## Step 2a - Reading

Reading
You are going to read a text about the Seven Wonders of the Ancient world.
Do you know what they were? Are there modern day equivalents?
Look at the following list. Which were the Seven Wonders of the World?

Reading
Now you know what are the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
You are going to read a text about the Seven Wonders of the Ancient world.

First read the questions.
Then read the text and answer the questions.

Which was the oldest? Which was rebuilt three times? Which might not have ever existed? Which wonder gave its name to a modern day term meaning a tomb above ground? Which wonder was a ruin for many years until its stones were used for another building? | Which wonder was decorated with gold, ivory ebony and precious stones? Which is still standing today? Which did one Greek Poet compare to Olympus? Which was built to celebrate a war victory? Which were not destroyed by earthquakes?

Now read the text and do the exercise.

#### The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World were a collection of remarkable constructions listed by various Greek authors, including Antipater of Sidon and Philo of Byzantium. The classic list featured seven wonders located in the Eastern Mediterranean. 1. Great Pyramid of Giza Built between 2584 BC and 2561 BC, the Great Pyramid of Giza is the only surviving ancient wonder. It is 230.4 metres wide at its base and 146.5 metres tall, and is the largest of three that sit beside the city of Giza, around 12 miles from Cairo. It was the tallest man-made structure for more than 3,800 years, until the completion of Lincoln Cathedral around the year 1300. 2. Temple of Artemis at Ephesus The Temple of Artemis was reckoned by Antipater of Sidon, the Greek poet, to be the finest of the ancient wonders. He wrote: "When I saw the house of Artemis that mounted to the clouds, those other marvels lost their brilliancy, and I said, 'Lo, apart from Olympus, the Sun never looked on aught so grand'." After being destroyed twice, by floods and arson, the third - and greatest - incarnation began in 323BC. It survived until 268AD, when it was damaged or destroyed during a Goth raid. The site of the temple was rediscovered in 1869, and fragments of it can be found in the British Museum. Ephesus was given World Heritage Site status in 2014. 3. Hanging Gardens of Babylon This is the only ancient wonder whose exact location has not been established. While some believe they were purely mythical, other sources suggest they were built by King Nebuchadnezzer II around 600BC. The site may have comprised an ascending series of tiered gardens which resembled a large green mountain rising from the centre of ancient Babylon, near present-day Hillah in Iraq. If the gardens did exist at all, they were destroyed soon after the first century AD. 4. Lighthouse of Alexandria Built by the Ptolemaic Kingdom between 280BC and 247BC, the Lighthouse of Alexandria measured up to 137 metres in height, making it one of the tallest man-made structures in the world for centuries. It was damaged by three earthquakes between 956 and 1323, surviving as a ruin until 1480, when the last of its stones was used to build the Citadel of Qaitbay, which still stands on the site. 5. Statue of Zeus at Olympia This giant seated representation of the Greek god Zeus was built by the sculptor Phidias around 435BC in the Temple of Zeus at the sanctuary of Olympia. It consisted of a wooden framework covered with ivory plates and gold panels, while the throne was decorated with ebony, ivory, gold and precious stones. It was mentioned by the Roman historian Suetonius (apparently Caligula gave orders for it to be shipped to Rome so its head could be replaced with a sculpture of his own). The statue may have been destroyed when the Temple of Zeus was lost to fire in 425. Alternatively, it was taken to Constantinople (now Istanbul), where it burnt with the Palace of Lausus in 475. Phidias's workshop was rediscovered at Olympia in the 1950s. 6. Mausoleum at Halicarnassus Built between 353BC and 350BC, this tomb - for Mausolus, a Persian satrap (a provincial governor) - was 45 metres in height and covered in ornate reliefs by four different Greek sculptors. It stood at Halicarnassus, near modern-day Bodrum, Turkey, until it was destroyed by successive earthquakes between the 12th and 15th centuries. Since its construction, the word "mausoleum" has come to represent any above-ground tomb. 7. Colossus of Rhodes This statue to the Greek god of the sun, Helios, once stood at the entrance to the harbour at Rhodes, on the Greek island of the same name. It was built in 280BC to mark victory over the ruler of Cyprus, Antigonus I Monophthalmus, but survived for just 54 years, when it was destroyed by an earthquake. It was more than 30 metres tall and made of bronze and iron with a marble pedestal. By Oliver Smith, Digital Travel Editor