Ancient Wonders of the World

1. The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World is the first known list of the most remarkable creations of classical antiquity, and was based on guide-books popular among Hellenic sight-seers and only includes works located around the Mediterranean rim. The number seven was chosen because the Greeks believed it to be the representation of perfection and plenty. The Greek category was not Wonders but thaumata, which translates closer to "things to be seen".

2. The Great Pyramid is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World that still stands. Some of the scientists think it was built at the order of the Pharaoh Che­ops, who once ruled Egypt. Their attitude is that more than 100,000 slaves labored for twenty years to build it. They had no machines, not even carts – all the work was done by human strength alone. Yet each huge block was so well laid that the Pyramid has stood for 5,000 years.

3. In Babylon, one of the greatest cities of the Ancient World, there was a famous garden, which amazed visitors for hundreds of years. It was call­ed the *Hanging Gardens of Queen Semiramis². The gardens were built by the Babylonian king *Nebuchadnezzar II³, around 600 BC. The gardens were built along arches and towers and looked like a wall of flowers and green shrubs. They were kept alive by a hidden pool on the highest terrace, from which the water was drawn to appear in a series of fountains. Nebuchadnezzar II also used massive slabs of stone, which was unheard of in Babylon, to prevent the water from eroding the ground. He is reported to have constructed the gardens to please his homesick wife, Amytis of Media, who longed for the trees and fragrant plants of her homeland Persia. The gardens were destroyed by several earthquakes after the 2nd century BC.

4. In ancient times the Greeks held one of their most important festivals, the Olympic Games, in honour of the King of their gods, Zeus, for whom the Roman name was Jupiter. The Greeks built the Temple of Zeus that was completed in 456 B.C. Though the temple was considered one of the best examples of the Doric design because of its style and the quality of the workmanship, it was decided the temple alone was too simple to be worthy of the King of the gods. To remedy this, a statue was commissioned for the interior – a magnificent Statue of Zeus that would become one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The sculptor chosen for this great task was a man named Phidias. The statue was 4O feet high – about seven times a man's height – and was made of marble, decorated with pure gold and ivory. After 1,000 years an earthquake tumbled it down.

5. The Temple of Artemis is one of the most famous temples of the ancient world. It stood for 600 years near the ancient city of Ephesus, a great city of Syria in *Middle Asia⁴. The temple was a sacred place devoted to Artemis, also called Diana by ancient Romans, huntress and goddess of the moon. The finest sculptors and painters of Greece decorated this beautiful building, which was destroyed on July 21, 356 BC in an act of arson committed by Herostratus. According to the story, his motivation was fame at any cost. Only a few pieces of statues and columns remained about 50 km south from the modern port city of Izmir in Turkey.

6. *Few remember now⁵ the tiny kingdom of Caria, which once flourished in what is now southwestern Turkey. But the name of its king, Maussollos, is known because of the word “mausoleum” – a massive tomb. Maussollos died in 353 BC, leaving his queen Artemisia broken-hearted. Artemisia decided to build him the most splendid tomb in the known world. The original Mausoleum was so magnificent that it was called one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Maussollos’s name is now associated with all stately tombs through our modern world.

2. Notes to the text:

1. …as a symbol of mystery – an enigma.– … как символ чего-то непонятного или выше человеческого понимания

2. Hanging Gardens of Queen Semiramis. – Висячие сады Семирамиды.

3. Nebuchadnezzar II – читается как [ֽnebjukəd'nezə] – царь

Навуходоносор

4. Middle Asia – Ближний Восток

5. Few remember now… – мало кто сегодня помнит…

3. Key vocabulary / words and expressions:

ancient ['einòənt] – adj. древний, старинный

arson [' α:sn] – n поджог

beacon ['bi:kən] – n маяк, бакен

decorate ['dekəreit] – v украшать, декорировать

destroy [dis'troi] – v разрушать, уничтожать

earthquake ['ə:θkweik] – n землетрясение

harbour ['hα:bə] – n гавань, порт

height [hαit] – n высота, рост

labour ['leibə] – v трудиться, работать

lighthouse ['lαithαus] – n маяк

pool [pu:l] – n пруд, лужа

remedy ['remidi] – v исправить; вылечить

slab [slæb] – n плита; ~ of concrete бетонная плита

tumble ['tÙmbl] – v падать, (down) рушиться

temple ['templ] – n храм

tiny ['taini] – adj. очень маленький, крошечный

4. General Understanding. Answer the questions to the text:

1. What do you know about the history of pyramids in Egypt?

2. What is a mausoleum?

3. Who destroyed the Temple of Artemis?

4. Describe the Hanging Gardens.

5. Where was the greatest statue of Zeus?

5. What is Rhodes famous for?

6. Why was the Pharos built?

5. Phonetic drill. Mind the pronunciation of the following words with the italicized letters:

[u:] incl u de, fl u ent, bl u e, revol u tion; r u le, cr u de, Jer u salem, r u ble /

but constr u ct [kǝn'strÙkt], str u cture ['strÙktòǝ]

[o:] m au soleum, au thority, au tomobile, Au stralia, Au gust, l au nch /

but g au ge [geiʤ], l au gh [lÙf], au nt[Ùnt], m au ve[mouv]

6. Learn to recognize international words. Give Russian equivalents to

the following words:

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