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Two thousand years ago, before the invention of airplanes, cameras, or computers, Greek writer Antipater of Sidon undertook the mammoth task of making a list of the most magnificent structures that stood on earth. While six out of the seven Wonders Of The Ancient World now lie buried in the sands of time , their magnificence is worth a look at.

The Great Pyramid of Giza

• Location : The city of Giza m a necropolis in ancient Memphis that is today known as CairomEgypt.

• Built : by the pharaoh Khufu of the Fourth Dynasty to server as a tomb . The pyramid took nearly twenty years to be completed starting from the year 2560 B.C. Inside, the pyrmaid was seperated into three parts — the King’s Chamber, the Queen’s Chamber and the Unfinished Chamber.

• Wonder factor: The highest building in the world for 3800 years, the Great Pyramid is also the only surviving ancient wonder. Even more astonishing is how a 481 feet high structure using approximately two million blocks of stone, each weighing more than two tons, without modern engineering technology.

• Destruction: All that remains is the underlying core structure. Many of the polished white limestones were carted away to Cairo and used for mosques and fortresses after a massive earthquake in 1301. Today the thousands of tourist who enter the pyramid are also slowly destroying it as their breaths carry damaging moiusture and humidity.

Temple of Artemis

• Location: The city of Ephesus in which now lies the modern town of Selcuk in Turkey

• Built: Although its foundations were constructed in eight century B.C, it was only in 550 B.C. that King Croesus of Lydia hired Cretan architect Chersiphron to build the grand temple in worship of Artemis, the Greek goddess of hunting and fertility.

• Wonder factor: The great white marble temple spanned 140 by 80 yards and served as a marketplace,refugee centre and religious institution. Despite being built in an earthquake ridden area, the gargantuan structure stood without mortar using only small wooden clamps called swallow tails to hold it together.

• Destruction: on 21 July 356 B.C., a man named Herostratus burned the temple to the ground in an attempt to immortalize himself- the same night that Alexander The Great was born. The temple was eventually restored after Alexander’s death two decades later but the spread of Christianity, which prevent the worship of idols, led to it being torn down by St John Chrysostorn in 401A.D.

Tomb Of King Mausolus

• Location: City of Bodrum , formerly knowns as Halicarnassus on the Aegean Sea, south west of Turkey.

• Bult : King Mausolus of Caria wasn’t anyone extraordinary except that he married his sister Artemisia to keep the royal dynasty intact. Conceived by his wife, the tomb was only completed in 350 B.C. That is 3 years after his death and one year after Artemisia’s.

• Wonder factor: This is the building for the King who lends his name to all large tombs today - mausoleums. The tomb of Mausolus was unique at the time, as it was not dedicated to any greek god.

• Destruction: in 1494, stones of the tomb were used by the invading Knights of St John of Malta to fortify their castle. The castle still stands today and some of the surviving sculptures and friezes can be found on display at the British Museum in London.

The Pharos Lighthouse

• Location: On the ancient island of Pharos. Now part of the city of Alexandria, Egypt.

• Built: in 290 B.C. , after the death of Alenxander the Great, self made king Ptolemy Soter conceived the idea of building a lighthouse. However it was only completed after his death by his son Ptolemy Philadelphus.

• Wonder factor: The Pharoh was the only one world wonder to have a practical use in addition to its architectural elegance it enabled sailors to navigate the dangerous water off Alexandria and make a safe return to the Great Harbour . Standing atop a large cliff , the white marble lighthouse was roughly the height of a 40 storey modern building and had a rather unusual shape - the base was square , the middle octagonal and cylindrical tower crowned the top.

• Destruction: Of the six vanished wonders, the Pharos of Alexandria was the last to be destroyed in 1480. After suffering significant ruin by earthquakes in 1303 and 1323. The Egyptian Mamelouk Sultan Qaitbay decided to fortify Alexandria’s defense by building a fort on the same spot where the lighthouse once stood using its fallen stone and marble.

The Colossus Of Rhodes

• Location: At the entrance of the harbour of the Mediterranean Island of Rhodes in Greece.

• Built: When the citizens of Rhodes island stayed off a siege by the Antigonids of Macedonia, they celebrated by erecting an enormous statues of their sun god, Helios. Construction of the Colossus took 12 years and was finished in 282 B.C.

• Wonder factor: Standing about 110 feet high, few people could make their arms meet around Colossus thumb alone. Several stories tell of the giant straddling the port entrance. However this theory has been dispelled by modern day historians as it would have destroyed the harbor when it fell. This ancient World Wonder was also said to have inspired modern artist such as French sculptor Augeste Bartholdi, best known for The Statue of Liberty.

• Destruction: A strong earthquake that hit Rhodes in 226 B.C caused the Colossus to break at its weakest point , the knee. Although the Rhodians received an offer by Ptolemy III Eurgetes of Egypt to restore the toppled monument, an oracle forbade its re-erection. After laying in ruins for almost millennium , the remains of the status was taken by invading Arabs in 654 A.D. and transpoerted to Syria on the backs of 900 camels.

Hanging Garden of Babylon

• Location: By the River Euphrates near the ancient city of Babylon. Its ruins now lie in AL Hillah, about 50km south of Baghdad.

• Built: Around 600 B.C. by King Nebuchadnezzar ll to keep his wife Amytis, who missed the mountainous surroundings of her homeland, happy.

• Wonder factor : To have tropical plants survive in the dry lands of Babylons is a wonder itself. The plants of the garden grew on the roofs and stepped terraces and was watered by a combination of an irrigation system and layered foundations.

• Destruction: Destroyed by purportedly by several earthquakes in second century B.C. However, the question that plagues modern day researchers if it really existed at all. While Greek historians Strabo and Diodorus Siculus gve descriptive accounts of the famed gardens, detailed Babylonian records do not make a single reference to it. One theory also suggests that the Greeks may have confused it with gardens built by Assyrian King Sennacherib in Ninevah.

Ivory Statues Of Zeus

• Location: Home of the original Olympic games - Olympia, now on the west coast of modern Greece about 150km west of Athens.

• Built : Architect in Libon started building the temple around 450 B.C. , in honour of Zeus, the king of the gods. But it was only in 440 B.C. that sculptor of Pheidias began working on the gargantuan statue.

• Wonder factor: Pheidias scupted the statue made of gold, ivory, ebony and precious stones in pieces before assembling it inside the temple. Once completed , the 40 feet high statue barely fitted inside the temple with Zeus’ head scraping the ceiling. The statues was also so high that visitors described the throne carved with animals, gods and plants more than Zeus’ own features.

• Destruction: The status suffered damage when the scaffolding, in an attempt by Emperor Caligula to transport it to Rome, collapsed. It endured earthqueakes, floods and fires that hit the area. After the temple of Zeus was ordered closed by the empror Theodosius for practicing paganism in 391 A.D., the statues was moved to a palace in Constantinople by wealthy Greeks. There, it survived until it was destroyed by a fire in 462 A.D.