Wonders of the World, Part 1

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VOICE ONE:

This is Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Steve Ember with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English.
Today we present the first of three programs about some of the most
interesting, beautiful and unusual places on Earth. We begin with a
list of what have been called the Seven Wonders of the Ancient
World.

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VOICE ONE:

People have always felt the need to create lists. Lists are
records of important ideas, places, events or people. About two
thousand five hundred years ago a Greek historian named Herodotus is
said to have made a list of what he thought were the greatest
structures in the world. His list of places became known as the
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Herodotus only wrote about places he knew. He did not know much
about Asia. North and South America were completely unknown. Six of
these ancient places no longer exist. We can only guess what they
really looked like. But here is the list of those seven ancient
Wonders of the World.

VOICE TWO:

We begin with one that existed in
what is now Iraq. It was called the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. King
Nebuchadnezzar the Second probably built the gardens about two
thousand six hundred years ago. Ancient historians say they were a
huge system of gardens with trees and flowers.

Also on this list is the Colossus of Rhodes. It was a huge bronze
metal statue of the Greek sun god Helios. The Colossus was about
thirty-seven meters tall. It was built near the harbor on the Greek
island of Rhodes about two thousand three hundred years ago. This
ancient statue was destroyed in an earthquake.

VOICE ONE:

Next on our list is the statue of the Greek God Zeus in a temple
at Olympia, Greece. It was the most famous statue in the ancient
world. Records say it was about twelve meters tall and made of ivory
and gold. An earthquake probably destroyed the temple. The statue
was removed and later destroyed in a fire.

The Pharos of Alexandria was an ancient lighthouse. A fire
burning on the top of the lighthouse made it easier for ships to
find the great harbor of Alexandria, Egypt. Records say the
lighthouse was about one hundred thirty meters tall. It stood for
one thousand five hundred years before it was destroyed by an
earthquake.

The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus is another ancient wonder of the
world. It was built to honor a Greek goddess. It was one of the
largest and most complex temples built in ancient times. The temple
was built in what is now Turkey about two thousand five hundred
years ago.

Number six on our list was also built in what is now Turkey. It
was the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus. The huge marble burial place was
built for King Mausolus of Caria. It was so famous that all large
burial places, or tombs, became known as mausoleums. An earthquake
destroyed the structure.

VOICE TWO:

The last of the seven ancient
wonders are the oldest. Yet they are the only ones that still exist
today. They are the three Pyramids of Egypt, near the Nile River at
Giza. The pyraminds were built about four thousand five hundred
years ago as burial places for ancient kings. The largest is called
the Great Pyramid. It is almost one hundred forty meters high. It
covers an area of more than four hectares. The Greek historian
Herodotus said more than one hundred thousand men worked for more
than thirty years to build the Great Pyramid. The great pyramids of
Egypt will probably continue to exist for many years to come.

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VOICE ONE:

Now we will tell about several other ancient wonders that still
exist today. We cannot tell about all of the great structures built
in ancient times. There are too many. However, if Herodotus had
known about the Great Wall of China we feel sure he would have
included it on his list of wonders of the world.

The Great Wall was begun more than
two thousand years ago. It was built to keep out invaders. It
extends about six thousand seven hundred kilometers across northern
China. Today, the Chinese government is working to repair parts of
the wall and protect as much of it as possible. The Great Wall of
China is one of the largest building projects ever attempted. It is
also the only object built by people that can be seen from space.

VOICE TWO:

One of the oldest structures ever built by people also belongs on
a list of ancient wonders. It is a circle of huge stones on the
Salisbury Plain in southwestern England. It is called Stonehenge.
Experts believe work began on Stonehenge about five thousand years
ago. It was added to and changed several times until it became the
structure we see today. We know very little about Stonehenge. We do
not even know how these huge stones were moved to the area.

Some experts believe the stones were cut from solid rock about
three hundred eighty kilometers away in Wales. One of the huge
stones weighs as much as forty-five tons. Experts say Stonehenge may
have been built as some kind of ceremonial or religious structure.
Much has been written about Stonehenge, but experts say they still
are not sure what it was used for.

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VOICE ONE:

Another famous ancient structure is the Coliseum in Rome, Italy.
It was built almost two thousand years ago. The ancient Roman sports
center could hold fifty thousand people who gathered there to watch
public events. Experts say it is one of the finest examples of Roman
design and engineering.

The city of Machu Picchu in Peru should be on most lists, too.
Experts say it includes some of the best stone work ever built. The
ancient Inca people built Machu Picchu high in the Andes Mountains,
northwest of the city of Cuzco. Machu Picchu is about thirteen
square kilometers.

Historians say it might have been one of the last places of
safety for the Incas who were fleeing invaders from Spain.

VOICE TWO:

India is famous for its temples and buildings. The most famous is
the Taj Mahal, considered one of the most beautiful buildings every
constructed. The fifth Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan, ordered it built
in Agra in sixteen thirty-one. He built it as a burial place in
memory of his wife.

The Taj Mahal has tiny colorful stones inlaid in white marble.
The structure seems to change color during different times of the
day and night. Experts say it is one of the most perfect buildings
ever constructed. They say nothing could be added or taken away to
improve the beautiful Taj Mahal.

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VOICE ONE:

We will end our program today in Egypt. Any list of ancient
places must include the two temples at Abu Simbel. They were built
to honor an ancient king of Egypt, Ramses the Second, and his wife,
and Nefertari.

Abu Simbel was built more than three thousand years ago. It is
about two hundred eighty kilometers south of Aswan on the western
bank of the Nile River.

It took an army of workmen and artists more than thirty years to
cut the huge temple into the face of a rock mountain. In front of
the main temple are four huge statues of Ramses the Second. Each
statue is about twenty meters high. Nearby is another temple that
honors his wife, Nefertari. It too is beautifully carved out of
solid rock.

VOICE TWO:

The Nile River has always made life possible in the desert areas
of Egypt. However the Nile also made life difficult when it flooded.
The modern Egyptian government decided a dam could control the Nile
to prevent both floods and lack of water. Work began on the Aswan
Dam in nineteen sixty.

However, when plans were made for the dam experts quickly
discovered that the great temples at Abu Simbel would be forever
lost. They would be under water in the new lake formed by the dam.
Egypt appealed to the United Nations agency UNESCO for help. UNESCO
appealed to the world.

The governments of the world provided technical help and
financial aid to save the great temples. In nineteen sixty-four work
began to cut the temples away from the rock mountain. Each large
piece was moved sixty meters up the mountain to a safe area. Then
the huge temples were carefully rebuilt. The work was finished in
nineteen sixty-eight.

Today Abu Simbel is safe. It looks much the same as it has for
the past three thousand years. It will continue to honor the ancient
king and his queen for many years to come. And it will honor the
modern world's efforts to save a truly great work of art.

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VOICE ONE:

Next week we tell about some of the natural wonders of our world.
This program was written by Paul Thompson. It was produced by Mario
Ritter. This is Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And this is Steve Ember. Join us again next week for another
EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English.