The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1892-10-07
THE SEVEN WONDERS.

III IdulluR
the seven great wonders of olden times.
At present the pyramids, the temple of
Diana, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Maui
soleum, the statue of Jupiter Olympus,
the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, and
the Pharor, or the watch tower of Alex
andria, are usually reckoned as the orig
inal seven wonders. With the single ex-
ception of the pyramids, all of the above
have disappeared. One, two, three
thousand years ago, according to tradi-
ton and authentic history. some of them
were wonders indeed
The first of the wonders, the great pyr-
amid of Cheops, is situated seven miles
from the banks of the Nile, and twelve
miles from Cairo. 1t was built in the
childhood OF the human race, long before
history began. Yet it stands to-day
monument to the memory of a wonder
full people. The great pyramid of CheOps
is believed to have been built by the
monarch whose name it bears, about 81
600 years B. c. Its height is $50 feet 8
inches, and it's base 764 feet square.
Many of the monster blocks of granite
used in constructing it weigh thousands
of tons. Tradition tells us that 100000
men were employed for 80 years in con-
STRUGGLING it.
The Colossus of Rhodes, the second in
the list of ancient wonders was great
brazen statue of Apollo, which stretched
its huge legs across the harbOr of Rhodes,
and was so large that ships in full sail
passed between. 1t was 105 feet high,
and of most exact proportions. The cree
ton of the Colossus was begun 3,700
years B. g., but was not finished for near
ly 200 years. 1t was of brass, cast in
sections, and was Overthrown by an
earthquake in the year 224 b. c. 1t
weighed 729, 300 pounds.
Fourth IN order of prominence was the
Mausoleum tomb of Mausolus, the
first king of Cairo. According to Pliny,
it had total height of 40 feet. 1t was
erected by Artemisia, the widow of Maui
solus, 1853 years b. G. 1t consisted of a
basement 81 feet high, on which stood an
Ionic colonnade 20 feet high, surmounted
by pyramid rising in steps to a similar
height, and on the apex colossal group
of Mausolus and wife in chariot drawn
by four horses of heroic size. The Maui
sic UNI endured until about the year 1404
A. D., when it was partially destroyed
by an earthquake, and finally torn down
by the Knights of st. John.
The fifth wonder, the Olympian Zeus,
was statue of Jupiter Olympus. said to
have been go feet high, and chiefly COM
posed of ivory and gold. 1t is usually
located at Ellis, but nothing certain is
known of its location or of its reputed
builder, Phidias.
The temple of Diana is another of the
seven wonders of the world which has
entirely disappeared. 1t was magnifi-
cent structure, situated upon the Evan
tine at Ephesus, and was built at the
common cost of all Asiatic countries.
The lofty dOmed roof was supported by
127 monster columnssof Parian marble,
the tribute to Diana of 1877 kings. The
facade of the temple occupied 200 feet
upon the Byzantine, and the walls stretch
ed back 425 feet, glittering with gems
and precious stones.
If possible, tradition aud history have
told us less about the sixth wonder of
the world-the Hanging Gardens of Bah
ylOn-than they have OF the fifth. Hero
dotus does not mention them, PlinY only
casually alludes to their existence, and
the scriptural account of the reign of
Nebuchadnezzar ignores the subject al
together. Popular accounts of the Hang
ing Gardens say that they were huge
baskets of brass and iron, 400 feetsquare,
swung on mammoth stone arches, which
were erected near the royal palace at
Babylon.
The seventh wonder was a combined
lighthouse and watch tower, situated on
the eastern end of the Island of Pharos,
at Alexandria, in Egypt. It's construc-
ton was begun by Ptolomy Sotor about
the year 1922 B. g. 1t was 400 feet high,
and cost sum equal to S1,240,OOO of
United States currency.