The Forgotten Seven Wonders of the World

Here’s a sanitized version of the provided YouTube transcript:

—

Persepolis, constructed in 515 BC by Darius the Great, was the ceremonial capital of Persia and known as one of the wealthiest cities on earth. It sat on a man-made terrace that was 15 meters high, featuring impressive architectural elements, including colossal column halls, intricate relief carvings, and lavish ornamentation. The complex was entered through the Gate of All Nations, guarded by human-headed winged bulls. At its heart was the Apadana, a grand audience hall with 36 columns soaring 20 meters into the sky, accommodating up to 10,000 people. The city’s wealth was extraordinary, with buildings decorated with gold fittings, roofs made from cedar wood from Lebanon, and hangings of multicolored textiles. The Persians’ architectural skills and love for luxury were exemplified in structures like the Hall of 100 Columns and what are thought to have been royal apartments, possibly including a so-called Hall of Mirrors paved with highly polished stones. Imported plants filled courtyards amid gardens of unimaginable beauty. Persepolis served as a symbolic center where people from across the empire came to pay tribute and express their loyalty to the king. Everything about the layout and architecture was designed to impress onlookers; shallow stairs led visitors slowly but inevitably toward what must have appeared an ever more distant royal presence. Around multiple corners, reliefs showed delegates from various nations bearing gifts, testifying both to their diversity and to Persia’s immense resources.

In 331 BC, Alexander arrived in Persepolis after his victory over Darius III at Gaugamela, defeating the Persians and becoming the master of Asia. The city was undefended; it was a spiritual center rather than a strategic military base. However, Alexander ordered it burned, an act whose motivation remains debated. Some argue it was revenge for Xerxes’ sack of Athens during the Persian War. The destruction wrought upon this magnificent city by its conqueror was total; Alexander’s soldiers looted everything valuable and set fire to what remained. The flames raced through buildings packed with furniture and textiles, thus ending an era of Persian dominance and causing the most wonderful city of antiquity to vanish. Ironically, it is thanks to that devastating blaze and the thick layer of ash that preserved so much beneath it for more than two millennia that we can know anything at all about Persepolis.

Among the bustling porticos and marble temples on the sacred island of Delos was an enormous pile of horns stacked to form an altar. According to myth, this altar, known as the Keratin, had been constructed by the young god Apollo, who gathered the horns of goats shot by his sister Artemis. Whatever its actual origins, it became impressive enough to be described as a wonder of the world by several ancient authors. For obscure reasons, only horns from the right side of an animal’s head could be used, adding an intriguing layer of ritual significance to the altar’s construction, hinting at complex religious practices that may have been lost to time. Like the Ashen altar of Zeus at Olympia, the altar of horns was presumably built up over the centuries, with each sacrificial victim contributing a horn to the heap. This gradual accumulation would have given the altar a sense of living history, with each addition representing countless acts of devotion to Apollo. The sheer size of the altar must have been staggering; while we don’t have exact measurements, its status as a wonder suggests it rivaled other major architectural works in scale. Imagine the site: a colossal mount of sun-bleached horns rising amidst the gleaming marble structures of Delos, a testament to generations of pilgrims and worshippers. The contrast between the rustic material of the altar and the refined architecture surrounding it would have been striking, serving as a powerful reminder of the island’s sacred character, bridging the gap between primitive ritual and sophisticated urban culture.

Unfortunately, like many wonders of the ancient world, the altar of horns has not survived intact to the present day, with only a few fragments of the altar’s marble enclosure remaining. The details of its dimensions and appearance are unknown, leaving us to rely on ancient descriptions and our imagination to envision its grandeur. The disappearance of the altar of horns is a poignant reminder of the fragility of even the most impressive monuments. Unlike structures of stone or metal, an altar made of organic material would have been particularly vulnerable to the ravages of time and the elements. Despite its physical absence, the altar of horns continues to captivate our imagination, standing as a unique example of monumental architecture created not through grand construction projects but through the accumulated devotion of countless worshippers over generations.

Located in a Bolivian high plateau, Tiwanaku is a mysterious site built by a civilization that has since been lost to history. At its peak, between 375 and 700 AD, Tiwanaku was a bustling city and served as the capital of a widespread empire that reached across much of today’s Andean region. One of the most striking features of Tiwanaku is its monumental architecture, characterized by stunningly straight edges and precise stonework. The Yapana Pyramid is probably the most notable example, an enormous dead pyramid made out of large stone blocks standing 54 feet tall, likely serving religious or ritual purposes. The precision with which these stones were cut and fitted together has led some to wonder if ancient technologies or techniques were used that are still not fully understood today. Another architectural wonder is the Kalasasaya, an open temple complex featuring megalithic stone pillars and walls. Inside sits the famous Gateway of the Sun, a monolithic archway covered in intricate carvings believed to have had astronomical functions. Some carvings depict what appear to be celestial beings or deities, underscoring Tiwanaku’s spiritual role as a center for religious life. Another structure, called Puma Punku, holds a collection of curiously carved H-shaped stones and other precisely cut stones. It is thought that in its prime, Puma Punku was a massive ceremonial platform where religious ceremonies took place near the shores of Lake Titicaca.

What caused Tiwanaku’s downfall around 1000 AD remains unclear; it could have been due to prolonged droughts or internal conflicts over resources. Part of the downfall was likely due to the receding waters of Lake Titicaca, which is now nearly 10 miles from the site, suggesting it once sat directly on its shores.

Like many Greek and Roman visitors after him, Herodotus, the father of history, was struck by the Egyptian pyramids. However, in his view, Egypt’s greatest wonder, equal to all temples and monuments of Greece, was the Labyrinth of Hawara. He described the Labyrinth as a gargantuan complex with 12 courts and 3,000 chambers, half of them underground, all roofed and walled with white stone. Subterranean passageways connected the Labyrinth to a vast pyramid with sculpted sides. Later authors repeated and magnified these claims; Pliny the Elder, for example, thought that the Labyrinth contained 21 courts, 40 shrines, and multiple pyramids entwined in a maze of passageways that climbed long staircases, plunged deep underground, and trapped the unwary in dark rooms filled with echoes. The Labyrinth seems to have actually been a mortuary temple, albeit an exceptionally large and complex one, constructed by the great 12th Dynasty Pharaoh Amenemhat III. Unfortunately, we know little more than that since the structure was torn apart for building material in later centuries, leaving only vast foundations and bits of broken limestone. The contrast between the grand ancient descriptions and the scant archaeological remains highlights the challenges of interpreting historical accounts. While we can’t confirm the labyrinthine nature described by ancient writers, the sheer scale of the foundation suggests that the Labyrinth was indeed an impressive structure worthy of the wonder it inspired in ancient visitors. Even in its ruined state, the Labyrinth continues to captivate historians and archaeologists, serving as a testament to the architectural achievements of ancient Egypt and the enduring power of historical accounts to fire the imagination.

Although Rome was the biggest city on Earth by the middle of the 1st century BC, it had relatively few monumental buildings compared to even a modest Greek city. In particular, thanks to the Senate, which regarded Greek-style drama as immoral, Rome lacked a permanent theater. Built in 58 BC as part of a magnificent series of games, the theater of Marcus Aemilius Scaurus, an immensely wealthy scion of a great aristocratic family, was a temporary wooden structure capable of holding 88,000 spectators, even more than its more famous cousin, the Colosseum. The size was impressive, but it was the magnificence of the decoration that led Pliny to describe Scaurus’ theater as a wonder of the world. The stage building, three stories tall, was decorated with 360 columns. The columns of the first story were marble, those of the second story were glass, and those of the third were gilded. Between the columns, bronze statues gleamed. As soon as the games ended, the theater was dismantled, leaving only some columns and fittings that Scaurus reused in his villa. The value of even these remnants was estimated at 30 million sesterces, ten times the amount needed to buy a mansion in the heart of Rome. The theater of Scaurus exemplifies the extravagant displays of wealth that characterized late Republican Rome. Despite its temporary nature, the structure’s opulence and scale rivaled or even surpassed many permanent monuments of the ancient world. The use of glass columns in the second story is particularly noteworthy in an age before large-scale glass production; such a feature would have been both extremely costly and visually striking. Combined with the marble of the first story and the gilding of the third, the overall effect must have been dazzling. The theater’s dismantling after the games speaks to the complex relationship between private wealth and public spectacle in Rome. Scaurus’ ability to finance such an extravagant structure for a brief period demonstrated his immense resources and enhanced his political standing. Unfortunately, Scaurus’ fortunes didn’t last; after his theater was dismantled, a fire destroyed his villa, and he lost everything. His tale serves as a reminder of the fleeting nature of wealth and power in the tumultuous final years of the Roman Republic. While no trace of the theater of Scaurus survives today, its brief existence left an indelible mark on the imagination of ancient writers. Through their accounts, we can glimpse the astonishing luxury and scale of entertainment in ancient Rome, where even temporary structures could be considered wonders of the world.

No Roman building made the original list of the Seven Wonders, not because that list was drawn up before the construction of Rome’s greatest monuments, but Roman authors naturally begged to differ. None more so than Pliny the Elder, who, after surviving the manifold glories of Rome, concluded that the most impressive of them all was the sewer system that drained the city. Under the streets of Rome, Pliny noted, seven subterranean rivers flowed with the force of mountain torrents, rushing down to the Tiber during winter floods. The Tiber rose like a surging sea to meet them, yet despite this ebb and flow and the congestion of traffic above, Rome’s sewers held firm. The sewers were already a massive achievement in Pliny’s time, having been constructed according to legend by the ancient kings of Rome. The system was cleaned and expanded by Marcus Agrippa, Augustus’s right-hand man, who rode up the main line, the famous Cloaca Maxima, in a small boat to inspect the work. The Cloaca Maxima, or greatest sewer, was the centerpiece of Rome’s drainage system. Originally an open canal, it was gradually covered and expanded over the centuries. By the time of the Empire, it had become a vast underground channel capable of carrying enormous volumes of water and waste. What made Rome’s sewers truly remarkable was their durability and engineering sophistication. Built primarily of stone, these underground channels were designed to withstand not only the constant flow of water and waste but also the weight of the bustling city above. The fact that parts of this ancient system continue to function today is a testament to the skill of Roman engineers. The sewers played a crucial role in Rome’s development as a great city by efficiently draining the low-lying areas between Rome’s hills, allowing for the expansion of the urban center and helping to mitigate the threat of flooding and disease. In a very real sense, these sewers were the unseen foundation upon which the glory of Imperial Rome was built. Pliny’s admiration for the sewers reflects a characteristically Roman appreciation for practical engineering over purely aesthetic monuments. While other ancient authors might have focused on temples or palaces, Pliny saw the true wonder in the invisible infrastructure that made Rome’s greatness possible. Although it would be difficult, or at least inadvisable, to replicate Agrippa’s boat journey today, the mouth of the Cloaca Maxima can still be seen in the Tiber embankment. This visible remnant serves as a reminder of the vast network that lies beneath the streets of modern Rome, a hidden wonder that continues to inspire awe in those who understand its significance.

Located in the dense interior of Central Java, Indonesia, is Borobudur, the largest Buddhist temple on Earth and a magnificent tribute to spirituality and architectural genius. It was built during the 9th century by the Sailendra Dynasty and became a symbol of the dynasty’s wealth and power. Borobudur is laid out like a massive stone mandala that represents different stages along the Buddhist path towards enlightenment. Its massive six square platforms are topped by three circular terraces, creating an amazing contrast against the green fields around them. Altogether, they are arranged into 10 levels of stupas and Buddhas. About 2 million stone blocks were used for construction. The complex also includes 2,672 relief panels telling different stories from Buddhist life or teachings and 54 statues showing Buddha himself. The pilgrim undertakes a spiritual journey up through the temple, moving from level to level in accordance with an allegorical narrative that begins with Katu, the world of desire. Here, you can find carvings that embody the earthly vices and passions that are supposedly left behind as you ascend towards Rupa Datu, or the world of forms, where moral lessons depicted by different scenes help guide you towards the circular terraces at the summit called Rupa Atu, which symbolizes the formless world in the realization of Nirvana. Atop all these sits a main dome flanked on either side by 72 bell-shaped stupas enshrining seated images of Buddhas. Together, they form a dazzling arrangement and invite contemplation of life, the universe, and everything.

Borobudur’s decline began in the 14th century as Java’s political and religious landscape shifted with the rise of Islam, leading to its abandonment. It was later rediscovered in the early 19th century by Sir Thomas Stanford Raffles during his governorship of Java. Extensive restoration efforts throughout the 20th century, particularly by UNESCO, have preserved this architectural wonder, allowing it to reclaim its place as a cultural and spiritual icon.

—

This version maintains the essential information while removing any inappropriate or unclear language.