive art and inclusion of architectural strategies and design (Snowden 59). Therefore, it had the ability to survive longer, and it became a world wonder.
Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus took the form of a tomb that was constructed by Artemisia. She built the tomb for her lover, the king of Carnia in Asia Minor following his demise at around 353 B.C. Also, Mausolus was a brother to Artemisia, and she was extremely grieved at the death, and she drank a mixture of water and ashes as a sign of her mourning. Therefore, the two symbols were an extensive definition of the pain that Artemisia was going through at the time (Laliberte et al 97).
The extensive mausoleum was designed and developed by white marble, and it was approximately 135 feet in height. The building was constructed in an extensively complicated design, which made it unique for the users. The design consisted of three layers which were rectangular in shape, which could have been the signs of reconciliation of Lycian, Greek, as well as Egyptian architectural designs (Laliberte et al 99). The designing of the layers was an exclusive application of art and architectural designs.
The primary layer was an approximately was of length of approximately 60-foot and had a middle layer of 36 Ionic following it and stepped columns and the roof that was in the form of a pyramid. The tomb was at the roof top and had been beautified by the four sculptors, as well as a marble rendition that was around 20-foot in size and in were in the shape of a chariot that was ridden by four horses (Laliberte et al 105).
The mausoleum was later destroyed following an earthquake that occurred some years later, and the remains were applied during a castle’s fortification. In 1846, several pieces of a section of the mausoleum were dug out from the site and now they remain as part of the other leftovers from the Halicarnassus site (Snowden 62).
Colossus of Rhodes
The Colossus was built in the third century B.C. It was a huge sculpture of helois in the form of bronze, which was built by Rhodians. The city had been targeted by a Macedonian blockade at the beginning of the 4th century B.C. The Rhodians had traded the apparatus, which had been abandoned by the people of Macedonia to settle the cost of the Colossus.
The statue was designed by sculptor Chares and had a height of approximately 100 feet. Therefore, it was ranked as the tallest sculptor of the antique world. The sculpture was defined by extensive strength as it stood for long after its completion in 280 B.C. The sculpture existed for 60 years until it was hit by an earthquake (Snowden 73). Thus, it was recognized as one of the ancient wonders of the world.
Despite the attractiveness of the sculpture, it was not reconstructed after demolition by the earthquake. After a long period, Arabs held Rhodes captive and sold the leftovers as fragment metal. As a result, the archeological information about the sculpture cannot be defined. People cannot tell the exact position of the effigy and its original form since no evidence could have been gathered after the demolition by the earthquake (Laliberte et al 112).
However, history records of the uniqueness of the architectural design of the sculpture and show exclusive images of the statue. Therefore, the uniqueness of the sculpture can be located and defined uniquely following the sensitivity of the art, which has been involved. Matched with the features, which had been included in the design and development of the statue, it has remained a wonder in the ancient world (Snowden 82). It is a combination of uniqueness and art. Therefore, its value in the ancient world cannot be ignored.
Works Cited
Laliberte, Michelle. What Are The 7 Wonders Of The Ancient World?. 1st ed., Berkeley Heights, NJ, Enslow Publishers, Inc., 2013,.
Snowden, Melissa et al. The 7 Wonders Of The World. 1st ed., New York, NY., Scholastic Inc., 2008,.
