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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 mostinteresting, beautiful and unusual places on Earth. We begin with alist of what have been called the Seven Wonders of the AncientWorld.
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People have always felt the need to create lists. Lists arerecords of important ideas, places, events or people. About twothousand five hundred years ago a Greek historian named Herodotus issaid to have made a list of what he thought were the greateststructures in the world. His list of places became known as theSeven Wonders of the Ancient World.
Herodotus only wrote about places he knew. He did not know muchabout Asia. North and South America were completely unknown. Six ofthese ancient places no longer exist. We can only guess what theyreally looked like. But here is the list of those seven ancientWonders of the World.
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We begin with one that existed inwhat is now Iraq. It was called the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. KingNebuchadnezzar the Second probably built the gardens about twothousand six hundred years ago. Ancient historians say they were ahuge system of gardens with trees and flowers.
Also on this list is the Colossus of Rhodes. It was a huge bronzemetal statue of the Greek sun god Helios. The Colossus was aboutthirty-seven meters tall. It was built near the harbor on the Greekisland of Rhodes about two thousand three hundred years ago. Thisancient statue was destroyed in an earthquake.
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Next on our list is the statue of the Greek God Zeus in a templeat Olympia, Greece. It was the most famous statue in the ancientworld. Records say it was about twelve meters tall and made of ivoryand gold. An earthquake probably destroyed the temple. The statuewas removed and later destroyed in a fire.
The Pharos of Alexandria was an ancient lighthouse. A fireburning on the top of the lighthouse made it easier for ships tofind the great harbor of Alexandria, Egypt. Records say thelighthouse was about one hundred thirty meters tall. It stood forone thousand five hundred years before it was destroyed by anearthquake.
The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus is another ancient wonder of theworld. It was built to honor a Greek goddess. It was one of thelargest and most complex temples built in ancient times. The templewas built in what is now Turkey about two thousand five hundredyears ago.
Number six on our list was also built in what is now Turkey. Itwas the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus. The huge marble burial place wasbuilt for King Mausolus of Caria. It was so famous that all largeburial places, or tombs, became known as mausoleums. An earthquakedestroyed the structure.
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The last of the seven ancientwonders are the oldest. Yet they are the only ones that still existtoday. They are the three Pyramids of Egypt, near the Nile River atGiza. The pyraminds were built about four thousand five hundredyears ago as burial places for ancient kings. The largest is calledthe Great Pyramid. It is almost one hundred forty meters high. Itcovers an area of more than four hectares. The Greek historianHerodotus said more than one hundred thousand men worked for morethan thirty years to build the Great Pyramid. The great pyramids ofEgypt 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 stillexist today. We cannot tell about all of the great structures builtin ancient times. There are too many. However, if Herodotus hadknown about the Great Wall of China we feel sure he would haveincluded it on his list of wonders of the world.
The Great Wall was begun more thantwo thousand years ago. It was built to keep out invaders. Itextends about six thousand seven hundred kilometers across northernChina. Today, the Chinese government is working to repair parts ofthe wall and protect as much of it as possible. The Great Wall ofChina is one of the largest building projects ever attempted. It isalso the only object built by people that can be seen from space.
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One of the oldest structures ever built by people also belongs ona list of ancient wonders. It is a circle of huge stones on theSalisbury Plain in southwestern England. It is called Stonehenge.Experts believe work began on Stonehenge about five thousand yearsago. It was added to and changed several times until it became thestructure we see today. We know very little about Stonehenge. We donot even know how these huge stones were moved to the area.
Some experts believe the stones were cut from solid rock aboutthree hundred eighty kilometers away in Wales. One of the hugestones weighs as much as forty-five tons. Experts say Stonehenge mayhave been built as some kind of ceremonial or religious structure.Much has been written about Stonehenge, but experts say they stillare 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 sportscenter could hold fifty thousand people who gathered there to watchpublic events. Experts say it is one of the finest examples of Romandesign 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. Theancient Inca people built Machu Picchu high in the Andes Mountains,northwest of the city of Cuzco. Machu Picchu is about thirteensquare kilometers.
Historians say it might have been one of the last places ofsafety for the Incas who were fleeing invaders from Spain.
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India is famous for its temples and buildings. The most famous isthe Taj Mahal, considered one of the most beautiful buildings everyconstructed. The fifth Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan, ordered it builtin Agra in sixteen thirty-one. He built it as a burial place inmemory of his wife.
The Taj Mahal has tiny colorful stones inlaid in white marble.The structure seems to change color during different times of theday and night. Experts say it is one of the most perfect buildingsever constructed. They say nothing could be added or taken away toimprove the beautiful Taj Mahal.
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We will end our program today in Egypt. Any list of ancientplaces must include the two temples at Abu Simbel. They were builtto 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 isabout two hundred eighty kilometers south of Aswan on the westernbank of the Nile River.
It took an army of workmen and artists more than thirty years tocut the huge temple into the face of a rock mountain. In front ofthe main temple are four huge statues of Ramses the Second. Eachstatue is about twenty meters high. Nearby is another temple thathonors his wife, Nefertari. It too is beautifully carved out ofsolid rock.
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The Nile River has always made life possible in the desert areasof Egypt. However the Nile also made life difficult when it flooded.The modern Egyptian government decided a dam could control the Nileto prevent both floods and lack of water. Work began on the AswanDam in nineteen sixty.
However, when plans were made for the dam experts quicklydiscovered that the great temples at Abu Simbel would be foreverlost. They would be under water in the new lake formed by the dam.Egypt appealed to the United Nations agency UNESCO for help. UNESCOappealed to the world.
The governments of the world provided technical help andfinancial aid to save the great temples. In nineteen sixty-four workbegan to cut the temples away from the rock mountain. Each largepiece was moved sixty meters up the mountain to a safe area. Thenthe huge temples were carefully rebuilt. The work was finished innineteen sixty-eight.
Today Abu Simbel is safe. It looks much the same as it has forthe past three thousand years. It will continue to honor the ancientking and his queen for many years to come. And it will honor themodern 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 MarioRitter. This is Faith Lapidus.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Steve Ember. Join us again next week for anotherEXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English.