Lost Worlds: The Seven Wonders - Full Episode (S2, E1) | History

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Narrator: 2,000 YEARS AGO, ANCIENT WRITERS DREW UP A LIST OF THE FINEST, MOST MAGNIFICENT STRUCTURES IN EXISTENCE. THEY BECAME KNOWN AS THE 7 WONDERS OF THE WORLD. IN EGYPT, THERE WAS THE GREAT PYRAMID AT GIZA AND ALEXANDRIA'S LIGHTHOUSE-- THE PHAROS. ON MAINLAND GREECE, THERE WAS THE IVORY STATUE OF ZEUS AT OLYMPIA. AND, IN DEFIANCE OF NATURE, THE MIGHTY CITY OF BABYLON HOUSED THE HANGING GARDENS. THE SHRINE OF ARTEMIS AT EPHESUS IN TURKEY WAS THE MOST VISITED TEMPLE IN THE WORLD. THE TOMB OF KING MAUSOLUS, THE MAUSOLEUM, WAS ADORNED WITH HUNDREDS OF LIFE-SIZE FIGURES. AND, TOWERING ABOVE THE ISLAND STATE OF RHODES, THE COLOSSUS WAS THE LARGEST BRONZE STATUE EVER CREATED. ALL BUT ONE OF THEM ARE GONE-- RUINED, RANSACKED, OR SIMPLY VANISHED FROM THE FACE OF THE EARTH. THE TRUTH ABOUT THEM HAS BEEN LOST-- HIDDEN BENEATH 20 CENTURIES OF MYTHMAKING. NOW, OUR INVESTIGATORS ARE RETURNING TO THE SITES WHERE THESE MARVELS ONCE STOOD. THEIR MISSION IS TO FIND OUT WHAT THE 7 WONDERS REALLY LOOKED LIKE AND REBUILD THEM. OH, WOW! IT'S ABSOLUTELY MIND-BOGGLING. THIS IS AMAZING-- WE ACTUALLY HAVE A PIECE OF ONE OF THE 7 WONDERS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD. IN LAND TORN APART BY EARTHQUAKES, BURIED BENEATH THE SEA, OR HIDDEN BY THE BUILDINGS OF THE MODERN WORLD, THEY'LL HUNT FOR CLUES TO PIECE THESE STRUCTURES BACK TOGETHER. THEY'LL FIND EVIDENCE OF ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY-- OF AMBITION AND ACHIEVEMENT ON AN INCREDIBLE SCALE. THIS IS THE LOST WORLD OF THE 7 ANCIENT WONDERS. SCHOLARS HAVE LONG ARGUED OVER WHAT THE 7 WONDERS OF THE WORLD REALLY LOOKED LIKE. THE GREAT PYRAMID STILL STANDS, MUCH AS IT DID 3 AND A HALF THOUSAND YEARS AGO. BUT THE STORIES ARE SO FANTASTIC AND THE EVIDENCE SO SCARCE, THAT ACADEMICS HAVE EVEN QUESTIONED WHETHER SOME OF THE OTHERS EXISTED AT ALL. OUR INVESTIGATORS HAVE THE TASK OF SEPARATING MYTH FROM REALITY. MARK TALESNICK IS A GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEER FROM THE ISRAEL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY. I HAD NO IDEA THAT WE WERE GOING TO SEE SO MUCH PHYSICAL EVIDENCE LEFT OVER. DR. PETER BRAND IS A HISTORIAN AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS. HIS AREA OF EXPERTISE IS ANCIENT EGYPT. WHAT'S INTERESTING TO ME IS TRYING TO GET TO THE BOTTOM OF THE FACTS ABOUT THESE MARVELOUS STRUCTURES. THERE MUST HAVE BEEN REAL WONDERS. THESE WEREN'T JUST INVENTED OUT OF PEOPLE'S IMAGINATIONS. TESSA DUNLOP IS A CLASSICIST TRAINED AT OXFORD UNIVERSITY. SHE BEGINS THE INVESTIGATION IN LONDON WITH THE VEREA OF SELECTING 7 WONDERS. WHERE DID THE LIST COME FROM? WHAT I FIND FASCINATING ABOUT THE 7 WONDERS IS THAT THEY DIDN'T JUST COME FROM NOWHERE. CONSIDERABLE THOUGHT WAS GIVEN TO WHAT WENT ON THE LIST. AND I WANT TO FIND OUT WHO IT WAS THAT DECIDED WHAT WENT ON THE LIST AND WHY THOSE 7 IN PARTICULAR. AT THE BRITISH MUSEUM-- THE WORLD'S LARGEST COLLECTION OF ARTIFACTS FROM THE CLASSICAL AGE-- TESSA IS JOINED BY HISTORIAN DR. LLOYD LLEWELLYN-JONES. LLOYD TRACES THE ORIGINS OF THE LIST TO ANCIENT GREECE. SO, WHAT EXACTLY MAKES A WONDER? WHAT'S THE DEFINITION? THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION BECAUSE THE GREEKS THEMSELVES, YOU KNOW, WOULDN'T REALLY HAVE USED THE WORD "WONDER." WHEN THESE LISTS WERE ORIGINALLY PUT TOGETHER, THE GREEKS USED THE WORD "THEATAM," WHICH MEANS SORT OF TO SEE--A SIGHT, A SIGHT WORTH VISITING, THAT KIND OF THING. WHEN THE LIST PROGRESSED IN LATER CENTURIES, SO THEY CHANGED THAT WORD TO "THAUMA," WHICH MEANS A WONDER. BUT THIS WAS MORE THAN A LIST OF TOURIST ATTRACTIONS. IT WAS DRAWN UP AT A TIME WHEN GREEK CULTURE DOMINATED THE ANCIENT WORLD. ALEXANDER THE GREAT HAD LED THE MOST FEARSOME MILITARY FORCE IN HISTORY TO CONQUER LANDS FROM INDIA TO EGYPT. THE GREEKS BELIEVED THAT THEY WERE SPEARHEADING A NEW ERA OF ACHIEVEMENT, WHERE MANKIND REACHED NEW HEIGHTS. THEY SET ABOUT CATALOGUING THE GREATEST MONUMENTS THAT STOOD WITHIN THEIR BOUNDARIES. SO WITH ALL THESE INCREDIBLE MAN-MADE WONDERS-- WHY 7, AND WHY IN PARTICULAR THESE 7? WE KNOW THAT BABYLONIAN MATHEMATICIANS AND ASTROLOGERS WERE VERY KEEN ON THE NUMBER 7, SO, IN A WAY, 7 IS THE ULTIMATE NUMBER. SO I SUPPOSE IT ENCOMPASSES EVERYTHING, THE CONCEPT OF COMPLETENESS. ALTHOUGH ANCIENT AUTHORS SUCH AS HERODOTUS WROTE ABOUT THE SITES THEY CONSIDERED IMPORTANT, THE FIRST LISTING OF 7 DEFINITIVE LANDMARKS WASN'T UNTIL THE 2ND CENTURY B.C. AND THIS LIST, BY ANTIPATER OF SIDON, THROWS UP A SURPRISE. HERE HE TALKS ABOUT THE FACT THAT HE HAS SET HIS EYES ON THE LOFTY WALLS OF BABYLON-- WHICH IS WIDE ENOUGH FOR CHARIOTS-- A STATUE OF ZEUS-- THEN HE TALKS ABOUT THE COLOSSUS OF THE SUN AND THE HANGING GARDENS. HE TALKS ABOUT THE HUGE LABOR OF THE PYRAMIDS AND THEN THE VAST TOMB OF MAUSOLUS. BUT HE SAYS THAT THE GREATEST OF ALL OF THESE IS THE HOUSE OF ARTEMIS. THIS ISN'T THE SAME LIST AS THE ONE WE KNOW TODAY. THE PHAROS-- THE LIGHTHOUSE AT ALEXANDRIA-- ISN'T MENTIONED. THE EARLIEST REFERENCE TO IT COMES FROM THE SIXTH CENTURY A.D. AND THE AGREED LIST OF "ANCIENT WONDERS" THAT WE HAVE IS PERHAPS LESS THAN 500 YEARS OLD. THE CANON THAT WE KNOW TODAY REALLY COMES DOWN TO US BECAUSE OF THE INFLUENCES THAT WE HAD IN THE RENAISSANCE PERIOD, FROM THE RENAISSANCE ON INTO THE ENLIGHTENMENT WHEN ARTISTS, PARTICULARLY GERMAN AND DUTCH ARTISTS, WERE RECREATING VISUAL REPRESENTATIONS OF WHAT THEY THOUGHT THE 7 WONDERS OF THE WORLD LOOKED LIKE. AND THIS IS THE CANON THAT WE ACCEPT TODAY. IMAGES LIKE THESE ENGRAVINGS BY MARTEN VAN HEEMSKERK REKINDLED A FASCINATION WITH THE 7 WONDERS-- THEY KEPT THE IDEA ALIVE IN PEOPLE'S IMAGINATIONS. BUT BY THE TIME THEY WERE MADE, SOME OF THE ACTUAL STRUCTURES HAD BEEN LOST FOR A THOUSAND YEARS. AND OUR INVESTIGATORS NEED ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE THAT RELATES DIRECTLY TO THE BUILDINGS THEMSELVES. NOW, THE HUNT FOR PHYSICAL CLUES WILL BEGIN IN ALEXANDRIA, WITH PETER BRAND. EVERYTHING WE KNOW PHYSICALLY ABOUT THE PHAROS WARRANTS ITS POSITION AS A WONDER OF THE WORLD. ON A FORGOTTEN ISLAND OFF THE EGYPTIAN COAST, IN THE DESIGN OF A 2,000-YEAR-OLD TOWER, AND IN STONEWORK THAT HAS LAIN BENEATH THE WAVES FOR 6 CENTURIES, PETER WILL START TO BUILD A PICTURE OF THE PHAROS-- THE LIGHTHOUSE THAT GUIDED SHIPS TO ANTIQUITY'S GREATEST CITY, AND ONE OF THE MOST ELUSIVE OF THE 7 ANCIENT WONDERS. OUR INVESTIGATORS ARE ON A MISSION TO REBUILD THE 7 WONDERS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD AS THEY APPEARED WHEN THEY WERE FIRST CONSTRUCTED. THOUGH THE LIST HAS ITS ORIGINS IN WRITINGS FROM THE THIRD CENTURY B.C., IT OWES MUCH OF ITS FAME TO A SERIES OF FANTASTICAL ENGRAVINGS, MADE HUNDREDS OF YEARS LATER. NOW, HISTORIAN PETER BRAND WANTS TO STRIP AWAY THE MYTH AND BUILD A TRUE PICTURE OF HISTORY'S MOST FAMOUS LIGHTHOUSE. IT WAS SAID TO BE CONSTRUCTED OF 3 TIERS, AND OVER 300 FEET TALL. IT WAS THE PHAROS. PETER'S COME TO ALEXANDRIA, 140 MILES NORTH OF CAIRO. IT HAS BEEN EGYPT'S BUSIEST PORT FOR MORE THAN 2,000 YEARS, EVER SINCE ALEXANDER THE GREAT CAME HERE. HE FOUNDED THE CITY THAT WOULD BEAR HIS NAME IN 331 B.C. Brand: I'M HERE IN A BUSY MARKETPLACE IWHICH IS APPROPRIATE, SINCE ANCIENT ALEXANDRIA WAS THE COMMERCIAL CENTER OF THE MEDITERRANEAN WORLD. THE CITY BECAME ONE OF THE GREATEST IN ANTIQUITY, AND AN OUTPOST OF GREEK CULTURE IN THE HEART OF EGYPT. IT WAS A MAGNET FOR INTELLECTUALS AS WELL AS TRADERS-- THE LIBRARY THAT ATTRACTED THEM, LIKE MOST OF ALEXANDER'S CITY, IS LONG GONE, AND LITTLE IS LEFT OF THE PHAROS BUT LEGENDS. MARTIN VAN HEEMSKERK'S ENGRAVING DEPICTS AN ALMOST MAGICAL BUILDING-- A STRUCTURE WRAPPED IN A SPIRAL RAMP, REACHING UP TO THE CLOUDS. WE HAVE MANY TALL TALES ABOUT THE LIGHTHOUSE. SUPPOSEDLY, IT COULD BE SEEN FROM 300 MILES AWAY. BUT WHAT I WANT TO DISCOVER IS WHAT DID THE LIGHTHOUSE ACTUALLY LOOK LIKE? BUT THERE ARE MORE CREDIBLE ACCOUNTS. THE GREEK HISTORIAN STRABO WROTE, "A ROCK HAS UPON IT A TOWER THAT IS ADMIRABLY CONSTRUCTED "OF WHITE MARBLE WITH MANY STORIES..." REPRESENTATIONS OF THE PHAROS AS A SIMPLE TOWER OCCUR ON ANCIENT COINS FOUND IN THE CITY-- AND NOW PETER IS TRAVELING 50 MILES ALONG THE COAST FROM ALEXANDRIA TO EXAMINE A STRUCTURE THAT APPEARS TO MATCH BOTH THE COINS AND THE ANCIENT DESCRIPTIONS. THIS MONUMENT WAS BUILT TO HONOR AN EGYPTIAN DIGNITARY AT A TIME WHEN THE PHAROS WAS SAID TO BE STILL STANDING. THE LIKENESS TO THE COINS IS UNCANNY. Brand: IT MATCHES IN A VERY REASONABLE AND BELIEVABLE WAY THE DESCRIPTIONS THAT WE HAVE. YOU HAVE A SQUARE BASE, A MIDDLE SECTION WHICH IS SLIGHTLY SMALLER THAT IS OCTAGONAL IN SHAPE, AND FINALLY, SMALLER STILL, A ROUND CYLINDRICAL TOWER AT THE TOP. ITS HIGHLY UNUSUAL SHAPE, AND THE FACT THAT IT MATCHES THE ANCIENT DESCRIPTIONS AND IMAGES, POINT TO THE CONCLUSION THAT THIS BUILDING IS ITSELF A MINIATURE VERSION OF THE PHAROS. IT MAKES PERFECT SENSE FOR SOMEBODY, SOME AMBITIOUS INDIVIDUAL AT SOME POINT, DECIDING THEY WERE GOING TO MAKE THEIR OWN MINI LIGHTHOUSE, THIS WONDROUS LOCAL LANDMARK. ALEXANDRIA WAS GROWING RAPIDLY AS A PORT WHEN THE PHAROS WAS FIRST CONCEIVED. STRABO WROTE THAT IT WAS BUILT TO GUIDE MARINERS TO THE SAFETY OF THE CITY'S HARBORS, AVOIDING TREACHEROUS ROCKS. BUT FROM THE SEA, LOOKING BACK AT ALEXANDRIA'S COASTLINE, PETER SEES THAT IT MAY HAVE SERVED ANOTHER PURPOSE. LOOKING AT THE COAST OF MODERN ALEXANDRIA HERE, YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND THAT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN VERY DIFFERENT IN ANTIQUITY. YOU WOULD'VE BEEN PRESENTED WITH A FLAT, FEATURELESS PLAIN. EVEN THE GREAT METROPOLIS OF ANCIENT ALEXANDRIA HAD NONE OF THESE TALL BUILDINGS. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN EASY TO SAIL RIGHT PAST THE CITY AND NOT EVEN KNOW THAT YOU WERE NEAR IT. PERHAPS THE PHAROS WAS INTENDED NOT MERELY TO WARN, BUT WELCOME-- A NAVIGATION POINT TO TELL SHIPS THEY HAD REACHED THEIR DESTINATION. BUT WHAT WAS ITS EXACT LOCATION? STRABO SAYS ITS NAME COMES FROM WHERE IT STOOD-- ON THE ISLAND OF PHAROS. THE PROBLEM IS THAT NO SUCH ISLAND EXISTS TODAY. PETER MEETS UP WITH ARCHAEOLOGIST COLIN CLEMENTS, WHO HAS SPENT THE PAST DECADE HUNTING FOR THE PHAROS' RUINS. HE EXPLAINS THAT THE COASTLINE HERE HAS CHANGED DRAMATICALLY OVER THE CENTURIES. THERE WAS NO LAND HERE. IF YOU TAKE A LINE FROM PERHAPS THOSE 2 MINARETS AND THEN JUST SWEEP AWAY ALL THE CONSTRUCTION DOWN TO PERHAPS THAT BLACK-- MODERN, SQUARE, BLACK TOWER THERE, THERE WAS NO LAND. ALL THERE WAS, WAS A CAUSEWAY WHICH LINKED THE CONTINENT TO THE ISLAND OF PHAROS. IN THE THIRD AND FOURTH CENTURIES B.C., A FEW HUNDRED YARDS OF WATER SEPARATED THIS SMALL LAND MASS FROM THE MAINLAND. IT WAS REACHED BY A CAUSEWAY, A MAN-MADE STONE PATH, WHICH SPLIT THE CITY'S NATURAL HARBOR IN 2. OVER HUNDREDS OF YEARS, A NATURAL BUILD-UP OF SILT PUSHED THE COASTLINE BACK. BUILDINGS NOW COVER THIS NEW LAND. IT'S MADE PINNING DOWN THE EXACT LOCATION OF THE LIGHTHOUSE EXTREMELY DIFFICULT. TO NARROW HIS SEARCH, COLIN BEGAN WITH A LOCAL LEGEND THAT SAYS THAT THIS FORTRESS WAS BUILT ON THE PHAROS' RUINS. HIS TEAM STARTED DIVING HERE-- AND THEY STRUCK GOLD. THE RESEARCH THAT WE'VE BEEN DOING HAS BEEN SHOWING, WHERE WE'VE BEEN DIVING, THE CONCENTRATION OF ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS, ANCIENT ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS, THAT WE'VE BEEN LOOKING AT IS IN THE WATER JUST OFF HERE. OVER AN AREA OF ABOUT 1.3 HECTARES, WE'VE, TO DATE, REGISTERED SOME 3,000 ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS. THERE ARE MORE THERE. REMAINS LIE SCATTERED ACROSS 3 ACRESSEABED. SOME ARE SO LARGE, THEY COULD ONLY HAVE COME FROM AN IMMENSE STRUCTURE. COLIN BELIEVES THEY BELONG TO THE PHAROS. WE HAVE FOUND CERTAIN BLOCKS OF SUCH SIZE THAT THEY HAVE TO COME FROM A MONUMENT OF HUGE SIZE. AND I'M TALKING BLOCKS OF GRANITE WHICH ARE 11 METERS LONG WHICH WEIGH 70 TONS. THE SIZE OF THESE BLOCKS CERTAINLY INDICATES THAT THEY COME FROM A MONUMENTAL STRUCTURE. THEIR LOCATION TALLIES WITH THE ANCIENT ACCOUNTS. AND THEIR ARCHITECTURAL STYLE INDICATES THAT THEY COME FROM THE TIME OF THE PHAROS. SEEING FOR HIMSELF SOME OF THE BLOCKS THAT HAVE BEEN RAISED FROM THE SEABED, PETER IS CONVINCED. Brand: THIS IS AMAZING. WE ACTUALLY HAVE A PIECE OF ONE OF THE 7 WONDERS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD, PART OF THE LIGHTHOUSE OF ALEXANDRIA. ABSOLUTELY-- THIS IS PART OF THE DOORWAY, THIS IS ONE OF THE UPRIGHTS, FROM THE DOOR JAMS OF WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN A MONUMENTAL ENTRANCE, FACING TO THE SEA-- AND WE HAVE OTHER ELEMENTS OF IT. WE HAVE THE OTHER JAM, STILL UNDERWATER, WE'VE GOT-- THE LINTEL IS IN FRAGMENTS UNDERWATER AS WELL,T. BUT IT FITS TOGETHER. SO HOW BIG EXACTLY WOULD THIS DOORWAY HAVE BEEN? WHEN IT WAS UPRIGHT, THE 2 JAMS WITH THE LINTEL, WE'RE CALCULATING THE DOOR WAS OVER 40 FEET HIGH, ABOUT 10 FOOT IN DEPTH AND ABOUT 15 FOOT WIDE, THE ACTUAL ENTRANCEWAY, SO IT WAS-- YOU KNOW, IT WAS A MONUMENTAL DOORWAY, YES. PULLING THE CLUES TOGETHER, WE CAN NOW START TO RECREATE THE PHAROS. THE SHEER SCALE OF THE REMAINS SUPPORT THE ANCIENT TEXTS THAT TELL US THAT THIS WAS A HUGE STRUCTURE, PERHAPS 300 FEET TALL. AND THE SCALED-DOWN REPLICA THAT PETER HAS SEEN IS CONVINCING EVIDENCE OF ITS OVERALL SHAPE-- 3-TIERED, WITH A SQUARE BASE, AN OCTAGONAL MIDDLE AND A CIRCULAR CROWN. BUT THE DOOR SECTIONS THAT HAVE BEEN RETRIEVED SPARK ANOTHER QUESTION-- FROM WHAT SUBSTANCE WAS IT ACTUALLY MADE? THE TEXTS SAY IT WAS GLITTERING WHITE MARBLE. THE THING IS, THIS IS BEAUTIFUL RED ASWAN GRANITE. AND IT WAS MY UNDERSTANDING FROM THE ANCIENT TEXT THAT THE LIGHTHOUSE WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE BEEN MADE OF WHITE STONE-- MAYBE MARBLE, MAYBE LIMESTONE. WELL, THERE IS A TEXT BY STRABO, WHO WAS HERE AT THE END OF THE FIRST CENTURY BEFORE CHRIST, AND HE WROTE OF THIS GRAND TOWER BEING OF WHITE STONE. NOW, THERE IS A LOCAL WHITE LIMESTONE WHICH COULD HAVE BEEN USED IN THE CONSTRUCTION. WE ARE NOT SURE. BUT THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO ARGUE AGAINST UPRIGHTS LIKE THIS BEING USED OF A MUCH HARDER, MUCH MORE DURABLE STONE. THESE ARE WEIGHT-BEARING ELEMENTS WITHIN THE ARCHITECTURE. AND EVEN TODAY IN THE FORTRESS, IF YOU LOOK AT THE DOOR OF THAT, WHILE THE FORTRESS IS BUILT OF THE LOCAL LIMESTONE, THE DOORWAY ITSELF, THE 2 UPRIGHTS, AND THE LINTEL ARE RED ASWAN GRANITE. IT SEEMS LOGICAL TO THINK THAT THE PHAROS' BUILDERS ALSO APPRECIATED THE DIFFERENT QUALITIES OF EACH STONE-- GRANITE FOR STRENGTH, MARBLE, OR EVEN WHITE LIMESTONE FOR SHOW. ONE FINAL MYSTERY REMAINS. OURD "LIGHTHOUSE" IMPLIES THAT THE PHAROS WAS TOPPED WITH SOME KIND OF BEACON. DID A FIRE REALLY BURN AT THE TOP OF THIS 300-FOOT TOWER? IT'S HARD TO IMAGINE, IF THERE WAS A FIRE, WHAT WOULD BE BEING BURNT. EGYPT IS A LAND ESSENTIALLY WITHOUT TREES. WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO BE BURNING? IT WOULD BE VERY EXPENSIVE TO KEEP IT GOING. BUT EXPERTS ARE DIVIDED. IT'S SAID THE PHAROS STOOD FOR 1600 YEARS. OVER THAT TIME, IT WAS ADAPTED AND IMPROVED. THOUGH NO HARD EVIDENCE HAS BEEN FOUND, IT'S QUITE POSSIBLE THAT IT DID ONCE BEAR A FLAME. EVEN IF THERE WAS NO LIGHT AT THE TOP, IT WOULD HAVE SHONE IN THE SUN AND THEREFORE WOULD HAVE BEEN A BEACON JUST BECAUSE OF THE MATERIAL THAT THE BUILDING WAS MADE OF. AND NOW WE CAN RECREATE THE PHAROS. AT ITS BASE STOOD AN IMPOSING DOORWAY AND MAJESTIC SCULPTURES, CARVED OF RED ASWAN GRANITE. CLAD IN WHITE LIMESTONE, IT STOOD AS TALL AS THE CAPITOL BUILDING IN WASHINGTON, D.C. THIS WAS NOT JUST AN ORDINARY LIGHTHOUSE, BUT A SIGHT THAT DREW THOUSANDS TO ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT CITIES IN THE WORLD. AT THE CITY OF EPHESUS, 500 MILES NORTHWEST ACROSS THE SEA, STOOD A BUILDING WHICH WOULD ATTRACT PEOPLE IN EVEN GREATER NUMBERS. IT WAS THE MOST VISITED SHRINE OF THE ANCIENT WORLD-- THE HOME OF ARTEMIS, GODDESS OF FERTILITY. SOME SAY IT WAS THE LARGEST TEMPLE EVER BUILT. THE 7 WONDERS WERE LEGENDARY EVEN WHILE THEY STOOD. BUT ONE OF THEM DREW CROWDS LIKE NO OTHER-- A MASSIVE TEMPLE, 140 BY 80 YARDS, CREATED TO HONOR A CULT GODDESS. IT STOOD IN THE ANCIENT TURKISH TOWN OF EPHESUS, ON A FAULT LINE. THIS IS A PLACE WHERE EARTHQUAKES ARE STILL COMMON. AND THE TEMPLE OF ARTEMIS HAS LAIN RUINED HERE FOR MORE THAN 16 CENTURIES. ARTEMIS-- WORSHIPPED BY THE ROMANS AS DIANA-- WAS THE MOST REVERED AND ADORED OF ALL FEMALE DEITIES. SHE WAS THE HUNTRESS, THE GODDESS OF THE MOON, OF CHASTITY AND CHILDBIRTH. SHE WAS THE BRINGER OF FERTILITY. THE SHRINE HERE WAS BUILT BY HER DEVOTEES. IT IS SAID TO HAVE BEEN THE LARGEST IN THE ANCIENT WORLD. AGAIN, THE MOST FAMOUS IMAGE OF THE TEMPLE MAKES NO CLAIM TO BE FACTUALLY ACCURATE. THE BEST-KNOWN IMAGE WE HAVE OF THE TEMPLE IS THIS HEEMSKERK DRAWING FROM THE RENAISSANCE PERIOD. AND HE WAS A MAN WHO VERY MUCH ALLOWED THE PRESENT TO INFLUENCE HIS INTERPRETATION OF THE PAST. SO WHAT WE'VE ACTUALLY GOT IS A PICTURE OF A SORT OF SQUAT-LOOKING ITALIAN CHURCH. NOW, I WANT TO KNOW IF THIS ACTUALLY REPRESENTS THE TEMPLE IN ANY WAY, OR IF, IN FACT, IT WAS INFINITELY MORE SUPERIOR. TESSA DUNLOP MEETS ARCHAEOLOGIST JULIAN BENNET. HE SPENT YEARS EXPLORING BOTH THE RUINS OF THE TEMPLE AND THE TOWN THAT GREW UP AROUND IT. WHAT RELATION DOES EPHESUS HAVE WITH THE TEMPLE OF ARTEMIS ITSELF? VERY CLOSELY CONNECTED. THE SHRINE OF ARTEMIS WAS PROBABLY ESTABLISHED A LONG, LONG TIME BEFORE THERE WAS ANY REAL SETTLEMENT HERE. BUT OVER TIME, THE SHRINE ATTRACTED PEOPLE, THE TEMPLE ATTRACTED PEOPLE, SO YOU GET THE SETTLEMENT DEVELOPING HERE AS WELL. FOR CENTURIES BEFORE THE TEMPLE WAS BUILT, A SIMPLE SHRINE STOOD ON THE SITE. PEOPLE CAME THROUGHOUT THE YEAR TO OFFER PRAYERS TO THE GODDESS. AS THE CULT OF ARTEMIS GREW, SO DID THE TOWN. PILGRIMS MEANT PROSPERITY. EPHESUS BECAME IMPORTANT BECAUSE OF ARTEMIS. THIS WAS A BOOMTOWN, THRIVING ON RELIGION. AND IN AROUND 550 B.C., THE KING CROESUS FINANCED CONSTRUCTION OF A NEW TEMPLE. IT WAS DESTINED TO BE ONE OF THE 7 ANCIENT WONDERS. TOURISTS STILL COME HERE. THEY STILL PAY FOR SOUVENIR STATUES OF THE GODDESS. BUT THEIR NUMBERS ARE NOTHING COMPARED TO THE CROWDS THAT ONCE FILLED THESE STREETS. AND THE STONES THAT ARE SCATTERED AROUND THE SITE ONLY HINT AT THE STRUCTURE THAT ONCE OCCUPIED THIS LAND. SO, THESE ROCKS, ARE THESE ALL FROM THE ORIGINAL TEMPLE, THAT WE'RE SEEING ALONG HERE? THEY ARE INDEED. AND THIS IS WHERE IT WOULD HAVE BEEN, YES? THIS IS PRECISELY WHERE THE TEMPLE OF ARTEMIS AT EPHESUS WAS. 'CAUSE ACTUALLY WHAT'S LEFT MEANS IT'S VERY HARD TO GET YOUR HEAD AROUND WHAT IT WOULD'VE LOOKED LIKE. HARD FOR ARCHAEOLOGISTS AS WELL. YOU REALLY HAVE TO USE YOUR IMAGINATION. THE WHOLE TEMPLE COMPLEX WOULD HAVE FILLED THIS ENTIRE AREA WE ARE LOOKING DOWN HERE NOW. IT'S ABSOLUTELY MIND-BOGGLING. THE ROMAN HISTORIAN PLINY GIVES THE BUILDING'S DIMENSIONS. HE SAYS IT CONSISTED OF A RAISED MARBLE PLAM, 140 YARDS BY 80. ON TOP OF IT, FLUTED COLUMNS THRUST 60 FEET IN THE AIR, AND HELD THE ROOF STRUCTURE IN PLACE. TESSA AND JULIAN PACE OUT THE SITE. THEY FIND IT'S A DESCRIPTION THAT MATCHES THE EVIDENCE ON THE GROUND. THE WHOLE TEMPLE WOULD HAVE STRETCHED RIGHT OVER TO THE FAR CORNER, SO LET'S GO AND GET SOME IDEA OF THE ACTUAL SIZE OF THIS. THE SCALE IS-- I MEAN, IT WAS ABSOLUTELY GIGANTIC, WASN'T IT? INDEED IT WAS, YES. THIS WAS THE FIRST TEMPLE TO BE CONSTRUCTED ENTIRELY OF MARBLE, AND EXPERTS HAVE ESTIMATED THE AMOUNT NEEDED-- AROUND 51,000 TONS. WHEN THE QUESTION AROSE OF WHERE ALL THIS STONE CAME FROM, THEY FOUND A CLUE IN LOCAL FOLKLORE. LEGEND HAS IT THAT A GOATHERD DISCOVERED MARBLE DEPOSITS WHEN ONE OF HIS GOATS KICKED AWAY A LOOSE PIECE OF ROCK. SEEING THE GLEAMING STONE BENEATH, HE RAN 8 MILES TO EPHESUS TO TELL WHAT HE'D FOUND. 2500 YEARS LATER, ARCHAEOLOGISTS SEARCHED ON A RADIUS 8 MILES FROM THE TEMPLE SITE, AND FOUND THE QUARRY AGAIN. SO IN OTHER WORDS, THE MARBLE FROM THIS QUARRY WAS USED TO BUILD THE TEMPLE. ABSOLUTELY. HOW CAN YOU BE SO SURE? WELL, THIS IS THE ONLY WHITE MARBLE QUARRY 8 MILES FROM EPHESUS. THE OTHER WAY IS THROUGH CHEMICAL ANALYSIS. WE CAN ACTUALLY ANALYZE MARBLE AND TELL WHERE IT COMES FROM. SO THE MARBLE MATCHES UP? THE MARBLE MATCHES UP WITHOUT TOO MUCH OF A PROBLEM. BUT SOMEHOW, JULIAN, I IMAGINED THAT THE QUARRY WOULD BE THIS GLEAMING, WHITE HOLE, AND YET WE'VE COME HERE AND, WELL, IT'S--IT'S VERY DRAB TO LOOK AT. IT'S NOT WHAT I IMAGINED MARBLE TO BE LIKE. WELL, THIS HAS BEEN EXPOSED NOW FOR OVER 2,000 YEARS, BUT IF YOU LOOK AROUND... THIS IS THE GREY MARBLE THAT'S ON THE TOP BUT WHAT WE REALLY WANT IS THIS STUFF HERE. THIS IS THE WHITE MARBLE, AND YOU CAN SEE IT'S REALLY QUITE SHINY AND GLITTERY. YES, SPARKLY, ISN'T IT? ORIGINALLY, ONCE POLISHED, THIS WOULD HAVE BEENALLY SUPERB. IMAGINE VAST PILLARS BUILT OF THAT. TRUE. ONCE THE STONES WERE ON SITE, THE BUILDING COULD BEGIN. BUT IF YOU LOOK IN THIS AREA HERE, THE FOUNDATIONS OF PART OF THE TEMPLE THAT WAS ONE OF THE 7 WONDERS-- SO I'M SITTING ON THOSE FOUNDATIONS. THIS IS IT-- MADE OF THIS NICE, WHITE MARBLE. FROM-- FROM WHAT I CAN SEE, THIS IS A CLEAN LINE. THERE'S ACTUALLY NO MORTAR THERE, IS THERE? ALL THIS IS DRY STONE BUILD. AND YET THIS WAS AN EARTHQUAKE ZONE-- THERE WAS THE CONSTANT THREAT THAT THE LAND WOULD BE ROCKED BY TREMORS. SO WHAT KEPT IT ALL TOGETHER? GRAVITY AND WEIGHT, FOR THE FOUNDATIONS, ESSENTIALLY. BUT FOR THE WALLS, THESE WERE HELD TOGETHER BY A SERIES OF CLAMPS, AND THE SAME WITH THE COLUMNS-- THESE WOULD HAVE HAD A CENTRAL CLAMP TO HOLD THE STRUCTURE TOGETHER. SO YOU ARE TELLING ME THAT A SIMPLE LITTLE WOODEN CLAMP KEPT A MASSIVE, GREAT TEMPLE TOGETHER? THIS IS WHAT WE HAVE HERE. THE CLAMP HOLE SHAPED LIKE A SWA'S TAIL ON BOTH SIDES. THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN A PIECE OF WOOD, OR POSSIBLY-- DEPENDING ON WHAT THE WORKMEN HERE USED-- A PIECE OF METAL, BUT IN THE EARLIEST TEMPLES, ALWAYS MADE OF WOOD. A SHRINE HAD STOOD ON THIS SITE FOR CENTURIES. IT WAS SACRED GROUND. THE TEMPLE COULD BE BUILT NOWHERE ELSE. BUT THE ARCHITECTS FACED A MASSIVE PROBLEM. THE LAND WAS A MARSH. SOMEHOW THEY NEEDED TO CREATE FOUNDATIONS STABLE ENOUGH TO SUPPORT SUCH A STRUCTURE. ACCORDING TO OUR SOURCES, WHEN IT WAS BUILT, THEY ESTABLISHED A PLATFORM OF CHARCOAL AND SHEEP'S FLEECES TO HELP STABILIZE THE SOIL. THIS SOLUTION-- A FOUNDATION BENEATH THE FOUNDATION-- SPREAD THE STRUCTURE'S WEIGHT AND STOPPED SINKING. IT ENABLED THE CONSTRUCTION OF AN EXTRAORDINARY BUILDING-- 127 COLUMNS, TOWERING UPWARDS. SUNLIGHT POURED THROUGH AN OPEN ROOF, SHINING ON THE TEMPLE'S CENTERPIECE-- A STATUE OF THE GODDESS, ARTEMIS. THIS ORIGINAL TEMPLE STOOD FOR MORE THAN 200 YEARS, BEFORE IT WAS DESTROYED BY FIRE IN 323 B.C. REBUILT, IT STOOD FOR ANOTHER 6 CENTURIES, UNTIL AN EARTHQUAKE DID FINALLY BRING IT DOWN. THE STONES WERE PLUNDERED FOR USE IN OTHER BUILDINGS. THE WALLS OF THIS 14TH-CENTURY MOSQUE HOLD PIECES OF THE TEMPLE OF ARTEMIS. A LOT OF THE TEMPLE WAS REMOVED AND REUSED IN OTHER BUILDINGS. YOU CAN RECOGNIZE THE TYPE OF MARBLE AND LIMESTONE HERE. THE WHIRLY BITS? THIS IS ANOTHER PIECE FROM THE-- PROBABLY FROM THE GREAT ALTAR, BUT CERTAINLY FROM THE TEMPLE OF ARTEMIS. YOU CAN RECOGNIZE THE MARBLE, VERY GOOD, CLEAN, WHITE MARBLE. THIS IS A MEANDER PATTERN AROUND HERE, BECAUSE OF THE WAY IT INTERLINKS, AND THE LOCAL RIVER WAS CALLED THE MEANDER. ANW CAN YOU BE SO SURE THIS ACTUALLY COMES FROM THE TEMPLE SITE? IN THIS PARTICULAR CASE, THE EARLY EXCAVATION-- THEY DID FIND MATERIAL LIKE THIS-- THEY KNOW IT'S FROM THE GREAT ALTAR. TO BEGIN WITH, I THOUGHT, "I'M GONNA STRUGGLE A BIT HERE," 'CAUSE THE SITE IS FAIRLY BARE, AND I WORRIED THAT I WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO ENVISAGE HOW THIS TEMPLE ONCE WAS. BUT, ACTUALLY, ONCE JULIAN DEMONSTRATED HOW IT WOULD HAVE STOOD, WHEN YOU SAW THE EVIDENCE AND THE SHINING MARBLE AND YOU SUDDENLY GOT AN IDEA OF WHAT INSPIRED THE LIKES OF PLINY JUST TO WAX LYRICAL AND GET REALLY, REALLY EXCITED. I SUPPOSE OUR MODERN-DAY EQUIVALENT, OUR REFERENCE POINT, WOULD BE THE PARTHENON IN-- IN MODERN GREECE. BUT, REALLY, THIS KICKS THE PARTHENON INTO THE SEA. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN BIGGER, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN BROADER, TALLER, MORE ELABORATE, MORE SHINY. AND, OF COURSE, THE CENTER POINT OF THE TEMPLE WAS ARTEMIS HERSELF. BY MODERN STANDARDS, THIS WAS A VAST BUILDING. TO A PILGRIM, 2 AND A HALF THOUSAND YEARS AGO, ITS SCALE, THE SHEER QUANTITY OF STONE INVOLVED, MUST HAVE DEFIED BELIEF. AND YET THERE WAS ANOTHER STRUCTURE, OLDER STILL BY 2,000 YEARS, WHICH WAS FAR BIGGER. ITS STONES EACH WEIGHED 2 AND A HALF TONS AND THERE WERE MORE THAN 2 MILLION OF THEM. ONE OF THE EARLIEST-KNOWN LISTS OF THE 7 WONDERS OF THE WORLD WAS DRAWN UP AROUND THE THIRD CENTURY B.C. BY THE GREEK HISTORIAN ANTIPATER OF SIDON. BY THE TIME IT WAS WRITTEN, ONE BUILDING ON THAT LIST WAS ALREADY A LEGEND AND ALREADY 2,000 YEARS OLD. THE GREAT PYRAMID OF GIZA LIES ON THE EDGE OF CAIRO, THE CAPITAL OF EGYPT. IT OCCUPIES A ROCKY PLAIN KNOWN AS THE GIZA PLATEAU. IT STANDS ALONGSIDE 2 OTHER PYRAMIDS. BUT THE GREAT PYRAMID IS THE BIGGEST OF THE 3, BUILT FOR THE PHARAOH KHUFU. ITS PURPOSE WAS TO GIVE HIM SAFE PASSAGE INTO THE NEXT WORLD. HISTORIAN PETER BRAND WANTS TO KNOW HOW IT WAS BUILT. I'M HERE ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF MODERN CAIRO TO VISIT THE ONE SURVIVING WONDER OF THE ANCIENT WORLD-- THE GREAT PYRAMID OF GIZA. MANY PEOPLE IMAGINE THERE ARE STILL MYSTERIES SURROUNDING THIS MARVELOUS STRUCTURE-- FOR INSTANCE, HOW WAS IT BUILT? BUT I THINK THE CLUES ARE THERE FOR US TO UNDERSTAND EXACTLY HOW THE ANCIENT BUILDERS ACHIEVED THIS WONDERFUL STRUCTURE. PETER ENLISTS THE HELP OF DENYS STOCKS, AN EGYPTOLOGIST WHO HAS FOCUSED HIS RESEARCH ON UNDERSTANDING THE TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES OF THE PYRAMID BUILDERS. NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES YOU COME HERE, YOU JUST NEVER GET SICK OF LOOKING AT IT. IT'S JUST INCREDIBLE. 480 FEET OF SOLID STONE. UNTIL THE COMPLETION OF THE EIFFEL TOWER IN 1889, THIS WAS THE TALLEST MAN-MADE STRUCTURE ON EARTH. ITS 20-YEAR CONSTRUCTION REQUIRED ALMOST 2 AND A HALF MILLION BLOCKS, EACH WEIGHING AROUND 2 AND A HALF TONS. OVER 20 YEARS, THAT MEANS THE POSITIONING OF A NEW BLOCK EVERY 2 MINUTES. THERE ARE 203 COURSES OF STONES. EACH SIDE OF THE PYRAMID MEASURES 755 FEET, ACCURATE TO WITHIN JUST A FEW INCHES, AND EACH CORNER IS ALIGNED WITH THE POINTS OF THE COMPASS. WHAT I WANT TO KNOW IS, HOW DID THEY FIND DUE NORTH? WELL, PETER, WITH THE HELP OF THESE 2 TOOLS HERE. THESE HAVE BEEN SEEN IN TOMB REPRESENTATIONS AND WE ALSO HAVE MODELS OF THEM, AND THESE ARE REPLICAS. THESE SIMPLE TOOLS ARE CALLED THE BEY AND THE MERKHET. THEY WERE USED TO MARK POINTS AT WHICH A STAR ROSE AND SET AROUND THE NORTH STAR. FROM THIS, AN ANGLE COULD BE MARKED, AND A LINE THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF THIS ANGLE GAVE DUE NORTH. SO WHAT WE'RE GOING TO END UP WITH IS A PERFECTLY STRAIGHT LINE THAT RUNS EXACTLY DUE NORTH-SOUTH SO WE'LL HAVE ONE SIDE OF OUR PYRAMID, BUT WHAT I WANT TO KNOW IS, HOW DO YOU TURN THAT STRAIGHT LINE INTO A SQUARE BASE TO BUILD YOUR PYRAMID ON? THE PROCESS OF PLOTTING A SQUARE STARTS WITH MARKING OUT THE NORTH-SOUTH LINE. RIGHT, WE'LL PUT THIS STONE DOWN HERE. OK, SO WE'VE ESTABLISHED THAT THIS IS PERFECTLY NORTH-SOUTH, AND THEN THE NEXT THING WE HAVE TO DO IS TAKE ANOTHER... YOU NEED ANOTHER LINE FOR THE EAST-WEST DIRECTION. YOU TAKE IT THAT WAY. I'LL PUT MY BLOCK HERE. RIGHT, PUT YOURS DOWN A MINUTE. THAT'S GOOD, YEAH. BUT HOW ARE WE GOING TO MAKE SURE THAT THIS IS EXACTLY AT RIGHT ANGLES, THAT THIS IS DUE EAST-WEST? WELL, BY THE USE OF THIS TOOL. IT'S A SIMPLE SET-SQUARE. THE EGYPTIANS DEFINITELY HAD THEM, BECAUSE WE HAVE MODELS OF THEM. AND WE CAN USE THE SET-SQUARE IN THIS WAY. WE CAN PLACE IT ALONG THE NORTH-SOUTH LINE, AND THEN WE CAN USE THE SECOND LINE TO ESTABLISH THE EAST-WEST DIRECTION. BY MOVING THE SECOND LINE UNTIL IT ALIGNS WITH THE SET SQUARE, A TRUE EAST-WEST BEARING CAN BE MARKED. THAT'S IT, A BIT MORE, A BIT MORE... BIT MORE...STOP. THE LENGTH OF THE SIDE IS ACCURATELY MEASURED. THEN THE PROCESS IS REPEATED AT THE NEXT CORNER. ONCE ALL 4 CORNERS ARE MARKED, THE PROCESS IS REPEATED TO ELIMINATE ERRORS. EVENTUALLY, A NEAR-PERFECT SQUARE CAN BE CONSTRUCTED. ALTHOUGH IT REQUIRED ENORMOUS SKILL, THIS WAS THE EASY STAGE OF CONSTRUCTION. THE NEXT PHASE WAS THE CUTTING, SHAPING, AND LIFTING OF NEARLY 6 MILLION TONS OF STONE. TRACES OF A QUARRY CAN BE FOUND IN THE SHADOW OF THE PYRAMID. ON THE WALLS, ANCIENT CHISEL MARKS SHOW WHERE THE STONE WAS CUT BY HAND. EACH PIECE OF HEWN ROCK HAD TO BE TURNED INTO A BUILDING BLOCK. THE ROCK IS SPLIT USING A HAMMER, A WEDGE, AND THE STONEMASON'S SKILL. HE USES HIS PICK TO MAKE A STARTING HOLE AT A CAREFULLY CHOSEN POINT AND BREAKS THE STONE IN 2 WITH NEXT, IT HAD TO BE SHAPED TO A LEVEL OF COMPLETE PRECISION. THE CREATION OF A STRUCTURE LIKE KHUFU'S PYRAMID DEMANDED THAT FACES OF EVERY BLOCK WERE PERFECTLY FLAT. DENYS HAS IDENTIFIED THE TECHNIQUE THE PYRAMID BUILDERS USED. WE'VE GOT 3 RODS HERE, AND THE 2 OUTER ONES ARE JOINED BY A TAUT STRING. THE THIRD ONE, WHICH IS THE SAME LENGTH AS THE OTHER 2, CAN BE USED NOW TO CHECK IF THE SURFACE ALL THE WAY ALONG UNDER THE STRING IS TRULY LEVEL. WELL, IT IS THERE. SO, SHALL WE MOVE IT JUST A LITTLE BIT FURTHER OVER THERE? AND LET'S CHECK THIS SIDE. OH, YES! VERY NICE. DESPITE ITS SIMPLICITY, IT'S A HUGELY ACCURATE TOOL. AND THERE WERE OTHER MEASURING DEVICES USED ONCE THE STONES WERE IN PLACE ON THE PYRAMID. IT WASN'T ENOUGH TO KNOW A SURFACE WAS FLAT. IT HAD TO BE AT A PERFECT RIGHT ANGLE TO EVERY OTHER SURFACE. PLACE THIS "F" FRAME AGAINST A VERTICAL EDGE. IF THE STRING HANGS AGAINST THE BOTTOM BAR, THE EDGE IS TRUE. AND THIS "A" FRAME, THE ANCIENT EGYPTIAN EQUIVALENT OF A SPIRIT LEVEL, TELLS YOU IF A STONE IS HORIZONTAL. LET'S LOOK AT OUR LEVEL AND SEE IF IT'S TRUE, AND IT LOOKS TO ME THAT IT IS. NOW, PRESUMABLY, IF THIS WAS OFF, WE WOULD GET SOMETHING LIKE THIS. THAT'S RIGHT, YOU WOULD SEE THE LINE CLEARLY VISIBLE AND YOU WOULD KNOW THAT IT WAS NOT TRULY HORIZONTAL. THE EXTERIOR OF THE PYRAMID WAS MADE OF SANDSTONE BLOCKS, BUT THE INTERNAL CHAMBERS WERE CONSTRUCTED FROM MUCH HARDER GRANITE. KHUFU'S TOMB IS EMPTY BUT FOR A GRANITE SARCOPHAGUS, CARVED OUT OF A SINGLE PIECE OF STONE. IT'S ENGINEERING ON A MUCH SMALLER SCALE, BUT IT'S BEEN A PUZZLE FOR ARCHAEOLOGISTS SINCE IT WAS FIRST DISCOVERED. SO, DENYS, WE'RE HERE IN THE BURIAL CHAMBER OF KHUFU, AND THIS IS A SOLID GRANITE SARCOPHAGUS, THE FIRST OF ITS KIND EVER MADE. HOW ON EARTH DID THEY DO THIS? WE FOUND A MARK IN THE SARCOPHAGUS WHICH WAS MADE BY A TUBULAR DRILL OF COPPER, AND THAT COPPER DRILL WAS USED WITH SAND TO GRIND ITS WAY DOWN. ALSO, THE MARK TELLS US BECAUSE OF ITS DIMENSIONS HOW BIG THE DRILL WAS. AND IT WAS 4.2 INCHES IN DIAMETER. USING A CIRCULAR COPPER DRILL BIT, THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS WERE ABLE TO HOLLOW OUT THE SARCOPHAGUS, PIECE BY PIECE, LAYER BY LAYER. THEN, IN POLISHING IT, THEY REMOVED ALMOST ALL OF THE EVIDENCE. WHAT AMAZES ME IS THEY DID SUCH A GOOD JOB THAT IF THEY HADN'T CLEANED UP WE'D HAVE NO IDEA HOW THEY DID IT.BIT, THAT'S ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. WITHOUT THAT MARK, WE JUST SIMPLY WOULDN'T KNOW HOW THE FIRST GRANITE SARCOPHAGUS IN THE WORLD WAS EVER MADE. THE PYRAMID'S BIGGEST MYSTERY HAS ALWAYS BEEN HOW THE BLOCKS WERE BROUGHT FROM THE QUARRY TO THE SITE. THEY COULDN'T BE ROLLED-- THE BLOCKS WOULD BE DAMAGED. EGYPTOLOGISTS HAVE DISCOVERED EVIDENCE TO SHOW HOW IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN DONE. THIS SLEDGE COULD CARRY A STONE WEIGHING OVER 2 TONS. ABOUT 6 STRONG MEN WOULD BE NEEDED TO PULL IT ON A LEVEL SURFACE. BUT AS THE PYRAMID GREW, SO THE STONES HAD TO BE TRANSPORTED HIGHER AND HIGHER. IT'S BELIEVED RAMPS WERE USED, BUT IF THEY WERE TOO STEEP, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN IMPOSSIBLE TO PULL THE SLEDGE. THE RAMPS COULDN'T BE MORE THAN 7 DEGREES SLOPE. THERE'S GOOD EVIDENCE FOR THIS, BECAUSE MY EXPERIMENTS HAVE SHOWN THAT IF IT IS MORE THANEGREES, THE SLEDGE WILL SLIP BACKWARDS ON ITS OWN. IF THE INCLINE COULD ONLY BE 7 DEGREES, AS THE PYRAMID GOT HIGHER, THE RAMP WOULD HAVE TO GET LONGER. EVENTUALLY, IT WOULD HAVE TO BE SO LONG THAT IT WOULD OVERSHOOT THE QUARRY. BUT THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE THEORY-- A GIRDLE RAMP, SO CALLED BECAUSE IT WRAPS ITSELF AROUND THE PYRAMID. MANEUVERING MASSIVE STONES AROUND THE 4 CORNERS WOULD HAVE BEEN DIFFICULT. BUT DENYS BELIEVES HE KNOWS HOW RAMPS WERE USED-- BY COMBINING BOTH A STRAIGHT AND A GIRDLE RAMP. I THINK THAT IT'S A SOLUTION OF THE RAMP BEING STRAIGHT PART OF THE WAY UP, BECAUSE ABOUT TWO-THIRDS OF THE WAY UP, A LOT OF BLOCKS HAVE TO BE HAULED UP. BUT AFTER THAT, AT THE TOP THIRD, THERE ARE VERY, VERY MUCH LOWER NUMBER OF BLOCKS TO BE HAULED UP. AND THAT MEANS THAT THEY MAY THEN HAVE HAD A WRAPPED-AROUND RAMP FOR THAT FINAL ONE-THIRD. THIS METHOD OF CONSTRUCTING THE PYRAMIDS HAS ONLY EVER BEEN A THEORY, UNTIL NOW. ARCHAEOLOGISTS HAVE RECENTLY UNEARTHED THE RAMP ON THE GIZA PLATEAU JUST YARDS FROM THE GREAT PYRAMID. SO THIS IS AMAZING THAT IT'S SURVIVED HERE. OH, IT IS. YES. AND, OF COURSE, THIS WALL RETAINS ALL THE RUBBLE AND EVERYTHING ELSE THAT'S PUT INTO THE RAMP. SO IT MUST HAVE BEEN MADE OF LOOSE RUBBLE AND THEN THEY BUILT THIS MUD BRICK WALL TO HOLD IN THE DEBRIS. YES. IT ENABLED THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE GREAT PYRAMID IN JUST 20 YEARS. AND WHEN IT WAS FINISHED, IT LOOKED VERY DIFFERENT FROM THE MONUMENT WE KNOW TODAY. IT WAS ENCASED IN SMOOTH LIMESTONE, LONG SINCE PLUNDERED AND USED IN BUILDINGS ACROSS CAIRO. WE GET A HINT OF HOW IT WOULD HAVE APPEARED FROM THE FEW REMAINING LIMESTONE BLOCKS AROUND THE PINNACLE OF THIS NEARBY, SMALLER PYRAMID. AND WE CAN NOW REVEAL THE GREAT PYRAMID AS IT STOOD, COMPLETE, SOME 4 AND A HALF THOUSAND YEARS AGO... 480 FEET HIGH, AND COVERING AN AREA OF MORE THAN 13 ACRES. WHAT MAKES THIS ONE OF THE TRUE WONDERS OF THE WORLD IS NOT HOW MYSTERIOUS OR EVEN ADVANCED THE TECHNOLOGY WAS THAT BUILT THIS, BUT HOW INGENIOUS IT WAS. SOME OF THE TOOLS WE SAW WERE THE MOST SIMPLE IMAGINABLE, AND YET THEY WERE ABLE TO PRODUCE SUCH AMAZING, PRECISE, ASTOUNDING RESULTS. HAD THE GREAT PYRAMID BEEN DESTROYED, IT MIGHT BE HARD TO BELIEVE THE 7 WONDERS EVER EXISTED, ESPECIALLY AS FOR ONE OF THEM, NO EVIDENCE HAS EVER BEEN FOUND-- A SUMPTUOUS GARDEN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DESERT. THE 7 WONDERS OF THE WORLD WERE DISPLAYS OF AMBITION AND ENGINEERING BRILLIANCE. ONE WOULD BE REMEMD AS AN ATTEMPT TO DEFY NATURE, A MAN-MADE OASIS IN THE DESERT-- THE HANGING GARDENS OF BABYLON. LESS IS KNOWN ABOUT THEM THAN ANY OF THE OTHER WONDERS. EXPERTS ARE EVEN DIVIDED AS TO WHETHER THEY REALLY EXISTED. OF ALL THE 7 WONDERS, I ACTUALLY THINK THAT THE HANGING GARDENS ARE THE TRICKIEST, BECAUSE THERE'S MUCH LESS TO GO ON. SO I WANT TO FIND OUT, WHAT ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE IS THERE? WHAT DOCUMENTS ARE THERE? AND ALSO, WHAT DO WE IN FACT MEAN BY THE WORD "HANGING"? AND IF THESE GARDENS WERE ELEVATED, THEN HOW ON EARTH WERE THEY ACTUALLY WATERED? BABYLON WAS SAID TO BE THE MOST SPECTACULAR CITY ON EARTH. TODAY, ITS RUINS CAN BE FOUND IN IRAQ'S BABIL PROVINCE, 50 MILES SOUTHWEST OF WAR-TORN BAGHDAD. FOR MANY YEARS, ARCHAEOLOGISTS HAVE SCOURED THE LAND HERE TO FIND PROOF THAT THE HANGING GARDENS WERE REAL. THEY HAVE MADE SOME AMAZING DISCOVERIES-- CITY WALLS, PALACES, AND TEMPLES. BUT NO SIGN OF A GRAND GARDEN. MUCH OF WHAT HAS BEEN FOUND WAS BUILT BY A BABYLONIAN KING MENTIONED IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. KING NEBUCHADNEZZAR II RULED AROUND 650 B.C. WE KNOW THIS BECAUSE HE KEPT DETAILED RECORDS OF WHAT HE BUILT, IN CUNEIFORM SCRIPT, ON TABLETS, CYLINDERS, EVEN BRICKS. BUT IS THERE ANY MENTION OF THE HANGING GARDENS? TESSA MEETS UP WITH BABYLONIAN EXPERT PROFESSOR IRVING FINKEL AT THE BRITISH MUSEUM. Finkel: NEBUCHADNEZZAR II REBUILT THE CITY FROM TOP TO BOTTOM, SO NO EXPENSE WAS SPARED. AND HE MADE SURE THERE WAS A VERY DETAILED RECORD, SO EVERYTHING WAS WRITTEN DOWN THAT HE ACCOMPLISHED-- BOASTFULLY AND IN DETAIL. AND NOWHERE IN ANY OF THESE LINES OF CUNEIFORM INSCRIPTION DOES IT SAY ANYTHIABOUT THE GARD SO WITH NO ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE FOR THE GARDENS, AND NO ACCOUNT OF THEM BY THE KING, WHY DOES THE IDEA PERSIST THAT THEY WERE REAL? THE ONLY SOLID INFORMATION WE HAVE TO GO ON IS FROM THE GREEK HISTORIANS. ANTIPATER, WRITING IN THE THIRD CENTURY B.C., MENTIONS THEM, AS DOES STRABO. I THINK THE TESTIMONY OF THE GREEKS HAS TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY. AFTER ALL, ALL THE OTHER WONDERS DID EXIST, WE KNOW THAT. SOME OF THEM STILL DO. SO SOMETHING MUST HAVE EXISTED IN BABYLON TO START THE STORY OFF. SO THIS IS THE GREEKS WRITING IN A LATER PERIOD, AFTER THE HANGING GARDENS AND NEBUCHADNEZZAR HAVE PASSED AWAY, AS IT WERE. YES, BUT SOME OF THOSE GREEKS, WE HAVE TO TAKE WHAT THEY SAY VERY SERIOUSLY, BECAUSE THEY WERE IN THE TRUTH BUSINESS. BUT IF THE GARDENS DID EXIST, WHY DIDN'T NEBUCHADNEZZAR MENTION THEM? WE KNOW FROM THE GREEKS THAT HE MARRIED A GIRL CALLED AMYETIS WHO WAS A PRINCESS FROM MEDIA IN IRAN, FROM A MOUNTAINOUS COUNTRY. AND THE STORY IS THAT SHE GOT HOMESICK AND HATED THE VIEW OUT OF HER WINDOW WHICH WAS FLAT AND BORING, AND THAT NEBUCHADNEZZAR BUILT THESE GARDENS TO KEEP HER HAPPY. NOW, THAT SEEMS TO ME, ALTHOUGH IT'S QUITE ROMANTIC, ALSO PLAUSIBLE IN A WAY IF YOU IMAGINE HIM WITH ALL THESE BUILDING PLANS SAYING TO THE ENGINEERS, "WHEN YOU'VE GOT TIME, PUT SOMETHING UP THERE "WHICH IS LIKE A MOUNTAINOUS GARDEN TO KEEP THE WIFE HAPPY", KIND OF STUFF. SO THEY DID, AND IF YOU WENT DOWN THE EUPHRATES RIVER ON A BOAT AS A TOURIST, OR YOU WERE A VISITOR AND YOU SAW THIS THING, IT MIGHT MAKE A BIG IMPACT ON YOU BECAUSE GARDENS ARE NOT NORMALLY UP THERE, THEY ARE USUALLY DOWN THERE. AND THEY WOULD THINK IT WAS SOMETHING MIRACULOUS. I THINK WE HAVE TO ASSUME THEY WERE REAL. I THINK NEBUCHADNEZZAR DID BUILD SOMETHING. TO FIND OUT EXACTLY WHAT NEBUCHADNEZZAR MIGHT HAVE BUILT, TESSA TRAVELS TO THE PERGAMON MUSEUM IN BERLIN, GERMANY, WHERE ONE OF THE BIGGEST COLLECTIONS OF BABYLONIAN ARTIFACTS CAN BE FOUND. HERE, SHE ENLISTS THE HELP OF PERSIAN EXPERT LLOYD LLEWELLYN-JONES. SHE WANTS AN IDEA OF THE SKILL OF THE BABYLONIAN BUILDERS AND THE SCALE AT WHICH THEY WORKED. BRACE YOURSELF-- THERE YOU GO. AND THE FIRST THING LLOYD SHOWS TESSA IS THE FIRST THING ANY VISITOR TO BABYLON WOULD HAVE SEEN-- THE ISHTAR GATE. SO THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN ONE OF THE ENTRANCES INTO THE ANCIENT CITY OF BABYLON? THAT'S ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. TODAY WE CALL IT THE ISHTAR GATE, BUT IN ANTIQUITY IT WAS ACTUALLY CALLED "THE GATE OF ISHTAR WHO VANQUISHES HER ENEMIES," BECAUSE THIS WAS ONE OF THE MAJOR PORTALS INTO THE CITY CENTER ITSELF. THIS STOOD AT THE NORTH END OF THE CITY, AND THIS GREAT ARCHWAY HERE WAS BACKED BY GREAT CEDAR DOORS WHICH WOULD HAVE OPENED ALONG A PROCESSIONAL WAY WHICH LED YOU INTO THE HEART OF THE CITY, PAST THE PALACES, PAST THE ZIGGURATS OR TEMPLES. THE SIZE AND THE BEAUTY IS JUST, I MEAN, QUITE MIND-BOGGLING. HOW ON EARTH DID THEY DO IT? ABSOLUTELY, IT TRULY IS MONUMENTAL, ISN'T IT? SOME EXPERTS BELIEVE THE ISHTAR GATE STOOD RIGHT BY THE GARDENS. AND YET IT'S THE GARDEN, NOT THE GATE, THAT MAKES THE LIST OF 7 WONDERS. SO WE CAN ONLY ASSUME THAT THEY WERE MORE EXTRAORDINARY. THE COLORS AND SHAPES ON THE GATE WERE ONLY POSSIBLE USING FIRE-GLAZED BRICKS, HUGELY EXPENSIVE AND DIFFICULT TO MAKE. IT'S NO SURPRISE, THEN, THAT BEHIND THIS FACADE, MAKING UP THE BULK OF THE STRUCTURE, IS A VERY DIFFERENT TYPE OF BRICK-- SUN-DRIED MUD BRICKS. ARCHAEOLOGY SUGGESTS THAT MUCH OF BABYLON WAS BUILT OF THESE BASIC BRICKS. BUT ALTHOUGH THEY WERE CHEAP AND EASY TO MAKE IN THE BABYLONIAN HEAT, THEY WEREN'T IDEAL FOR USE IN A GARDEN. TO UNDERSTAND WHY, TESSA VISITS A SPECIALIST BRICK-MAKER IN ENGLAND WHERE BRICKS ARE STILL MADE IN THE TRADITIONAL WAY. WELL, A SUN-DRIED MUD BRICK OR A SUN-DRIED CLAY BRICK IS JUST THE PURE MATERIAL AS IS DUG FROM THE GROUND, MADE INTO A SHAPE AND ALLOWED TO DRY. OH, RIGHT... THAT'S A DRIED MUD BRICK. GOSH, THEY'RE ACTUALLY QUITE SANDY TO FEEL, AREN'T THEY? YES, YES. QUITE CRUMBLY. YOU COULD BUILD WITH THAT, BUT YOU COULDN'T LEAVE IT EXPOSED TO THE WEATHER. WHAT DO YOU-- WHAT WOULD HAPPEN? WHAT DO YOU MEAN? WELL, IT WOULD BREAK DOWN. IT WOULD ACTUALLY DETERIORATE AND FALL APART, RATHER AS A BRICK LIKE THIS PUT IN WATER. YOU CAN SEE IMMEDIATELY, IT'S GIVING OFF MUD. GOSH, ISN'T IT JUST, LOOK AT THAT. CLOUDS OF MUD. THE BULK OF THE HANGING GARDENS WERE MOST LIKELY BUILT OF MUD BRICKS, PERHAPS LINED BY THE MORE EXPENSIVE GLAZED ONES. AND SOMETHING FOUND IN THE BASEMENT OF THE PERGAMON MUSEUM IN BERLIN REVEALS HOW THESE BRICKS MIGHT HAVE BEEN FITTED TOGETHER-- ANOTHER CLAY BRICK, INSCRIBED WITH NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S NAME. THE INTERESTING THING AS WELL IS AROUND HERE ON THE EDGE, BECAUSE HERE, AND YOU CAN SEE A NICE AND THICK LAYERING OF THIS THING CALLED BITUMEN. NOW THAT LOOKS JUST LIKE TAR OR SOMETHING. WELL, THAT'S ESSENTIALLY WHAT IT IS. IT'S A PETROLEUM LIQUID WHICH SOLIDIFIES. AND REALLY WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS THE BABYLONIAN EQUIVALENT OF CEMENT. THIS WOULD HAVE HELD ALL THE BRICKS TOGETHER. SO YOU'VE GOT THE BRICK AND ALSO MORTAR. ABSOLUTELY, BUT THERE'S MORE TO IT THAN THAT, BECAUSE THIS IS ACTUALLY WATERPROOF. IF YOU KNOW YOUR OLD TESTAMENT, FOR EXAMPLE, NOAH IS TOLD THAT WHEN HE BUILDS HIS ARC, HE MUST LINE THE HULL OF THE ARC IN BITUMEN. WHY? TO MAKE IT WATERPROOF. SO IT WAS POSSIBLE FOR THE BABYLONIANS TO CREATE A WATERPROOF STRUCTURE. EXPERTS BELIEVE ITS MOST LIKELY POSITION WAS RIGHT BY THE ISHTAR GATE. BUT IN THE ARID HEAT OF BABYLON, SUCH A GARDEN WOULD NEED CONSTANT TENDING. THE RIVER EUPHRATES RUNS THROUGH BABYLON, BUT IF THE GARDENS WERE ELEVATED, THE WATER WOULD HAVE TO BE RAISED FROM THE RIVER SOMEHOW. ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE SUGGESTS THAT IN THE TIME OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR, A COUNTERBALANCED LEVER WAS USED, CALLED THE SHADOOF. SOME RESEARCH ALSO SUGGESTS THAT THE BABYLONIANS HAD A SCREW-LIKE SYSTEM TO RAISE WATER. TO UNDERSTAND WHAT SORT OF PLANTS MAY HAVE BEEN GROWN IN THE GARDEN, TESSA VISITS ONE OF THE LEADING CENTERS OF BOTANICAL STUDIES-- KEW GARDENS IN ENGLAND-- WHERE SHE MEETS EXPERT JULES HAYWARD. JULES, I AM ABSOLUTELY STAGGERED. THIS IS SO MUCH MORE LUSH AND VERDANT THAT I IMAGINED. WERE THESE THE KIND OF PLANTS THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE HANGING GARDEN? WELL, WE BELIEVE THAT THIS IS EXACTLY THE SORT OF STUFF-- THIS TROPICAL FOLIAGE-- AS OPPOSED TO THE INDIGENOUS CACTI WHICH THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE GARDENS, BUT MUCH MORE OF THIS TROPICAL EFFECT, BECAUSE THESE WERE, IN THE END, PLEASURE GARDENS. SO, IN OTHER WORDS, THIS WASN'T ABOUT REPRESENTING BABYLON, IT WAS ABOUT REPRESENTING SOMETHING MUCH BIGGER THAN THAT, SOMETHING MUCH MORE IMPRESSIVE. THIS WAS NOT A NATURAL PLACE, THIS WAS A PLACE THAT WAS LOOKED AFTER BY HUMAN BEINGS-- IT WAS MAINTAINED, IT WAS CULTIVATED, IT WAS IRRIGATED-- SO THEY WERE ABLE TO GROW PLANTS THAT WOULD NEVER HAVE SURVIVED THERE NATURALLY. EVERYTHING YOU SAY POINTS TOWARDS SOPHISTICATED TECHNOLOGY AND CONCEPTS, ALL OF IT LEADING TO EXPLAIN WHY THESE GARDENS WERE CONSIDERED SO WONDROUS. ABSOLUTELY, IT WAS A STATEMENT, IT WAS A SHOW-OFF. OF ALL THE 7 WONDERS, THIS IS THE HARDEST TO RECREATE. I THINK, LOOKING AT THE EVIDENCE, THE BRICKS, THE BITUMEN AND SO ON, THE BABYLONIANS CLEARLY HAD THE TECHNOLOGY TO BUILD THE GARDENS. BUT WITH NO ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE, TO GET A SENSE OF WHAT THEY ACTUALLY LOOKED LIKE, WE HAVE TO GO BACK TO THE GREEK HISTORIANS. AND THE BEST DESCRIPTION IS STRABO'S. HE ACTUALLY TALKS OF ARCHED VAULTS, OF TERRACED ROOFS, STAIRWAYS AND WS ON THE STAIRS THAT CONDUCTED WATER. IT'S NOT A LOT, BUT THE GREEK HISTORIANS WERE PARTICULARLY SCIENTIFIC IN THE WAY THEY GATHERED THEIR INFORMATION. SO I TEND TO GO WITH THEM. USING THESE WRITTEN ACCOUNTS, ALONG WITH EVIDENCE RECOVERED FROM BABYLON, IT'S POSSIBLE TO BUILD AN IMAGE OF WHAT THE GARDENS MIGHT HAVE LOOKED LIKE-- SUPPORTED TERRACED ROOFS BUILT OF CLAY BRICKS LINED WITH BITUMEN, INGENIOUS TECHNOLOGY KEEPING EXOTIC PLANTS FLOURISHING IN THE DESERT HEAT. THE BABYLONIANS, FAMILIAR WITH PLEASURE GARDENS, MIGHT HAVE FOUND THEM COMMONPLACE. BUT TO GREEK OBSERVERS, THEY WERE ONE OF THE WONDERS OF THE WORLD. AND THE GREEKS WOULD CREATE THEIR OWN ENGINEERING MARVELS-- A BRONZE FIGURE STANDING 120 FEET TALL WAS ANTIQUITY'S BIGGEST STATUE-- THE COLOSSUS AT RHODES. 23 CENTURIES AGO, A GREEK ISLAND WAS HOME TO A PIECE OF ENGINEERING THAT, EVEN BY TODAY'S STANDARDS, WAS EXTRAORDINARY. IT WAS THE BIGGEST STATUE IN THE KNOWN WORLD-- THE COLOSSUS. RHODES LIES IN THE MEDITERRANEAN, 10 MILES OFF THE COAST OF TURKEY. THE COLOSSUS STOOD IN ITS CAPITAL, ALSO CALLED RHODES. OUR INVESTIGATOR MARK TALESNICK HAS COME HERE ARMED WITH THE ACCOUNTS OF THE ANCIENT WRITERS TO FORM A PICTURE OF HOW THE STATUE WAS BUILT. WE'RE HERE IN RHODES IN ORDER TO TRY TO FLESH OUT THE COLOSSUS OF RHODES. THE LIMITED DATA IS SKETCHY, AND IT'S BASED ALL ON QUITE ANCIENT LITERATURE. WE'RE TOLD THAT IT'S ABOUT 31 METERS HIGH, WE'RE TOLD THAT IT'S MADE OF BRONZE WITH AN INTERNAL SKELETON OF STONE AND IRON. WE ARE TOLD THAT A FINGER OF THE STATUE WAS ABOUT THE SIZE OF A MAN. THE BIG QUESTION, THEN, IS, CAN WE USE ANY OF THIS DATA IN ORDER TO TRY TO LEARN SOMETHING ABOUT COLOSSUS OF RHODES? WE DON'T KNOW WHERE HE STOOD, WE DON'T KNOW WHAT HE LOOKED LIKE. LOCAL EXPERT DR. MANOLIS STEFANAKIS IS A CLASSICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST. HE TELLS MARK THAT THE COLOSSUS WAS BUILT BY THE ISLANDERS IN CELEBRATION OF A GREAT VICTORY. COLOSSUS WAS BUILT BY A LOCAL SCULPTOR CALLED CHARES. THE RHODIANS DECIDED TO BUILD THIS STATUE AFTER THE SUCCESSFUL DEFENSE OF THE RHODIANS AGAINST THE MACEDONIAN ARMY. SO THE STATUE WAS BUILT IN CELEBRATION OF THE SUCCESSFUL DEFENSE OF THE CITY AFTER 305 WHEN THE SIEGE BEGAN. EXACTLY. AND IT WAS BUILT WHEN? HE STARTED ON THE STATUE IN THE YEAR 292, AND IT TOOK 12 YEARS TO BE FINISHED. SO IT WAS ACTUALLY DELIVERED IN 280 B.C. THE COLOSSUS WAS AN IMAGE OF HELIOS, THE SUN GOD AND THE ISLAND'S PROTECTOR. THE RHODIANS BELIEVED THAT HELIOS HAD MADE THEIR ISLAND THE MOST BEAUTIFUL IN THE WORLD. IN RETURN, THEY OFFERED GRATITUDE AND FERVENT WORSHIP. OTHER REPRESENTATIONS OF HELIOS HAVE BEEN FOUND ACROSS RHODES. ONE, A BIGGER THAN LIFE-SIZE STATUE, MAY OFFER A CLUE TO THE APPEARANCE OF THE COLOSSUS. AND THE VERY INTERESTING FEATURE IS THAT WE HAVE A NUMBER OF HOLES AROUND HIS HEAD. MANY LITTLE HOLES. WHAT WERE THEY FOR? THEY WERE FOR IRON BEAMS OR METAL BEAMS THAT WOULD COME OUT OF HIS HEAD LIKE THE RAYS OF THE SUN. THE HEAD OF THE COLOSSUS MAY WELL HAVE LOOKED LIKE THIS, CROWNED WITH A RING OF SUNRAYS. ANCIENT SOURCES TELL US THAT THE COLOSSUS WAS BUILT USING IRON BARS. THEY SAY IT WAS WEIGHTED WITH STONE. MARK BELIEVES THAT THE COLOSSUS' METHOD OF CONSTRUCTION AND ITS SIZE MAY HAVE DECIDED HOW THE STATUE STOOD. WHAT WOULD HE HAVE LOOKED LIKE? WHAT WOULD HIS POSE HAVE BEEN? ONE REPRESENTATION IS HELIOS WAVING WITH ONE HAND AND HAVING A DRAPE IN HIS OTHER HAND. WAVING IS GOING TO BE DIFFICULT 'CAUSE IN ORDER FOR SOMEONE TO WAVE, THE STRESSES, ESPECIALLY HERE, ON THE STRUCTURE, WOULD BE HUGE. THEY WOULD NEED SOME SORT OF STRUT-- EXACTLY. TO HOLD IT UP THERE, AND I THINK-- I THINK THAT WOULD BE UGLY. THAT WOULDN'T LOOK NICE. OK, SO I THINK WE CAN SCRAP THE POSSIBILITY OF THE WAVING ARM. HOWEVER, IF THE COLOSSUS' HAND WAS FIXED TO HIS FOREHEAD, SHIELDING HIS EYES, IT WOULD GIVE GREATER STABILITY. WHAT WAS THE REASON FOR THE DRAPE OR THE BOW? AS A THIRD LEG, GIVING-- GIVING STABILITY. THE TECHNIQUE OF SCULPTING A ROBE TO GIVE A STATUE EXTRA SUPPORT AT ITS BASE IS WELL-DOCUMENTED. IT WOULD HAVE MADE THE ENORMOUS STRUCTURE OF THE COLOSSUS MUCH STRONGER. THE EXTERIOR IS SAID TO HAVE BEEN MADE ENTIRELY OF BRONZE. MANOLIS TAKES MARK TO A BRONZE-CASTING PIT OR KILN WHICH DATES BACK TO THE TIME OF THE COLOSSUS. IT'S PROOF THAT THE TECHNOLOGY TO BUILD THE STATUE DID EXIST HERE. WE HAVE IN THIS SPECIFIC AREA 7 KILNS OF THIS TYPE, SO WE KNOW THAT THIS IS THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF THE BRONZE SMITHS. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT, 'CAUSE WE'RE SAYING THAT COLOSSUS WAS CAST FROM BRONZE. HOW BIG OF A STATUE COULD BE DONE HERE? WELL, THE MAXIMUM HEIGHT OF A STATUE BUILT IN THIS KILN WOULD BE ABOUT 10 METERS. SECTIONS OF BRONZE, UP TO 5 FEET IN LENGTH, COULD BE CAST IN THIS PIT, THEN FIXED TOGETHER TO CREATE A STATUE OVER 30 FEET HIGH. THE COLOSSUS WAS CAST IN PARTS TOO, WITH BRONZE SHEETS FASTENED ONTO THE STATUE'S INTERNAL SKELETON. THIS JOINTED DESIGN GAVE IT FLEXIBILITY. IT MEANT THAT IT COULD WITHSTAND HIGH WINDS. HOW BIG OF A KILN WOULD WE NEED TO DO COLOSSUS? WELL, I THINK WE ARE LOOKING FOR A KILN AT LEAST 3 TIMES THE SIZE OF THIS ONE. HAVE YOU FOUND ANYTHING LIKE THAT YET? NO, WE DIDN'T HAVE ANY LUCK SO FAR. MARK'S FOUND OUT WHAT THE COLOSSUS LOOKED LIKE, AND IT'S CLEAR THAT THE RHODIANS HAD THE TECHNOLOGY TO BUILD IT. BUT THIS DOESN'T HELP HIM TO PIN DOWN THE LOCATION OF THE COLOSSUS. TRADITIONAL DEPICTIONS OF THE STATUE, LIKE THIS 16TH-CENTURY ENGRAVING, SHOW THE COLOSSUS STRADDLING THE HARBOR, ALLOWING SHIPS TO PASS BETWEEN HIS LEGS. BUT THERE'S A PROBLEM WITH THIS. ACCOUNTS SAY THAT CONSTRUCTION TOOK 12 YEARS. IF IT HAPPENED HERE, IT WOULD HAVE NECESSITATED THE CLOSURE OF THE HARBOR. AND YET THIS HARBOR WAS OF VITAL STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE TO THE ISLANDERS. WHAT WOULD THE HARBOR HAVE LOOKED LIKE, LET'S SAY, 2500 YEARS AGO? WELL, THIS IS THE MAJOR MILITARY HARBOR OF RHODES. THEY WOULD HAVE TO BLOCK THE WHOLE ENTRANCE OF THE MILITARY HARBOR, WHICH WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT HARBOR OF THE CITY AT THAT-- AT THAT TIME. FOR 12 YEARSFOR 12 YEARS. THE STATUE BUILDERS LIVED IN A TIME OF WAR. THEY CONSTRUCTED COLOSSUS FOLLOWING AN IMPORTANT VICTORY-- A NARROW ESCAPE AFTER A HEAVY NAVAL SIEGE. IT MAKES NO SENSE THAT THEY WOULD CELEBRATE BY COMPROMISING THEIR DEFENSES. SO BASED ON THE DISCUSSIONS WE'VE HAD NOW, THE WHOLE IDEA OF THE COLOSSUS BEING ASTRIDE THE HARBOR, AT LEAST AT THIS POINT IN TIME, WE CAN CROSS THAT ONE OFF THE LIST? IT'S TOTALLY FICTITIOUS. IT COMES FROM MEDIEVAL ROMANTICISM, BASICALLY. WHEN WE PAIR THIS ARGUMENT WITH THE ANCIENT SOURCES, WHICH SAY THAT WHEN THE STATUE FELL, IT FELL ON LAND, IT BECOMES CLEAR: THE TRADITIONAL IMAGE OF THE COLOSSUS STANDING ASTRIDE THE HARBOR SEEMS TO BE NOTHING MORE THAN A RENAISSANCE FANTASY. SOME ARCHAEOLOGISTS BELIEVE IT MAY HAVE STOOD ON THE SITE NOW OCCUPIED BY THE FORTRESS OF ST. NICHOLAS. THE FORTRESS DATES FROM THE 15TH CENTURY, BUT SOME OF ITS STONE MAY HAVE COME FROM THE TIME OF THE COLOSSUS. WE HAVE SOME EVIDENCE, SOME ELEMENTS COMING FROM EARLIER BUILDINGS LIKE THESE KINDS OF STONES OR THE STEPS HERE. BESIDES THIS, WE HAVE QUITE A FEW BALLS, LIKE THIS ONE. THE CANNONBALLS? ACTUALLY, THEY'RE CATAPULT BALLS. SORRY, OK. THEY WERE SHOT IN OR SHOT OUT? THEY WERE SHOT IN BY THE MACEDONIANS. THESE CATAPULT BALLS DATE BACK TO THE VERY SIEGE WHOSE VICTORY THE COLOSSUS CELEBRATED. THIS SITE WAS CLEARLY OCCUPIED AT THAT TIME. IN ADDITION, THE FORTRESS SITS ON AN OUTCROP OF VERY HARD ROCK. THE BEDROCK HERE WOULD HAVE MADE AN EXCELLENT FOUNDATION. WHAT ARE THE PROS AND CONS FOR COLOSSUS BEING CONSTRUCTED LET'S SAY CLOSE BY IN THIS AREA? TO BE HONEST, I DON'T SEE ANY PROS TO THIS THEORY. THE IMPROBABILITY OF HAVING SUCH A HUGE STATUE AT THE ENTRANCE OF TILITARY PORT-- IF YOU WANT MY OPINION, I WOULD NEVER BUILD A STATUE LIKE THAT HERE. I WOULD LOOK FOR ANOTHER PLACE, MAYBE SOMEWHERE INLAND, MAYBE HIGHER, SO IT WOULD BE VISIBLE BY EVERYBODY. LOOKING BACK AT THE TOWN, IT MAKES SENSE FOR THE COLOSSUS TO BE UP ON THE HILL, WHERE IT COULD BE SEEN FROM A GREATER DISTANCE. WALKING UP TO THIS HIGHER GROUND REVEALS A CLUE. UNDERNEATH WHAT USED TO BE A SCHOOL, REMAINS OF MORE ANCIENT BUILDINGS HAVE BEEN FOUND. ONE OF THOSE BUILDINGS WAS A TEMPLE TO HELIOS. SO, THIS IS THE HIGHEST SPOT IN DOWNTOWN RHODES, SOME 20 METERS ABOVE SEA LEVEL IN ANTIQUITY. NOW, FROM THIS SPOT, WE HAVE VERY IMPORTANT FINDS. FIRST OF ALL, A MARBLE HEAD OF HELIOS, AND AN IMPORTANT INSCRIPTION LISTING THE NAMES OF THE ANNUAL PRIESTS OF HELIOS. AND WHAT WOULD THAT TELL US? THAT WOULD TELL US THAT WE'RE PROBABLY STANDING ON THE AREA OF THE TEMPLE OF HELIOS. HELIOS WAS THE RHODIANS' MOST IMPORTANT DEITY. IT'S BELIEVED THAT THIS WHOLE AREA MAY HAVE BEEN DEDICATED TO HIS WORSHIP. AND WITHIN WHAT WERE ONCE THE GROUNDS OF THE TEMPLE, NOW STANDS THE PALACE OF GRANDMASTERS. IT WAS BUILT IN MEDIEVAL TIMES BY THE KNIGHTS OF ST. JOHN. IT MAKES SENSE THAT THE COLOSSUS WOULD STAND WITHIN THE GROUNDS OF HELIOS' TEMPLE. AND FROM HERE, IT WOULD HAVE LOOKED DOWN ON THIS ISLAND'S 3 MOST IMPORTANT HARBORS. SO WE'RE STANDING NOW AT THE HIGHEST POINT IN THE WALLED CITY, OVERLOOKING 3 OF THE PORTS? YES, IF COLOSSUS STOOD HERE, HE WOULD OVERLOOK THE COMMERCIAL AND THE SECONDARY HARBOR ON THIS SIDE, AND IF YOU COME AROUND-- HE WOULD ALSO OVERLOOK THE MILITARY HARBOR. BESIDES, WE KNOW THAT WHEN HE FELL, HE FELL AMONG HOUSING, AND THIS AREA NEXT TO THE PALACE HAS BEEN ONE OF THE MOST DENSELY POPULATED AREAS SINCE THAT TIME. FALLING HERE, THE COLOSSUS WOULD HAVE FLATTENED HOUSING. IT SUGGESTS THAT THIS WAS THE SITE OF THE STATUE. WELL, THIS IS IT. THIS IS THE SPOT WHERE WE THOUGHT COLOSSUS STOOD AT. OK. OK, SO I'M JUST TRYING TO IMAGINE. IT'S GOING TO BE ABOUT 2 TIMES HIGHER THAN THE TOP OF THE PALACE, RIGHT? AT LEAST. IT WAS A HUGE OPERATION. THIS WAS NOT ONE MAN BUILDING COLOSSUS. THEY MUST HAVE HAD AN ARMY OF MEN WORKING ON IT. AT THE TIME, PEOPLE BELIEVED IN THE GODS. SO, TO SEE SOMETHING LIKE THIS TOWERING OVER YOU-- MUST HAVE BEEN SOMEWHAT FRIGHTENING, EVEN. 120 FEET OF BRONZE, WRAPPED AROUND AN IRON AND STONE SKELETON, THE COLOSSUS WAS SO LARGE, IT WAS SAID ITS FINGERS WERE THE SIZE OF A MAN. IT TOOK 12 YEARS TO BUILD AND WAS FINISHED IN 282 B.C. THE RHODIANS BUILT THIS STATUE TO HONOR THEIR GOD. ACROSS THE SEA, IN WHAT IS NOW MAINLAND TURKEY, ONE MAN WOULD DEMAND 400 STATUES, ALL TO HONOR HIMSELF. HE WAS KING MAUSOLUS, AND THEY WOULD ADORN THE FIRST AND GRANDEST MAUSOLEUM. EACH OF THE 7 WONDERS WAS A MARVEL OF ENGINEERING, AND EACH HAD THEIR OWN UNIQUE QUALITIES. THE GREAT PYRAMID OF GIZA WAS A TOMB CREATED AS A VAST BUT SIMPLE GEOMETRIC FORM. THERE EXISTED ANOTHER TOMB THAT STUNNED THE CIVILIZED WORLD WITH ITS ORNATE BEAUTY AND THE HUNDREDS OF STATUES THAT COVERED IT. THE ONCE GREAT CITY OF HALICARNASSUS IS NOW THE SMALL TOWN OF BODRUM IN SOUTHWEST TURKEY. IN THE 4TH CENTURY B.C., HALICARNASSUS WAS THE CAPITAL OF CARIA, PART OF THE PERSIAN EMPIRE, AND HOME TO THE REGION'S RULER, KING MAUSOLUS. IN THE HOPE OF CREATING A DYNASTY, AN KEEP THE ROYAL LINE INTACT, HE MARRIED HIS SISTER, ARTEMISIA. LEGEND HAS IT THAT AROUND 350 B.C., SHE BUILT A TOMB-- THE MAUSOLEUM-- TO HONOR HIS MEMORY. WHAT I FIND VERY SURPRISING ABOUT THE MAUSOLEUM OF HALICARNASSUS IS THAT IT WASN'T BUILT IN DEDICATION OF ANY OF THE HISTORICAL GREATS OF THAT EARLY PERIOD-- NOT DEDICATED TO THE PERSIAN WARRIOR KING XERXES, FOR EXAMPLE, NOT IN HONOR OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT, BUT IN FACT, IT WAS BUILT FOR A PRETTY MINOR PROVINCIAL RULER. YES, A SUCCESSFUL ONE, BUT KING MAUSOLUS-- NOT MANY PEOPLE HAVE HEARD OF HIM. SO TO HAVE MADE IT ONTO THE LIST OF THE 7 ANCIENT WONDERS, THERE MUST HAVE BEEN SOMETHING TRULY MAGNIFICENT ABOUT THE STRUCTURE ITSELF. NO ANCIENT IMAGES OF THE MAUSOLEUM HAVE SURVIVED. AGAIN, THE MOST INFLUENTIAL DEPICTION COMES FROM THE RENAISSANCE ARTIST MARTIN VAN HEEMSKERK. DOES IT BEAR ANY RESEMBLANCE TO THE REALITY? OUR INVESTIGATOR TESSA DUNLOP MEETS AGAIN WITH DR. JULIAN BENNETT, AN ARCHAGIST WHO'S SPENT YEARS TRYING TO PIECE TOGETHER THE STORY OF KING MAUSOLUS. WHY WAS THIS VAST MAUSOLEUM CONSTRUCTED? THAT'S A VERY GOOD QUESTION. WE DON'T KNOW, QUITE HONESTLY. HE CERTAINLY WAS WELL KNOWN FOR TAXING THE POPULATION AROUND HERE. HE BUILT UP AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF WEALTH. SO ONE PRESUMES IT WAS JUST REALLY FOR SHOW, TO-- HOW WEALTHY HE WAS. THANKS TO EXCAVATION WORK IN THE 19TH CENTURY, WE KNOW EXACTLY WHERE THE MAUSOLEUM STOOD. TESSA AND JULIAN WILL TRY TO PIECE IT BACK TOGETHER BY COMBINING THE PHYSICAL EVIDENCE WITH HISTORICAL ACCOUNTS. PLINY GIVES DIMENSIONS OF THE MAUSOLEUM THAT HAVE BEEN CONFIRMED BY ARCHAEOLOGY. IT WAS 120 FEET LONG AND 100 FEET WIDE, COVERING THE WHOLE OF THIS EXCAVATED AREA. THE BASE OF THE STRUCTURE WAS BUILT FROM A DISTINCTIVE TYPE OF STONE-- GREEN LIMESTONE. ACTUALLY BEING WITHIN THE STRUCTURE GIVES YOU A E OF ITS VASTNESS, DOESN'T IT? YES, IT REALLY WAS A SUBSTANTIAL STRUCTURE ALL FOUNDED ON THESE MASSIVE SORT OF GREEN LIMESTONE BLOCKS. OK, SO THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN FOOT-LEVEL, FOUNDATIONS? THIS WOULD ACTUALLY BE BELOW THE GROUND LEVEL, THE PROPER GROUND LEVEL, SO THERE WOULD'VE BEEN ANOTHER SORT OF 4 OR 5 LEVELS OF THE SAME BLOCKS ON TOP OF THIS. KING MAUSOLUS' RESTING PLACE WAS A SUBTERRANEAN BURIAL CHAMBER UNDER THIS LIMESTONE BASE. WILL WE CHECK OUT THE ACTUAL BURIAL CHAMBER ITSELF? 'CAUSE THIS IS THE WHOLE REASON FOR THE STRUCTURE, ISN'T IT? TRUE. THE BURIAL CHAMBER. AND YOU'LL NOTICE IT'S TO ONE SIDE, IT'S NOT ACTUALLY CENTRAL. SO, UM, THE REASON FOR THAT IS THAT WHEN TOMB ROBBERS CAME IN, THEY WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO FIND OUT WHERE IT WAS. SURE. THIS WAS THE THEORY. STEPPING DOWN TO THE SPOT WHERE THE CHAMBER LAY, TESSA AND JULIAN FIND ANOTHER PRECAUTION TAKEN TO DETER ROBBERS-- AN ENORMOUS STONE THAT STOOD AS A BARRIER. THIS IS THE BLOCKING STONE. THE BLOCKING STONE FITS INTO THIS SPACE HERE. OH, I SEE. YOU'VE GOT THIS BIG, FLAT SURFACE, WHICH SLIDES AGAINST THAT, YOU'VE GOT THIS LITTLE LEDGE HERE WHICH ACTUALLY FITTED AROUND THERE. REALLY IMPRESSIVE, ISN'T IT? OH, I MEAN, I WOULD IMAGINE IMPOSSIBLE TO BREAK INTO. YES, ALTHOUGH IT DIDN'T STOP PEOPLE FROM TRYING, HOWEVER, AND YOU CAN SEE HERE WHERE SOMEONE HAS VERY CAREFULLY BEEN CHISELING AWAY-- OH, YES. TRYING TO WORK THEIR WAY UNDERNEATH THE STONE. YOU CAN SEE THE SAME MARKS ACTUALLY ON THE BLOCKING STONE HERE AS WELL. BUT THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NO WAY YOU COULD GET THIS OUT. WE CAN JUST ABOUT SQUEEZE PAST IT LIKE THIS AND HERE WE HAVE THE BURIAL CHAMBER. AND IN HERE, THIS IS WHERE THE SARCOPHAGUS WOULD HAVE BEEN. SO THIS IS WHERE MAUSOLUS WAS ACTUALLY BURIED? IN HERE? YEP. SEALED BY THE BLOCKING STONE, THE BURIAL CHAMBER WAS BURIED BENEATH A VAST WEIGHT OF ROCK-- THE MAUSOLEUM ITSELF. JULIAN'S ABLE TO DESCRIBE THE STRUCTURE THANKS TO PLINY'S ACCOUNT. THIS WAS THE ORIGINAL GROUND LEVEL, AND THEN, ON TOP OF THAT, THE WHOLE AREA WOULD HAVE BEEN FILLED WITH THE PODIUM OF THE MAUSOLEUM. KIND OF LIKE A GIGANTIC WEDDING CAKE. PLINY TELLS US THAT THE TOMB WAS 140 FEET TALL, AROUND TWICE THE HEIGHT OF THIS MINARET TOWER. SO IT'S CLEAR THAT MOST OF THE STONES THAT MADE UP THE MAUSOLEUM HAVE GONE, PROBABLY PLUNDERED. BUT THAT GREEN LIMESTONE IS SO DISTINCTIVE, ARCHAEOLOGISTS HAVE BEEN ABLE TO TRACE STONES TO OTHER BUILDINGS AROUND BODRUM. ONE OF THEM IS A 15TH-CENTURY CASTLE. WHEREVER YOU LOOK AROUND THE WHOLE CASTLE, THIS IS WHAT YOU SEE-- REUSED GREEN LIMESTONE. AND THAT'S WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR, IS IT, WHEN I'M TRYING TO IDENTIFY WHICH BITS COME FROM THE MAUSOLEUM? IT'S THE LIMESTONE AND THE MARBLE. LIMESTONE AND THE MARBLE. YOU'VE GOT THIS ONE REALLY WHITE MARBLE, PARIAN MARBLE. AND THAT IS VERY DISTINGUISHABLE. SO MANY OF THE SLABS HAVE BEEN INCORPORATED INTO THE CASTLE THAT EXPERTS HAVE REACHED A SURPRISING CONCLUSION. THE BULK OF THE MAUSOLEUM STRUCTURE MUST HAVE BEEN SOLID, WITH NO INTERNAL SPACES. PLINY ALSO TELLS US THAT ON TOP OF THE PODIUM WAS A COLONNADE AND PYRAMIDAL ROOF. AND A FIND IN THE CASTLE WALLS REVEALS ANOTHER DETAIL. SO WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO SHOW ME UP HERE, JULIAN? WELL, THIS LARGE PIECE OF WHITE MARBLE HERE, WHICH IS REUSED AS A LINTEL, BUT IF WE COME THE OTHER SIDE, WE CAN ACTUALLY SEE THIS IS PART OF AN ARCHITRAVE. AND THIS LITTLE STEP THERE, THIS IS PART OF THE UPPER LEVEL OF DECORATION, ABOVE THE COLUMNS IN THE MAUSOLEUM. WHAT DOES IT ACTUALLY TELL US ABOUT THE TOMB? THE SIGNIFICANT THING ABOUT THIS PARTICULAR PIECE OF STONE IS ITS LENGTH, IT SURVIVES COMPLETE. SO THIS ALLOWS US TO CALCULATE THE SPACING BETWEEN THE CENTER OF ONE COLUMN TO THE OTHER, AND WE KNOW IT WAS 9 FOOT, 9 INCHES. IT DOES MAKE YOU JUST THINK HOW-- HOW STAGGERINGLY BIG THEY WERE THINKING WHEN THEY BUILT THE MAUSOLEUM. THIS COLUMN SPACING FITS WITH PLINY'S DESCRIPTION OF THE MAUSOLEUM. NOW TESSA AND JULIAN CAN USE ITS PROPORTIONS TO RECREATE THE BASIC STRUCTURE-- A SOLID PODIUM 60 FEET IN HEIGHT, SUPPORTING A COLONNADE OF 36 COLUMNS, EACH NEARLY 10 FEET APART. A STEPPED PYRAMID ROOF STOOD ON TOP. BUT THIS IN ITSELF IS NOT WHAT MADE THIS MONUMENT A WONDER OF THE WORLD. PLINY WRITES OF A BUILDING ADORNED WITH FABULOUS STATUES AND RELIEFS. ON THIS SITE, ONLY FRAGMENTS OF STATUES HAVE EVER BEEN FOUND. A 16TH-CENTURY ACCOUNT DESCRIBES STONEWORK AND STATUES BEING BROKEN UP AND FED INTO KILNS. THEY WOULD MAKE LIME FOR THE MORTAR WHICH HELD THE STONES OF BODRUM CASTLE TOGETHER. 2 GREAT STATUES HAVE BEEN REASSEMBLED, HOWEVER. REPLICAS OF THEM STAND BY THE CASTLE GATES. HERE WE HAVE COPIES OF 2 OF THE STATUES FROM THE MAUSOLEUM. THIS IS THE STATUE THAT MANY PEOPLE THINK IS MAUSOLUS HIMSELF AND A STATUE OF A WOMAN WHO MANY PEOPLE BELIEVE IS ARTEMISIA. WOULD THESE STATUES, OR MANY OTHERS LIKE THEM, HAVE GONE ALL THE WAY AROUND THE MAUSOLEUM? YES, THE GENERAL BELIEF IS THAT THE FREESTANDING STATUES WERE ON 3 BASIC LEVELS-- ONE LEVEL AT THE PODIUM AND THEN 2 LEVELS OF STATUES AROUND THE TOP PART-- THE COLUMN PART AS WELL. KNOWING THE SIZE OF THESE STATUES, AND THE DIMENSIONS OF THE MAUSOLEUM, SOME EXPERTS HAVE ESTIMATED THAT UP TO 400 FIGURES RINGED ITS WALLS. ACCORDING TO PLINY, A MAGNIFICENT 4-HORSE CHARIOT STOOD ON TOP. REMAINS FOUND IN THE RUBBLE OF THE SITE GIVE JUST A GLIMPSE OF ITS FORMER GLORY. Bennett: THIS WAS A 4-HORSE CHARIOT THAT WAS ALL MADE OF MARBLE, WITH METAL FITTINGS FOR THE HORSE, THE HORSE HARNESS AND SO FORTH, BUT WHAT NOBODY KNOWS IS WHETHER THERE WAS ANYBODY IN THE CHARIOT. THIS IS THE BIG QUESTION. PUTTING TOGETHER THE PHYSICAL EVIDENCE WITH THE WORDS OF THE ANCIENT AUTHORS, WE CAN NOW BUILD UP A CONVINCING PICTURE OF WHAT THE MAUSOLEUM OF HALICARNASSUS MAY HAVE LOOKED LIKE. IT WAS AN IMMENSE 3-TIERED STRUCTURE, CONSISTING OF PODIUM, COLONNADE AND ROOF. CLAD IN BRILLIANT MARBLE, IT DOMINATED THE LANDSCAPE. FRIEZES AND AROUND 400 FREESTANDING STATUES STOOD ON EVERY SURFACE... AND ON TOP, A 4-HORSE CHARIOT. FOR ME, THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ABOUT THE MAUSOLEUM IS THAT IT WAS BUILT FOR THIS RULER MAUSOLUS. IT WAS ALL ABOUT THIS ONE KING'S LEGACY. AND AS A RESULT, IT EXEMPLIFIES THE INFLUENCES THAT HE WAS EXPOSED TO BOTH POLITICALLY AND GEOGRAPHICALLY. SO YOU HAVE THESE VAST MARBLE COLONNADES, A PYRAMID, AN EXTRAORDINARY CHARIOT ON TOP, AND THIS MEANS THE MAUSOLEUM AND ITS TOTAL STRUCTURE LOOKS LIKE NOTHING THAT'S EVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE. SUCH WAS THE MAJESTY OF KING MAUSOLUS' TOMB, THE WORD "MAUSOLEUM" ENTERED OUR LANGUAGE FOR GOOD. ALTHOUGH THE GREEKS HONORED MANY GODS, THERE WAS ONE WHO RULED SUPREME. AT OLYMPIA, A STATUE OF THE KING OF THE GODS, CREATED FROM GOLD AND IVORY, WAS PERHAPS THE GREATEST EVER BUILT. OF THE 7 WONDERS LISTED BY GREEK SCHOLARS IN THE THIRD CENTURY B.C., ONLY ONE STOOD ON MAINLAND GREECE, A STATUS SYMBOL THAT PUT IT ON A PAR WITH THE GREAT CIVILIZATIONS OF THE PAST. OVER 40 FEET TALL AND MADE FROM GOLD AND IVORY, IT WAS A STATUE OF THE KING OF THE GODS-- ZEUS. TO DISCOVER WHAT EVIDENCE REMAINS OF THIS STATUE, MARK TALESNICK HAS TRAVELED TO OLYMPIA, ON THE PELOPONNESIAN PENINSULA, IN THE SOUTHWEST OF GREECE. OLYMPIA TODAY IS FULL OF RUINS AND REMAINS, TESTAMENTS TO THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS PLACE TO THE ANCIENTS. THE MOST OBVIOUS THING IS THE AMOUNT, THE QUALITY AND THE QUANTITY OF THE PHYSICAL EVIDENCE OF THE ENTIRE AREA, BUT ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN, WE'RE HERE TO CHECK OUT THE STATUE WITHIN THE TEMPLE OF ZEUS, AND THERE WE'RE COMPLETELY IN THE DARK-- WE DON'T HAVE ANY PHYSICAL EVIDENCE, AND WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO DO SOME SERIOUS INVESTIGATION AND TRY TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO FLESH OUT THE STATUE. MARK HAS ENLISTED THE HELP OF JUDY BARRINGER. A DOCTOR OF ARCHAEOLOGY, JUDY IS AN AUTHORITY ON OLYMPIA. IT WAS THE SITE OF THE ANCIENT OLYMPIC GAMES, WHICH BEGAN IN 776 B.C., AND IT HAD ENORMOUS CULTURAL IMPORTANCE. ACROSS MORE THAN 50 ACRES, THERE ARE RUNNING TRACKS, SWIMMING POOLS, GYMNASIUMS AND TEMPLES-- EVERYTHING NEEDED FOR THE MOST IMPORTANT ATHLETIC EVENT IN THE ANCIENT WORLD. AND THE GAMES WERE HELD IN HONOR OF ZEUS. THE GAMES, LIKE ALL OF THESE ATHLETIC GAMES, WERE NOT JUST ATHLETIC EVENTS BUT WERE GIVEN, OR MADE, IN HONOR OF A GOD, AND HERE IT WAS THE GOD ZEUS. SO WE'RE IN A RELIGIOUS SANCTUARY, WE'RE NOT JUST AT AN ATHLETIC PLACE. THE STATUE WAS HOUSED IN THE TEMPLE OF ZEUS. THE TEMPLE WAS BUILT IN 456 B.C. AND DESTROYED BY AN EARTHQUAKE IN THE 5TH CENTURY A.D. SO HERE WE ARE, MARK, AT THE TEMPLE OF ZEUS. THIS WAS THE LARGEST TEMPLE ON THE SITE, THE MOST IMPORTANT STRUCTURE ON THE SITE. THE ANCIENT VISITOR WOULD HAVE MADE OFFERINGS TO THE GOD ZEUS OUTSIDE THE TEMPLE, COME IN, PERHAPS LOOKED INSIDE TO SEE THE STATUE. THE REMAINS OF THE ENORMOUS EXTERNAL COLUMNS REVEAL HOW THE TEMPLE EXTERIOR MIGHT HAVE LOOKED. OH, WOW! THAT IS GOOD. PRETTY AMAZING, ISN'T IT? OK, SO WE HAVE 1, 2, 3, 4 COLUMNS PARALLEL TO ONE ANOTHER THAT HAVE TOPPLED OVER. THE DRUMS LAID OUT LIKE DOMINOS-- RIGHT. AND THEN WE CAN SEE THE CAPITALS AT THE END. WHAT DO YOU THINK WOULD CAUSE SUCH A PATTERN? IT'S QUITE REMARKABLE. ONE OF THE EXPLANATIONS THAT HAS BEEN GIVEN ARE EFFECTS OF EARTHQUAKES. YEAH. IF THE COLUMNS WERE STILL TIED TOGETHER WHEN THIS EFFECT HAPPENED WITH A SET OF BEAMS THAT ARE HOLDING IT TOGETHER AND THE BEAMS WENT OVER IN ONE DIRECTION, THE COLUMNS HAVE TO GO TOGETHER WITH IT. OK, ALRIGHT. OKAY? THE BEAUTY HERE IS THAT THE DIRECTION IS SO-- PERFECTLY ALIGNED ONE TO THE OTHER, AND THE SHEARING EFFECT OF THE DRUMS. THAT'S A REALLY BEAUTIFUL PICTURE. MARK MEASURES THE PERFECTLY-PRESERVED COLUMNS TO TRY AND DETERMINE THE HEIGHT OF THE STATUE. OK, 51 CENTIMETERS. 71-- 55 CENTIMETERS. 64-- AND THAT ONE'S ABOUT 78. GREEK HISTORIAN PAUSANIAS PUT THE TEMPLE AT OVER 60 FEET TALL, AND MARK'S CALCULATIONS CONFIRM THIS. BY MEASURING THE SPACES BETWEEN THE EXTERIOR COLUMNS ON EACH SIDE, WE KNOW THAT THE LENGTH OF THE TEMPLE WAS 220 FEET. AND THERE WERE MORE COLUMNS INSIDE. ANESE COLUMNS WERE AT LEAST ONE STORY, PERHAPS 2 STORIES HIGH. AND WE WOULD HAVE HAD THIS ENORMOUS, COLOSSAL STATUE OF ZEUS IN FRONT OF US RIGHT HERE. OKAY, SO THIS IS THE REASON WHY WE'RE HERE. EXACTLY, THIS IS THE WONDER-- THIS IS THE REASON FOR THE TEMPLE'S EXISTENCE IS TO HOUSE A CULT STATUE. MARK STILL NEEDS TO KNOW WHAT THE STATUE LOOKED LIKE. THERE'S VERY LITTLE TO GO ON EXCEPT CONTEMPORARY ACCOUNTS. ONE ANCIENT AUTHOR PUTS THE HEIGHT OF THE STATUE AT 40 FEET, AND STRABO ADDED THAT, "...IF ZEUS MOVED TO STAND UP, HE WOULD UNROOF THE TEMPLE..." THESE ACCOUNTS ARE IN KEEPING WITH MARK'S CALCULATIONS FROM THE HEIGHT OF THE COLUMNS. THEY ALSO TELL US WHO BUILT THE STATUE. A SCULPTOR CALLED PHIDIAS HAD ALREADY CLAIMED HIS PLACE IN HISTORY, CREATING ANOTHER STATUE AT THE ACROPOLIS IN ATHENS. WE ALSO KNOW WHERE HE BUILT THE STATUE, THANKS TO AN EXTRAORDINARY FIND-- A CUP, INSCRIBED WITH PHIDIAS' NAME. IT'S EVIDENCE THAT THIS, THE LOCATION OF THE FIND, WAS HIS WORKSHOP. TODAY, REMAINS OF A LATER CHRISTIAN CHURCH DOMINATE THE SITE. SO, MARK, THIS IS PHIDIAS' WORKSHOP. OK, THIS IS WHERE THEY WOULD HAVE BUILT THE STATUE OF ZEUS? THAT'S RIGHT, IT'S THE EXTERIOR WALLS AT THE LOWER COURSES AND SOME COLUMNS IN THE CENTER THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN HERE, AND THE STATUE WAS BUILT BETWEEN THOSE COLUMNS, JUST TO SEE IF THIS IS GOING TO FIT INTO THAT STRUCTURE. THE SIZE AND PROPORTIONS OF PHIDIAS' WORKSHOP WERE IDENTICAL TO THE SPACE THE STATUE WAS INTENDED TO OCCUPY. WHEN THE STATUE WAS MADE AND PUT IN PLACE 20 YEARS AFTER THE TEMPLE WAS MADE, IT HAD TO WORK, IT HAD TO BE PERFECT, BECAUSE EVERYTHING WAS SO PERFECT ABOUT THE TEMPLE ITSELF, YOU COULDN'T TAKE STATUE IN IF YOU DIDN'T KNOW IT WAS GOING TO WORK. MARK'S NOTICED SOMETHING ELSE ABOUT THE WORKSHOP-- IT SEEMS TO HAVE THE SAME ORIENTATION AS THE TEMPLE. TO FIND OUT IF THIS WAS DELIBERATE, HE TAKES A COUPLE OF READINGS. LET'S TRY AND TAKE A BEARING OFF THIS WALL. I READ ABOUT 79 DEGREES HERE. THAT'S-- BA-- WOW! HA HA! OK, I'M READING A TAD BELOW 80 DEGREES, SOMETHING LIKE THAT. THE RESULTS ARE ASTONISHING. THE WORKSHOP AND TEMPLE ARE ALIGNED PRECISELY. THE DIFFERENCES WE GOT WERE SO MINUTE THAT IT COULDN'T BE LEFT TO CHANCE. FROM MY POINT OF VIEW, ONCE-- I'D LIKE TO BELIEVE IT HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE LIGHT. MARK BELIEVES THAT TO HAVE GONE TO SO MUCH TROUBLE TO RECREATE THE CONDITIONS OF THE TEMPLE, SUNLIGHT MUST HAVE PLAYED A BIG PART IN PHIDIAS' DESIGN. BUT HE STILL NEEDS TO KNOW HOW ZEUS WAS CONSTRUCTED. WE KNOW THAT THE STATUE OF ZEUS WAS NOT MADE FROM STONE, BUT ITS SKIN FASHIONED FROMRY, AND ITS ROBES AND SANDALS FROM GOLD. AT THE TIME, ONLY PHIDIAS WAS CREATING STATUES FROM THESE MATERIALS, AND THE CRAFTSMANSHIP THEY REQUIRED WAS MASTERFUL. THESE MOLDS FOUND IN HIS WORKSHOP MAY HAVE BEEN USED TO CAST THE GOLD ROBES. AND FOUND ALONGSIDE THE MOLDS WERE THESE-- SMALL CHIPS OF IVORY. I'D LIKE TO TRY TO GET A FEEL FOR HOW THEY MIGHT HAVE TRIED TO MAKE THE IVORY SKIN. HOW ARE THEY GONNA GET SHEETS OF IVORY OUT OF THE ELEPHANT TUSK? YOU WOULD SHAVE IT OFF IN LAYERS, MUCH AS YOU MIGHT DO SHARPENING A PENCIL, SO IT'S COMING OFF IN A LAYER. HOW WOULD THEY BE SOFTENED? BECAUSE I KNOW AN ELEPHANT TUSK IS QUITE HARD. THE SPECULATION IS THAT THE GREEKS SOAKED THE IVORY IN VINEGAR FOR SOME PERIOD OF TIME UNTIL IT BECOMES MALLEABLE. ONCE THEY HAD THE SOFTENED PIECE OF IVORY, THEY COULD PUT IT IN A MOLD. THAT'S RIGHT. THE IVORY WOULD TAKE THE SHAPE OF THE MOLD WHERE THEN IT WOULD DRY AND, PRESUMABLY, RETAIN THE SHAPE OF THE MOLD. BUT EVEN THE LARGEST ELEPHANT TUSK WOULD ONLY YIELD A RELATIVELY SMALL PIECE OF IVORY, AND THE STATUE OF ZEUS WAS COLOSSAL, OVER 40 FEET TALL. WHAT'S GONNA GIVE THIS ENTIRE JIGSAW PUZZLE-- ONCE IT'S PUT TOGETHER-- SOME STRUCTURAL STABILITY? WE KNOW BY ANALOGY WITH PHIDIAS' EARLIER CREATION-- THE STATUE OF ATHENA PARTHENOS IN THE PARTHENON, ALSO THIS COLOSSUS OF IVORY AND GOLD-- WE KNOW THAT IT WAS HELD UP BY A WOODEN, AND PERHAPS METAL ARMATURE, AND SO WE CAN ASSUME THE SAME WAS TRUE FOR THE LATER PHEIDIAN ZEUS. AND THERE'S EVIDENCE THAT PHIDIAS DIDN'T RELY ON SIZE ALONE TO MAKE HIS STATUE IMPRESSIVE. AFTER NOTING THE IDENTICAL ORIENTATION OF THE TEMPLE AND THE WORKSHOP, MARK BELIEVES THAT LIGHTING WAS HUGELY IMPORTANT. BACK AT THE SITE, THE EVIDENCE ON THE GROUND SHOWS THAT PHIDIAS WAS USING EVERY TRICK IN THE BOOK TO ADD DRAMA TO HIS GREAT STATUE. THE STONE USED TO BUILD THE TEMPLE WAS A LOCAL SHELLY LIMESTONE-- GREY AND DULL. SO TO LIFT THE INTERIOR OF THE TEMPLE AND MAXIMIZE LIGHT, IT WAS COATED IN PLASTER. THEY WOULD HAVE USED PAINTED PLASTER-- WHITE PAINTED PLASTER ON THE EXTERIOR TO IMITATE MARBLE. AND WE ACTUALLY HAVE SOME PLASTER REMAINING HERE ON THE SURFACE. YOU CAN SEE A GOOD PIECE OF IT RIGHT HERE. THIS PLASTER MAY LOOK DULL AND YELLOW NOW, BUT WHEN THE TEMPLE WAS BUILT, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A BRILLIANT WHITE, REFLECTING THE LIGHT AND MAKING THE COLUMNS RADIANT. AND PHIDIAS HAD ANOTHER TRICK UP HIS SLEEVE. WITH THE ONLY SOURCE OF NATURAL LIGHT IN THE TEMPLE THE ONE HUGE DOOR, HE DESIGNED A FEATURE TO MAKE THE MOST OF THIS LIGHT-- STANDING DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF THE STATUE WAS A REFLECTING POOL, AND 2 AND A HALF THOUSAND YEARS LATER, WE CAN STILL SEE THE EVIDENCE. IF YOU RUN YOUR FINGERS ALONGSIDE OF THIS, YOU CAN FEEL A CHANNEL HERE. YEP. AND YOU CAN TRACE THAT LINE, NOT ONLY ON THIS SIDE, BUT ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE AS WELL, AT EXACTLY THE SAME POINT, AND THIS SEEMS TO MARK A WATERLINE, WHERE WATER, OR LIQUID, WAS. SO WHAT YOU'RE SAYING IS WE HAD ABOUT 5 OR 6 CENTIMETERS OF FLUID IN HERE. THE DRAMATIC REFLECTIONS CREATED BY THE POOL WERE COUPLED WITH THE OPULENCE OF THE IVORY AND GOLD THAT MADE UP THE BODY OF ZEUS. SURROUNDED BY THE BRILLIANT WHITE COLUMNS OF THE TEMPLE, IT WOULD HAVE MADE AN AWE-INSPIRING SIGHT. IN ZEUS' HANDS, HE HELD A SCEPTER AS AN EMBLEM OF HIS POWER, AND A WINGED FIGURE OF NIKE, OR VICTORY. LIT BY TORCHES AND FIRES, THE TEMPLE WOULD HAVE BEEN A SPECTACULAR SITE. WE CERTAINLY DO SEE INCREDIBLY ORNATE STRUCTURE AND STATUES THAT MAKE UP THE TEMPLE ITSELF. EVERYTHING MADE THE TEMPLE SO BEAUTIFUL AND YET THE TEMPLE IS NOT WHAT WE'RE HERE FOR, IT WAS THE STATUE OF ZEUS. SO THE SIZE AND THE DIMENSIONS OF THE STATUE, COMPARED TO THE SIZE AND BEAUTY AND DIMENSIONS OF THE BUILDING, MUST HAVE BEEN INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL IN ORDER TO MAKE THAT ONE OF THE 7 WONDERS AND NOT THE TEMPLE AND THAT TOGETHER. THE 7 WONDERS HAVE CAPTIVATED MAN'S IMAGINATION SINCE THEY WERE FIRST CREATED. OF THE 7, THE GREAT PYRAMID IS THE ONLY ONE THAT SURVIVES. BUT WHAT LED TO THE DESTRUCTION OF THE OTHER WONDERS? AND WHY HAVE THEY CONTINUED TO FASCINATE US TO THIS DAY? THEY HAVE BEEN HELD UP AS THINGS OF NEAR PERFECTION, AS THE VERY GREATEST PRODUCTS OF THE CLASSICAL WORLD, SETTING A STANDARD AGAINST WHICH FUTURE ACHIEVEMENTS WOULD BE JUDGED, AND FOUND WANTING. BUT IN THEIR TIME, THE 7 WONDERS MARKED THE START OF A REVOLUTION-- A TIME WHEN MAN WOULD REACH OUT AND STAMP AUTHORITY ON THE WORLD HE INHABITED-- DEFY NATURE AND BECOME ITS MASTER. THE SCALE OF THE PYRAMID THE PHAROS AND THE MAUSOLEUM. THE CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGY OF THE COLOSSUS AND THE TEMPLE OF ARTEMIS. THE TAMING OF NATURE THAT CREATED THE HANGING GARDENS-- AND THE DREAM THAT CREATED A TOWERING IVORY STATUE OF ZEUS. EACH ONE WAS SYMBOLIC OF A NEW BOLDNESS. BUT EACH ALSO REVEALED MAN'S WEAKNESSES-- HIS ARROGANCE. BOTH TOMBS-- THE GREAT PYRAMID OF GIZA AND THE MAUSOLEUM OF HALICARNASSUS-- WERE BIDS TO ACHIEVE IMMORTALITY. THE MAUSOLEUM WAS AN ATTEMPT BY A KING TO HAVE HIS NAME REMEMBERED BY CREATING THE MOST ORNATE TOMB THE WORLD HAD EVER SEEN. FOR ME, THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ABOUT THE MAUSOLEUM IS THAT IT WAS BUILT FOR THIS RULER MAUSOLUS. IT WAS ALL ABOUT IMPORTANT THIS ONE KING'S LEGACY.UM BUT HIS WORK WAS IN VAIN. ALTHOUGH IT SURVIVED UNTIL THE 15TH CENTURY, EARTHQUAKES CAUSED SERIOUS DAMAGE, AND AS WAS THE FATE OF MANY GREAT MONUMENTS, ITS STONEWORK WAS PLUNDERED, INCORPORATED INTO A CRUSADER'S CASTLE. THESE PEOPLE CARED NOTHING FOR KING MAUSOLUS' LEGACY. NOT CONTENT TO TAKE JUST THE STONEWORK FROM THE MAUSOLEUM, MOST OF THE MAGNIFICENT STATUES THAT SURROUNDED THE TOMB WERE DESTROYED TOO-- BURNT, FOR LIME MORTAR. THE WORD "MAUSOLEUM" LIVES ON, BUT FEW KNOW OF ITS ORIGINS. SIMILARLY, ALTHOUGH THE GREAT PYRAMID IS RECOGNIZED THE WORLD OVER, HOW MANY KNOW IT WAS A TOMB FOR THE PHARAOH KHUFU? MAN'S ATTEMPTS TO CREATE AND WORSHIP GODS FARED NO BETTER. THE 2 LARGER-THAN-LIFE STATUES-- THE BRONZE COLOSSUS AND THE STATUE OF ZEUS CRAFTED FROM GOLD AND IVORY-- WERE, WITHOUT A DOUBT, FINE EXAMPLES OF SKILL AND DEDICATION. THE COLOSSUS WOULD HAVE BEEN VISIBLE FOR MILES. THE EFFECT IT WOULD HAVE HAD ON THE WHOLE ISLAND, AND EVEN THE SURROUNDING SEA, MUST HAVE BEEN INCREDIBLE. AS YOU APPROACHED RHODES BY BOAT, FIRST THING PERHAPS THAT YOU WOULD HAVE SEEN WAS THE SOLAR CROWN AND HEAD OF THE GOD PEERING OVER THE HORIZON. THE COLOSSUS WAS THE BIGGEST BRONZE STATUE EVER BUILT. BUT IT LASTED JUST 54 SHORT YEARS. WITH COLOSSUS, WE LOOK AT THE CONNECTION BETWEEN BRONZE, ROCK AND IRON. AND THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE 3 WHILE IT WAS ABLE TO STAND 60 YEARS OF GALE FORCE WINDS, POSSIBLY, COULDN'T TAKE THE FULL BRUNT THAT EARTH COULD THROW AT IT. LIKE THE TEMPLE OF ARTEMIS AND THE PHAROS, THE COLOSSUS WAS BROUGHT DOWN BY AN EARTHQUAKE. [crash] IT WAS NEVER REPAIRED, AS AN ORACLE FORETOLD THAT IF THE COLOSSUS WAS REBUILT, RHODES WOULD SUFFER GREAT MISFORTUNE. FOR 900 YEARS, ITS REMAINS LAY UNTOUCHED, A SYMBOL OF MAN'S OVERREACHING AMBITION. THE STATUE OF ZEUS SURVIVED LONGER-- JUST AS BEAUTIFUL, JUST AS EXTRAORDINARY. MUST HAVE BEEN SOMETHING TO LOOK AT. THE MATERIALS THEY USED MUST HAVE BEEN INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL. ALONG WITH THE TEMPLE OF ARTEMIS AND THE MAUSOLEUM, ITS DESTRUCTION CAME ABOUT THROUGH THE ADVENT OF CHRISTIANITY. WHEN THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH HAD ALL PAGAN CEREMONIES BANNED IN 391 A.D., OLYMPIA, HOME OF THE STATUE, FELL INTO DISREPAIR. THE STATUE WAS TAKEN FROM ITS HOLY SHRINE TO CONSTANTINOPLE, FOR THE CHRISTIAN EMPEROR THEODOSIUS. ONCE A WONDER OF THE WORLD THE MAGNIFICENT IVORY ZEUS HAD BECOME LITTLE MORE THAN A TROPHY. BEFORE CHRISTIANITY, THE TEMPLE OF ARTEMIS WAS ONE OF THE MOST VISITED SHRINES IN THE WORLD. THE MAGNIFICENCE OF THE TEMPLE REFLECTED ITS STATUS. IT WAS THE ONLY TEMPLE MADE FROM MARBLE OF ITS SIZE AND OF ITS TYPE IN THE WHOLE OF THE KNOWN WORLD. IT WAS THE TEMPLE TO REALLY FINISH AND BEGIN ALL TEMPLES. THE PARTHENON WOULD HAVE BEEN KICKED INTO THE SEA IN COMPARISON-- THAT'S JUST THE BUILDING, THE STRUCTURE ALONE, WHICH WAS A MARVEL, BECAUSE THEN INSIDE WAS THIS EXTRAORDINARY CULT GODDESS, WHO WAS APPEALING, IT SEEMS TO ME, TO ABSOLUTELY EVERYBODY BEFORE THE CHRISTIANS CAME ALONG. THE TEMPLE SURVIVED DISASTERS, BEING REBUILT AFTER AN ARSON ATTACK AND AGAIN AFTER BEING SACKED BY THE GOTHS. WHAT IT COULDN'T SURVIVE WAS A CHANGING WORLD. BY THE 4TH CENTURY, THE CULT GODDESS NO LONGER DREW THE CROWDS. CHRISTIANITY HAD RONGER PULL. SO WHEN THE TEMPLE WAS DAMAGED BY AN EARTHQUAKE, THERE WAS NO CALL TO REBUILD IT. FOR ALL ITS GRANDEUR, EVEN THE PHAROS COULDN'T SURVIVE CHANGE. PTOLEMY, THE RULER OF ALEXANDRIA, BELIEVED HIS CITY THE GREATEST THAT CIVILIZATION HAD EVER KNOWN. WHEN HE DEMANDED A BEACON TO GUIDE SHIPS INTO ITS HARBOR, NO ORDINARY LIGHTHOUSE WOULD DO. INSTEAD, HE BUILT THE PHAROS. AND ONLY THE GREAT PYRAMID WAS TALLER. EVERYTHING WE KNOW PHYSICALLY ABOUT THE PHAROS WARRANTS ITS POSITION AS A WONDER OF THE WORLD. BUT AS THE CITY'S POSITION IN THE WORLD SLIPPED, SO THE PHAROS LOST ITS SHINE. FROM AROUND THE 10TH CENTURY, IT WAS ADAPTED AND USED AS A MOSQUE, BEFORE BEING DESTROYED IN AN EARTHQUAKE IN 1375. PERHAPS IT'S TO BE EXPECTED THAT THE ONE WONDER OF WHICH THERE IS NO TRACE IS THE ONE CLOSEST TO NATURE. THE HANGING GARDENS OF BABYLON WERE MAN'S ATTEMPT AT TAMING THE EARTH. BUT THE ARROGANCE-- A TROPICAL OASIS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DESERT. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A CONSTANT BATTLE TO PREVENT NATURE FROM RECLAIMING ITS LAND. INEVITABLY, THE FIGHT WAS LOST. THE 7 WONDERS-- A TESTAMENT TO MAN'S ENGINEERING SKILL, HIS OVERREACHING AMBITION. ALL BUT THE PYRAMID ARE GONE. BUT EVEN THIS HAS BEEN STRIPPED, ITS LIMESTONE CASING PLUNDERED TO BUILD CAIRO. AND YET NONE OF THESE PROJECTS WAS A FAILURE. WHAT THEY LEFT BEHIND MAY OFFER US A LESSON IN THE DANGER OF PRIDE, BUT THEY ALSO CREATE A SHINING EXAMPLE-- PROOF THAT AMBITION, ASPIRATION AND VISION CAN CREATE SOMETHING LEGENDARY. CAPTIONED BY FEATURE SUBTITLING & TRANSLATION www.featuresubtitling.com

Info

Channel: HISTORY

Views: 1,330,220

Rating: 4.648315 out of 5

Keywords: history, history channel, history shows, history channel shows, lost worlds, history lost worlds, lost worlds show, lost worlds full episodes, lost worlds clips, full episodes, Atlantis history channel documentary, Lost Worlds season 2 episode 1, Lost Worlds s2 e1, Lost Worlds s02 e01, Lost Worlds 2X1, Lost Worlds se2 ep1, Lost World, The Seven Wonders, celebration of religion, art, power, science, Christ, Seven Wonders of the World, Seven Wonders, ancients, greatest monuments

Id: 4mK10v0H3YA

Channel Id: undefined

Length: 90min 27sec (5427 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 15 2020