Modern Wonders
Apparently, it's time to turn the page on the original Seven
Wonders of the World ...
Since only one of them is left standing, and since most people
can't remember what the rest of them are, anyway, this is a good
idea for someone who has too much time on their hands and the
ability to raise money.
In this instance, that would narrow the candidates down to one
Bernard Weber. He's a Swiss idealist who is behind the New 7
Wonders Foundation, which he founded in 2000.
Weber's motivation is simply to call attention to the marvels
made possible when mankind applies positive energy. In fact,
should his foundation actually generate profits, he intends to
use at least a portion of them to rebuild lost marvels.
Specifically, he cites the Bamiyan Buddha statue, a cultural
masterpiece which dated to the Fifth Century AD and was
senselessly destroyed as a blasphemous icon by the Taliban when
their stilted act tyrannized Afghanistan.
The original Seven Wonders were so anointed by an ancient geek,
Philon of Byzantium, and an ancient Greek, Antipater of Sidon.
Those were the days before travel agents and tour guides, so
perhaps each felt a need to fill the void. Whatever their
inspiration, they were not the first to get the idea.
The concept of such a list was first mentioned by Herodotus in
his seminal 'The History' in the Fifth Century BC. Later, around
the Third Century BC, Callimachus of Cyrene, the top logster at
the legendary Museum of Alexandria in ancient Egypt, wrote "A
Collection of Wonders around the World." These lists varied in
content, but Philon's prevailed, due in part to its mention in
engravings by the Dutch artist Maerten van Heemskerck
(1498-1574) and Johann Fischer von Erlach's 'History of
Architecture.'
Here are Philon's seven wonders:
1. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, although some historians
believe they were an ancient urban legend and never really
existed;
2. The Statue of Zeus, which honored the first Olympic games,
was later moved to Constantinople and ultimately destroyed by
fire;
3. The Temple of Diana at Ephesus, the largest known building in
ancient times which took a century to build and was subsequently
senselessly destroyed as a blasphemous icon by Christians when
their intolerance tyrannized southern Turkey;
4. The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, which stood for 1500 years
until the Maltese Knights of St John used its stones to build
their own mega-castle nearby;
5. The Colossus of Rhodes, which towered 120 feet high at the
city's harbor entrance until it was destroyed in an earthquake,
and which later served as the inspiration for French sculptor
Auguste Bartholdi when he created the Statue of Liberty as a
gift to the USA;
6. The Lighthouse of Alexandria in Egypt, whose beacon had a
range of 100 miles and which stood for 1500 years before falling
victim to an earthquake in the 1300s; and
7. The Pyramids of Egypt, the lone wonder still standing.
Once Weber confirmed there was no official Seven Wonders of the
World being sanctioned by any recognized bodies, he established
a website, gathered an impressive list of professionals ---
architects, engineers and the like --- and began the process of
nominating structures worldwide as potential Wonders. During the
subsequent years, visitors to his site answered his call to vote
and the nominees were pared to 77.
Recently, these were winnowed to 21 --- another multiple of
seven, if you hadn't noticed --- with the voting set to continue
throughout 2006. The new Seven Wonders will then be announced on
New Year's Day, 2007.
I've gone to Weber's site, perused the finalists and did my
cyber-duty by voting. All are truly worthy choices, but I didn't
find it difficult at all to quickly make my decisions:
- The Great Wall of China, where the term 'breathtaking' is an
understatement;
- The Easter Island Statues, also known as Stone Clones Gone
Wild;
- Petra in Jordan, for its mixture of intricacy and magnitude in
its status as the world's most spectacular city carved out of
sandstone;
- Stonehenge, a Druidic version of the ultimate perpetual
calendar with a timeless design;
- Neuschwanstein Castle in F