The New 7 Wonders of the World are an international
list of the most impressive and meaningful structures of our modern history: The Great
Wall of China, Petra in Jordan, Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, as well as Machu
Picchu in Peru, Chichén Itzá in Mexico, the Colosseum in Rome, and the Taj Mahal in
India. And besides these 7 magnificent structures,
the list also includes the Great Pyramids of Giza, which received a place of honor on
the list. Much about these massive pyramids remains
unknown to this day, and it is not clear how they were actually built. There are countless theories, such as the
absurd theory that aliens placed it on earth. But now the mystery could finally be solved. We show you why this simple image could be
the solution to the millennium-old secret. What do you think? What does this picture reveal? Before we answer that question, let's start
with an equally impressive wonder of the world, the Great Wall of China. China was home to one of the earliest civilizations
in human history. Early Chinese are credited with many revolutionary
inventions including paper and gunpowder. And they laid the foundations of the longest
man-made structure ever built. In total, The Great Wall of China is 21,000
kilometers long and passes through more than 400 towns across northern and central China. However, contrary to the common view, it is
not a single continuous structure. In fact, it is a series of fortifications
and bulwarks whose origin can be traced back to the time between the 8th and 5th Centuries
BC. At the time China was divided into several
smaller states that were always at war with each other to expand their territory. With frequent external threats rulers of these
smaller states started to build high walls to keep out the intruders. By the 3rd Century BC, the warring states
unified under the Qin Dynasty and their Emperor set about extending the Wall, while also connecting
some of the existing sections. However, the most famous parts of the wall
were built much later during the Ming Dynasty, which came to power in the 14th century - about
1,700 years later. Almost one-third of the Wall and some of its
strongest sections were built during that era to protect against the Mongol tribes. The materials used in the Great wall's construction
differ greatly depending on the kind of terrain the wall passed through and the materials
available in the surrounding areas. In many places rammed soil and wood were used
while the strongest sections of the wall were built using marble, bricks, and a secret ingredient
that has preserved it for so many centuries. The secret ingredient is a rather unusual
mortar that contains sticky rice. Introduced during the Ming Era, it proved
to be as strong and waterproof as cement and sealed the bricks so tightly that weeds were
unable to grow between them. Much of the Ming Era sections are still standing
strong to this day, even surviving drastic weather events and earthquakes. But building the longest man-made structure
was no easy task. Often, huge stones and massive bricks had
to be transported to mountain tops and through difficult terrains. Without powerful machinery, laborers could
only use their bare hands and often traveled several kilometers resulting in deaths from
hunger and exhaustion. That's why many laborers lost their lives
during the construction of the wall. Today, only rough estimates can be made and
some articles put the number at around 400,000 deaths. The Great Wall of China is a testament to
the skill and hard work of the millions of laborers and many parts of the wall stood
the test of time and continue to attract over 10 million visitors every year. However, this might also become a problem
in the future. While innovative mortar solutions and stone
blocks have helped preserve the wall, not all of its sections are as well maintained. Over the years, adverse weather conditions
made around one-third of the wall disappear. Human activity including villagers stealing
building materials, and excess of tourists has also contributed to the wall's decay. Despite some of its sections disappearing,
the Wall's sheer size has given rise to many popular myths including the one that it is
visible from the moon. However, this myth is incorrect. The claim about its visibility from the moon
was first made in the 1930s and no one had traveled to the moon or even to space at that
time. The first person to set foot on the moon,
Neil Armstrong was also asked about the Great Wall's visibility many times but while he
could see continents, lakes, and bodies of water, no man-made structure was visible from
the moon. Next up we uncover the secrets of a wonder
of the world that was abandoned and hidden for centuries: Machu Picchu 2400 meters above sea level in the Andes Mountains
of Peru, lies a mysterious city in a stunning natural landscape that was once home to 300
to 1000 residents. Machu Picchu is a historic site of the Inca
Empire, which at its peak was the largest empire at the time in America. The city was built in the early 15th century
and its ruins reveal the architectural skills of the Inca Civilization. The ruins of the city consist of 200 buildings
that are made entirely out of finely carved granite stones fitted together without the
use of mortar. They were installed so precisely that not
even a piece of paper can be inserted between them. And because of that, the buildings were way
more resistant to earthquakes. In the event of an earthquake, the stone walls
move slightly and resettle without the building collapsing. Since Peru is a region with high seismic activity,
this building method is probably the reason why most of the structures at Machu Picchu
are still standing today. But why did they build this city in such a
remote location and why was it abandoned? Many researchers believe that the city was
built as a royal estate for the Inca Emperor and a luxury getaway for the elite. While others have claimed that it was instead
the perfect hideout to protect the Emperor in case of a foreign invasion. Since the surrounding mountains were considered
sacred by the Incas, it also could have been a religious center to honor the landscape. This would also explain why Machu Picchu has
multiple temples, including the impressive Temple of the Sun, which was built with great
precision and only the best materials. The true reason for building Machu Picchu
remains unclear, what is known however is that the city did not remain inhabited for
very long. By 1528, less than a hundred years after Machu
Picchu was built, the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire began. Fearing looting and destruction, the residents
of Machu Picchu abandoned the city. In order to protect the city, they burned
down the surrounding forests, so that no more paths could be found leading up the mountain. And their plan worked out. The Spanish invaders never found the city. After the Spanish Victory in 1572, many of
the other bigger Inca cities were destroyed. This included Vilcabamba which was the last
Inca city to fall to the Spanish. But since there was no written record of Machu
Picchu and no visible way to access it, it remained unseen. More than three centuries later, American
explorer and historian Hiram Bingham led a small expedition to Cuzco in hope of discovering
the lost city of Vilcabamba. After reaching a small settlement in the peripheries
of Cuzco, the explorers asked a local farmer about ancient ruins in the area. The farmer told them about the extensive ruins
high in the mountains and on 24 July 1911, the explorers hiked the trails on mules to
reach the site. Bingham concluded that this was the lost city
of Vilcabamba however that was not the case and the ruins became known as Machu Picchu. Today, more than 100 years after its discovery,
Machu Picchu is one of the most visited and special places in the world. For the last wonder of the world that we cover
in this video, we go more than 5000 years back in time when Ancient Egypt, one of the
most advanced civilizations in history, arose along the Nile river. To this day, humankind admires their culture
and their advances in almost all areas of life, including math, language, medicine,
and also architecture. One of their greatest achievements - The Great
Pyramid of Giza - still remains with us and continues to fascinate people around the world. This colossal structure was built in only
27 years and originally, it was 146.5 meters tall. In total, it consisted of 2.3 million blocks
with an average weight similar to that of an SUV. The fact that even today some people believe
that it was built by aliens, shows how far they were ahead of their time. The Great Pyramid also looked quite different
when they built it as it was covered in smooth white limestone. This shiny encasing concealed the pyramid’s
core and made it dazzle in the desert sun. The tip of the pyramid was covered with gold-plated
capstone giving it an exquisite look visible for many kilometers in every direction. Over time, the shiny casing stones loosened
up and were removed to build other monuments like the Cairo Citadel and Mosques all across
the Capital. That’s why the Great Pyramid of Giza is
standing 8 meters smaller at 138.5 meters today. But how did the Egyptians do it? Despite the lack of modern tools, how did
they manage to quarry, transport, and position these massive stones? Most of the blocks were quarried near the
pyramid in what is known as the Central Field. It is believed that they used wooden sleds
to move the blocks through the sand. But when they were dragged through the hot
sand, they dug into the sand, which made it very difficult to move. Their simple secret to overcoming this problem
was wetting the sand first. This reduced friction and made the sand harder,
making it much easier to move the heavy blocks to the construction site. However, the white limestones for the casing
of the pyramid had to be transported by boat from Tura, which is around 10km to the south. And what is really impressive: The researchers
found out that about 8,000 tons of granite stones came from Aswan, which is located about
900 km south of the Nile. They were used for the king's chamber and
every single block reached a weight of up to 80 tons - approximately the weight of 12
African male elephants. The next challenge was to install these stones
perfectly as the construction progressed to greater heights. Over the centuries, scientists have come up
with many different theories. Most of the theories revolve around the use
of ramps. Without cranes and other modern building tools,
using ramps is thought to be the only possible method of transporting the massive stone blocks
toward the top of the pyramid. The first theory is that they used a single
straight ramp on one side of the pyramid that was raised throughout construction. For such a ramp the inclination would need
to be at a maximum of around 8 percent, otherwise it would be too difficult to drag the stones
up. However, that leads to the fact that the ramp
would extend to around 1.8 kilometers. Building such a ramp would have been a massive
project, which might even be a bigger challenge than the pyramid itself. The second and more efficient way would be
a ramp that went around the outside of the pyramid towards the top. The problem with such a ramp is the corners
wouldn’t be complete until the end of construction. This makes it very difficult to carefully
measure the angles at the corners, and it makes it almost impossible to ensure that
the corners are straight and meet perfectly at the tip. French Architect Jean-Pierre Houdin wasn’t
satisfied with the existing explanations and in 2003, he presented another theory. After around 7 years of researching and creating
these 3D models, he realized that an external ramp would only be practical to construct
one-third of the Pyramid starting from its base. For the remainder of the structure, they could
have used internal ramps that go up towards the top in a corkscrew shape. This way, the ramp for the first third would
be much smaller and also it would be easier to align the corners. And there is even evidence that supports this
idea. In the 1980s the Great Pyramid of Giza was
scanned using microgravimetry, which measures the density of objects. At the time they were searching for hidden
chambers inside, but couldn’t find any. In one of their pictures, however, it looks
like the internal ramp theory might be an explanation for this lower density spiraling
around the pyramid. What you can see are areas in the pyramid
with a lower density. This could indicate tunnels that were used
to build the pyramid. Unfortunately, these have not yet been able
to be examined more closely, since no entrances to the tunnels have been discovered. Besides the question of how it was built,
there is an interesting fact about who built it. According to a popular myth first put forward
by Greek historian Herodotus, the Great Pyramid was built by slaves. However, multiple studies have shown that
this is most likely not true. Archaeologists have located the remains of
villages exclusively built for the thousands of workers who probably came from far away
settlements along the Nile river in search of work. The slave theory was further debunked In 2010
when Egypt displayed newly discovered tombs that held a dozen skeletons of pyramid builders. The skeletons were perfectly preserved and
were buried along with jars that once contained beer and bread meant for the workers' afterlife. Egyptians followed the same rituals for their
Kings and Elites which shows that the workers commanded a lot of respect. To this day, it isn’t 100% proven how it
was built. And perhaps we will never truly find out. But one thing is certain: Ancient Egypt's
had the resources and knowledge to realize this project in just 27 years and that shows
what a remarkable and advanced civilization they were. Do you want us to make a second part about
the fascinating stories of the other wonders of the world? Let us know in the comments below. If you enjoyed this video, make sure to like
this video and subscribe to Top Luxury.
