Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (and More)

(ARC 109)

The list of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World was originally compiled in antiquity—it was referred to as early as the 5th century bce by Herodotus. By the Roman period, geographers, travelers, and historians agreed on several wonders that “topped” the list: the Great Pyramids of Egypt, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Temple of Artemis Diana at Ephesus, the Lighthouse of Pharos at Alexandria, the Colossus of Rhodes, and the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. Archaeologists and historians have since looked at these often-romanticized wonders— whether or not they survived to the present—as expressions of religion, mythology, art, power, and science. In this course, we will look at a range of “wonders” as well as two slightly later Roman works that should belong on this list—the Pantheon in Rome and the Pont du Gard aqueduct in Provence.

Patrick Hunt, Visiting Fellow, Hoover Institution

Patrick Hunt is the Director of the Stanford Alpine Archaeology Project. He received a PhD from the University of London’s Institute of Archaeology, UCL. His articles have appeared widely in publications including the Journal of Roman Archaeology XI, World Archaeology, and Studia Phoenicia. He is the author of several books including Caravaggio, Ten Discoveries That Rewrote History, Rembrandt: His Life in Art, and Renaissance Visions: Myth and Art. Hunt is also the former director of the National Geographic Society Hannibal Expedition (2007–2008).