Social Studies lesson

1. 1. The Great Pyramid at Giza
2. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
3. The Statue of Zeus at Olympia
4. The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

2. 5. The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
6. The Colossus of Rhodes
7. The Lighthouse at Alexandria
TheThe Statue of ZeuStatue of Zeuss at Olympiaat Olympia
Zeus was the king of the ancient Greek gods. Olympia
was the city that hosted the Ancient Greek Olympic
Games.
The Temple of Zeus was completed in 456 BCE.
It was built in Olympia to honor Zeus and the Greek
Olympic Games.
Like the Parthenon and the Temple of Artemis, Doric
columns were used to support the structure.
Today, little remains of the temple or the once
magnificent Statue of Zeus within it. But the spirit of the
Olympic Games lives on!

3. The Temple of Artemis at EphesusThe Temple of Artemis at Ephesus

4. The Temple of Artemis was first built around 800 BCE in the ancient Greek city of
Ephesus, on the coast of what is now modern day Turkey.
The temple was destroyed and rebuilt several times. Each time, it was rebuilt more
impressively than the temple before it.
The first temple was destroyed around 550 BCE in a war. Years later, the temple was
burnt down by a man who wanted to be remembered forever. (The town created a law
that said anyone who mentioned his name would be put to death immediately.)
The temple was under construction (again) when some years later Alexander the Great
visited the town. Alexander had seen many beautiful buildings in his travels, but this
temple was so beautiful that it impressed even Alexander the Great!
Alexander offered to give the town enough money to finishing building it if the
townspeople would put his name on it.
The town did not want to do that, but they did thank Alexander very nicely. (You would
too if you were facing Alexander's army!)
In Alexander’s time, the ornately decorated temple was 425 feet long, 225 feet wide, and
60 feet high. 127 columns supported the roof.
The city of Ephesus boomed for a while. But it did not last. The temple was destroyed
(again) around 200 CE by the Goths.
This time, it was not rebuilt. Construction costs had increased considerably. There was
not enough money in the town treasury to rebuild the temple to its former magnificence.
The remaining pieces slowly sunk in the marshy field until the ruin disappeared from
sight altogether.
Hundreds of years later, in the 1800's, the British Museum sent a team to search for the
fabled Temple of Artemis. No one had any idea where the temple used to stand. Short of
digging up the whole town and the surrounding countryside, the first team found
themselves rather stuck.
Another team, sent out a few years later, dug up the remains of 5 temples, one built on
top of the other.
They believed they had found the Temple of Artemis!

5. Today, all that remains of this incredible structure is a single column in the middle of a
marshy field that marks the spot where the Temple once stood.

6. TheThe Hanging Gardens of BabylonHanging Gardens of Babylon
The thought of a huge and magnificent garden, towering 300 feet above the
desert sands, appealed to the Greeks sense of the incredible.
The Hanging Gardens were supposedly built around 600 BCE, along the banks
of the Euphrates River in Babylon.
Constructed inside the palace walls, the gardens were built in a series of
platforms, or terraces, that created a structure 400 feet long, 400 feet wide, and
380 feet high!
Wandering paths and a series of steps connected the various levels. The
gardens were a wonderland of greenery, flowering plants, and waterfalls.

7. That alone would have greatly impressed the ancient Greeks. But a love story
was attached to the gardens that made them even more interesting.
It was rumored that the king Nebuchadnezzar, ordered the gardens built to
honor his queen.
The queen was homesick for her land in the mountains. The gardens were
designed by the king to make his queen feel loved and welcomed in her new
land of Babylon.
The Great Pyramid at GizaThe Great Pyramid at Giza
The Great Pyramid of Giza is about 4,500 years old, and is the only ancient
wonder still standing.
Until the early 1800's, the Great Pyramid at Giza was the tallest building in the
world!
The Great pyramid was made by hand! It is nearly 800 feet long, 450 feet high.
It was built with over two million of blocks of stone.
The average weight of each stone is about 2,500 pounds - around the same
weight as a car!

8. TheThe Colossus of RhodesColossus of Rhodes
Rhodes is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. Once, it was part of ancient Greece.
Alexander the Great conquered Rhodes. When Alexander died, his generals fought for
control of the island.
Rhodes was perfectly situated to be a crossroads of trade.
The people of Rhodes did support one of the generals. But that general
won control of Egypt. Another general gained control of Rhodes.
To punish the people for not supporting him, he sent his son to level
Rhodes.
Help arrived from Egypt! The general they had supported sent troops

9. from Egypt to help the people of Rhodes drive the son away.
With Egypt’s help, the people won! With joy, they melted down the
bronze armor and war machinery left behind by the son, and used it to build a giant
statue of their patron god Helios, to thank Helios for helping them save their city.
The statue was 110 feet high and stood on a 50 foot base. Each morning, the sun
glittered off the bronze plates that covered the statue. It was quite a sight!
Only 56 years after the statue was built, it was toppled by an earthquake. Many pieces
fell into the harbor. Some pieces remained on land, including the statue’s thumb.
People traveled great distances to see the huge thumb. They tried to put their arms
around it. The thumb was bigger than their arms could stretch.
The king of Egypt offered money to rebuild the statue. But the people of Rhodes said no.
They believed their god Helios was unhappy with the statue, and had tossed it down in a
fit of anger. They left it alone.
Many years later, around 600 CE, Arab traders finally removed the remains of the
Colossus to use as scrap metal. Legend says ... it took 900 camels to ferry the pieces
home.
Although the Colossus is no longer in existence, another famous work of art, inspired by
the Colossus, is still standing.
It is called The Statue of Liberty!

10. TheThe Mausoleum at HalicarnassusMausoleum at Halicarnassus
King Mausolus was a ruler of a small kingdom in Asia
Minor. He was married to Artemisia, who loved him dearly.
When the king died, his wife decided to build her husband
the most magnificent tomb in the world.
The tomb was called the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus.
It was so splendid that the Greeks selected the tomb to be
one of the seven wonders of the world.
Today, there is nothing left of the Mausoleum at
Halicarnassus except a story about a queen who loved her husband dearly.

11. TheThe Lighthouse at AlexandriaLighthouse at Alexandria
It was built around 290 BCE on the Island of Pharos in the harbor of Alexandria,
Egypt.
It was a working lighthouse that helped ships find their way safely into harbor.
It was also a tourist attraction.
In ancient times, visitors could buy food at the observation platform on the first
level.
Anyone who wished to do could climb nearly to the top.
There were not many places in the ancient world that visitors could climb a man-
made structure, 300 feet up, to view the sea.
The Lighthouse at Alexandria stood for over 1500 years.

12. Scientists believe an earthquake topped the Lighthouse during the 12th century
CE, about 250 years before Columbus discovered America!