7 Wonders

In the past year the world was asked to vote on what the “New 7 Wonders of the World” were going to be. The New 7 Wonders…why do we need new wonders? This has been bothering me for a long time now, pretty much since the vote began. What was wrong with the old wonders of the world?

Well…most of them are no longer in existence.

6 out of 7 of the “Old” wonders of the world are no longer standing. Has our society really gotten to the point where their need for instant gratification hinders their ability to appreciate the difficulty of creating something, such as the Hanging Gardens, unless they can see it in person. Now this isn’t to say that I think the New Seven Wonders were easy to create. I appreciate the difficulty they represent, however, I don’t think they are any “more” wondrous than the original wonders. After all, to be on this list shouldn’t there be mystery surrounding how a thing was created.

“Old” 7 Wonders of the World:

Pyramids



Built in Ancient Giza around 2560 BC, these royal burial places have withstood the test of time. After many Egyptian official, archaeologists and scholars expressed their outrage at putting the Pyramids up to vote the “wonders” committee withdrew the Pyramids from the competition in April and granted them "honorary wonder" status. After all the Pyramids are one of the few structures still standing today that keep historian guessing about how they were made.
Colossus



Completed in 282 B.C, the Colossus was a feet of engineering in the ancient world. The statue took 12 years to build and stood 110 feet tall, the tallest in antiquity. It was composed of stone and iron, encapsulated by a layer of bronze. An earthquake snapped the statue off at the knees a mere 56 years later, sending it into the Mandráki Harbor.

Lighthouse of Alexandria

Believed to be the tallest building in antiquity, with the lowest estimate is equal to a 40-story building, the Lighthouse was a highly efficient structure. It used bronze mirrors to reflect light, from a fire at night and from the sun during the day, out to sea. It is rumored that this beacon could be seen 35 miles out at sea. It stood for over 1,500 years before earthquakes finally took it down.

Statue of Zeus at Olympia



A 40 foot-tall gold statue of Zeus, the King of the Gods, sat on a wooden thrown, holding a separate statue of Nike, goddess of victory, in his hand. There are two rumors around it’s destruction. It was either destroyed by the Christians, or moved to Constantinople, where it would have perished in a fire.

The Hanging Gardens



They stood on the banks of the Euphrates River. Built by Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II around 600 BC for his wife. The masonry needed to build the aqueduct system and tired gardens would have been awe inspiring in its day.

Mausoleum of Halicarnassus

This tomb is the source of the word Mausoleum. The mausoleum stood intact until the early 15th century. The central burial chamber was decorated in gold, while the exterior was adorned with ornate stone friezes and sculptures.

Temple of Artemis

Located in modern day Turkey, the temple was made in honor of the virgin goddess Artemis, sister of Apollo. The 120 columns supporting the temple also housed great works of art. These pieces included a vast array of sculpture depicting the mythical Amazons. Today Archaeologists have reconstructed its base and supporting structures, but most of the Temple is still lost.

“New” 7 Wonders of the World:

Christ the Redeemer

A 105-foot-tall statue in Rio de Janeiro. I can honestly say I did NOT vote for this one. There is a lot of controversy surrounding this particular “New” wonder. The controversy coming from the government asking that the residents of Rio de Janeiro to vote for the statue as much as possible, insisting the majority of its citizens to vote multiple times. Now this could be seen as typical propaganda, but when the votes were tallied over 50% of the votes for this site came from…Rio de Janeiro.

The Great Wall of China

The only man made structure that is visible from space, or so I’ve heard. Ok, I agree that this is pretty amazing, considering it’s length, about 4,000 miles, and when it was built. However, it is also horrific. It’s a testament to human cruelty, after all it is filled with the bodies of workers who dies because they were being over worked during its construction. The wall didn’t even work, the Mongols were able to overcome the structure in most locations. Even the Chinese state heritage officials refused to endorse the competition for new wonders and didn’t broadcast the Wall’s recognition.

Petra, Jordan

Whenever humans live underground people become awe inspired. I personally can’t imagine living without windows, I already have to work without them and can’t stand that. Living underground has been done for thousands of year, although not with this much aesthetic value. The underground city in Cappadocia, Turkey and ancient cave paintings can attest how long we have gone underground to hide or find spirituality.

Machu Piccu



A 15th-century mountain Inca settlement in the Amazon region of Peru. The site sits on a mountain 7,970-feet-high. It has great architecture, equaling in grandeur to that which can be found in Mesopotamia, but at an altitude that limits oxygen and access to supplies.

Chichén Itzá

A Mayan temple city. The city was a religious and political center for the Mayan civilization. The Mayan’s were the largest civilization in the world during their time of power, which lasted from A.D. 750 to 1200.

The Taj Mahal



The domed mausoleum is regarded as the finest example of Mughal art and architecture. Construction began in 1632 and ended in 1647.

The variety of areas represented in the “new” Wonders of the World is impressive. South America, an area that had previously gone unrepresented, is home to 3 of the 7 wonders. This is a cheering feet, since the ancient civilizations from this area have often been underrepresented, which can be seen in the “old” wonders of the world which are located entirely in the Mediterranean area.