Scriptorium Daily
Many people are familiar with the phrase “The Seven Wonders of the World” but most could not name what they are. In no particular order, they are:
1) The Great Pyramid of Giza
2) The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
3) The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
4) The Lighthouse at Alexandria
5) The Colossus of Rhodes
6) The Statue of Zeus at Olympia
7) The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
There are several things to note about this list, however:
-It was originally created by the Greek historian Herodotus (5th century B.C.)
-As such, it only included the greatest wonders of the world up to that point in time (e.g. the Colosseum would have been ineligible)!
-The list was also limited to Herodotus’ world (i.e. the Mediterranean) so it really did not have a global scope (e.g. the Great Wall of China would have been ineligible)!
-In addition, it was meant to be a tourist guide for Greeks traveling abroad, so it deliberately left out anything in Greece (e.g. the Parthenon would have been ineligible)!
-And finally, only one of those seven still remains today: the Great Pyramid. All the others have ceased to exist or, as some have suspected, they were merely mythical. (Though, it must be said, one can still view bits of the ruins of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus at the British Museum in London. However, it is questionable whether the Hanging Gardens of Babylon ever really existed).
In light of all of the above, a Swiss corporation decided to take an internet poll and select the New Seven Wonders of the World. Any manmade object built before the year 2000 was eligible, and the initial list included hundreds of candidates. Public voting narrowed it down to a final 21, which included notables such as the Statue of Liberty, Angkor Wat, the Sydney Opera House, the Easter Island statues, the Kremlin, the Hagia Sophia, as well as the Great Pyramid of Giza. Judges made the decision in paring it down to the winning seven (which were announced, appropriately enough, on 7/7/07), and the results can be seen here at the official website.
The winners of the New Seven Wonders of the World were (again, in no particular order):
1) Colosseum (Italy)
2) Christ Redeemer statue (Brazil)
3) Petra (Jordan)
4) Chichen Itza (Mexico)
5) Great Wall of China
6) Taj Mahal (India)
7) Machu Picchu (Peru)
During Easter vacation this year, I went to Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula where I had the chance to visit the Mayan temples at Chichen Itza. What made this visit personally significant was that Chichen Itza was the only one of the New Seven Wonders that I hadn’t previously visited. Now I can say I’ve seen all seven!
Here’s my personal take, now that I can speak from experience:
-In my humble opinion, not all of the seven are worthy. Petra, Machu Picchu, and the Taj Mahal were probably the three greatest manmade objects I’ve ever seen. The Colosseum was just so-so, and the Christ Redeemer statue is totally not worthy.
-Why is the Christ Redeemer statue not worthy? Though it is certainly iconic (but hey, the Statue of Liberty is also iconic!), there is not much else that makes it great—it isn’t that big (the Statue of Liberty is definitely bigger), and I’ve seen more expertly carved sculptures. Only the setting makes it magnificent, on top of Corcovado Mountain in Rio de Janeiro.
-The Great Pyramid at Giza was left out! This made Egypt (understandably) upset, since the Great Pyramid was one of the original Seven Wonders of the World, and this ancient (4500-year-old) structure got dethroned by an opponent as unworthy as a 20th-century statue.
-All six inhabited continents should have been represented. Actually, let me qualify that: to me, Australia doesn’t count as a continent (It’s really just a big island! Continents should have more than one country). So I’m not too bothered that the Sydney Opera House didn’t make the cut. The one continent that is glaringly missing is Africa. How can Africa have no Wonder? I say, substitute the Great Pyramid for Christ Redeemer!
-In addition, there were a few more of the 21 finalists that I thought were unfairly cut: Angkor Wat (in Cambodia, the most amazing archaeological ruins in Asia), the Alhambra palace (far more impressive, though less famous, than the Colosseum—so it’s debatable whether it would have been a better representative of the European continent), and the Hagia Sophia (formerly the Eastern Orthodox Church’s headquarters, then converted into a mosque, and finally a museum). Ah well, you can only have Seven.
All said and done, though, I am glad they chose seven new Wonders of the World. The old list was completely unserviceable (except for historical curiosity), and though I would have tweaked the new list a little bit, mostly I agree with the seven winners. For the next seven days, I will be chronicling each Wonder in detail, based on my order of preference from worst to first. Stay tuned!
