(In Pics): Seven Other Wonders of the Ancient World

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Everybody’s heard of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient world. As a collection of our ancestors’ greatest architectural achievements, they stand unmatched, a testament to our abilities as builders.

Even if most people cannot name any apart from the Great Pyramids at Giza and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, and perhaps the Lighthouse at Pharos if they are showing off, the concept of these architectural treasures is imbued in our collective consciousness. But in truth these seven were far from unique.

Many other great buildings and public works were created by the ancients, and even if they are not as famous as the seven which make the main list, they are every bit as grand and as impressive as those. Well, maybe not the pyramids, but you get the point.

1. The Ploutonion at Hierapolis

*In the Denizli province of Turkey lies the ruins of the Ancient Greek city of Hierapolis. Here can be found the* *Ploutonion*, Greek gateway to the Underworld. This small cave, with a flight of steps leading downwards deep underground, a pathway to hell. Anyone foolish enough to descend those steps would be in considerable danger, even today. Animals which approached the cave were seen to die, suffocated by the hidden gases which were trapped in the cave (Carole Raddato / *CC BY-SA 2.0*)

2. The Temple of Zeus at Cyzicus

*There is already one temple of* *Zeus* on the main list of wonders, more accurately that of his statue at Olympia. However the Temple of Zeus at Cyzicus was every bit as grand. Cyzicus was an ancient Greek town in what is now western Turkey, traditionally founded with the coming of Jason and the Argonauts. The Temple to Zeus was enormous richly decorated in carved stone, but only ruins survive today (Dosseman / *CC BY-SA 4.0*)

3. The Aqueducts and Sewers of Rome

Rome, the eternal city, may not have been the largest metropolis in the ancient world, nor the grandest, but it could be said to be the healthiest. Its monumental aqueduct carried vital water supplies into the city, and the extensive *sewer system*, built over centuries and directing effluvia into the cloaca maxima (pictured) and the river Tiber, helped enormously to limit the plague and other infectious diseases. Only with these vast public works could so many live in such close proximity, relatively healthily (Lapula / *Public Domain*)

4. The Theatre of Marcus Scaurus

*Marcus Aemilius Scaurus was a Roman politician and patrician of the first century BC. A direct contemporary of* *Julius Caesar* and a supporter of Pompey, he would rise to become Governor of Sardinia but never managed to become Consul. His massive theatre is undoubtedly his greatest public work: built of wood and three stories high, it was said to seat 80,000. Almost nothing of the theatre remains today (Rijksmuseum / *Public Domain*)

5. The Lost Labyrinth of Hawara, Egypt

The Greek historian Herodotus tells of an ancient “labyrinth” hidden beneath a pyramid, which he claimed to have seen with his own eyes. Many considered his description to be a fiction, another example of unreliability from the great historian, but it seems he was telling the truth. In 2008, archaeologists using ground penetrating radar near the well-known pyramid of *Hawara* *discovered a massive complex of rooms hidden beneath the sand: this was his labyrinth (Toni Pecoraro /* *CC BY-SA 4.0*)

6. The Keraton at Delos

*The temple of Apollo at Delos was a* *Greek* temple with a twist: the central altar to Apollo was made entirely out of animal horns. Known as a Keraton, it was said to have been made by Apollo himself from the horns of animals killed by his sister Artemis, goddess of the hunt. The ancient historian Plutarch saw it, and wondered at its construction without any cement or other fixative. And it would seem it was real: remnants have be found today in what is known as the “Hall of the Bulls” (*Bernard 63* */ Adobe Stock)*

7. Tāq Kasrā: the Arch of Ctesiphon

Ctesiphon, in modern day Iraq, was founded in the second century BC and was the royal capital of two successive empires for the next 800 years. At the center of the old city lies Tāq Kasrā, the Arch of Ctesiphon: a grand *palace* with a huge arched central chamber, the largest brick arch in the world. The palace lies in ruins today but the arch is still standing, having survived everything from the Muslim conquest to the two Gulf wars. *Tāq Kasrā is now all that remains of this ancient city (Unknown Author /* *Public Domain*)

Top Image: There are many more wonders from the ancient world than just the seven famous ones. Source: Deyton / Adobe Stock.

By Joseph Green

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Joseph Green

Joseph Green is editor for Historic Mysteries, which combines his background in English Literature with a lifelong fascination for the strange and the unexplained. Read More