Ancient Wonder Of The World Was Built For A Strange Purpose

Even thousands of years after its demise, the Statue of Zeus is still known as one of the best sculptures in ancient Greece. Built in fifth-century Olympia, the monument and its temple became the official place for worshipping the god of the skies. But that wasn't its only purpose.

Prior to the Statue's construction, Olympia became host to the first Olympic Games. These athletic events were a part of a larger religious festival for Zeus, running every four years, like today. Organizers rejoiced in their smash success, though they did run into one recurring problem.

They could always use more money. Before one of the Olympic festivals in the fifth century, Elis — the city-state that controlled Olympia — wanted to draw in more visitors. They knew outsiders could give the local economy a bump. After some deliberation, a team decided building an elaborate temple for Zeus would appeal to pious Greeks.

One important factor that influenced Elis was the city-state’s successful takeover of neighboring Pisa. They seized money from their rivals, and with their pile of treasure, they hired an architect named Libon to construct a Doric temple. The man made the building into something unforgettable.

For seven years, Libon and his team made an ornate tribute to Zeus, finishing in 457 B.C. Now, the temple needed a magnificent statue that would suit Libon’s artistic undertaking. Wondering who could be entrusted with such a significant task, Elis authorities selected the famed sculptor, Phidias.

Before being chosen for the Statue of Zeus, Phidias constructed other works, including the Parthenon frieze and Elgin Marbles. Tragically, none of his body of work managed to survive into the modern day. Luckily, there are replicas that allow us some understanding of Phidias’ talent. Though the man behind the masterpieces seemed quite mysterious.

After Phidias had completed his Parthenon work, some historians thought the sculptor died in prison, but we have since learned that he was hired for the Zeus project in Olympia. He knew he would have plenty of space to work with, since the temple was 65 feet high and 19,000 square feet. Phidias situated his workspace adjacent to the massive structure and got underway on the most breathtaking project of the ancient world.

The sculptor made sure his shop matched the cella — the central room of the structure that would house the statue. Once his space fit his specifications, Phidias began the arduous task of sculpting Zeus. The artist and his team used a wooden core as the base for their chryselephantine figure. They had to be incredibly careful.

This chryselephantine method involved using terracotta molds to shape ivory, gold, glass, and other materials into Zeus’ form. The wood in the middle gave these pieces a place to finish setting. Once this process was complete, Phidias' assistants carefully transported the separate pieces inside the building. While we don't know exactly what the statue looked like, descriptions make it clear that it was a triumph.

Phidias and his crew would have reassembled the fragments on the throne already set up in the cella. The complete figure was reportedly at least 40 feet tall, with ivory skin, golden robes, beard, and staff. Silver, glass, copper, ebony, and other stones were sprinkled in to make the god appear truly dazzling.

Using so much light-catching material was intentional on Phidias’ part. He wanted his Zeus to gleam and overwhelm visitors with the impression they were truly visiting the deity. It must have been nearly unbelievable to see in person.

Strabo, a prominent geographer, was one man lucky enough to see the Zeus statue. He recalled that the figure’s "size was so great that, even though the temple is very large, it seemed as if the artist, in having him seated got the proportions all wrong.” But what did he mean by that? 

“[Zeus] almost touched the roof with his head, giving the impression that if he were to stand up straight, he would dislodge the roof of the temple," Strabo said. This huge reaction indicates that Phidias and Libon accomplished their joint task of creating a sacred space worthy of Zeus. Now Olympians had to wait and see if their new monument had its desired effect.

When tourists entered Zeus’ temple in Olympia, they were greeted by the great god sitting on his throne, surrounded by a pool of olive oil. This helped keep the ivory hydrated so it wouldn’t crack. It also meant visitors would see the statue’s reflection in the liquid, giving the impression it was even bigger. The monument seemed like it would stand forever, but its future became imperiled when Greece was conquered hundreds of years later.

Even when the Romans took over, Zeus was repaired several times and remained mostly undisturbed until the reign of the emperor Caligula. He was insane, believing himself to be Zeus reincarnated. The dictator tried to move the statue to Rome’s palatine for Jupiter, but failed, likely due to its size. After Caligula turned his attention to other bizarre matters — like allegedly trying to appoint his horse to public office — the statue remained standing.

It wasn’t until Constantine took the throne that Zeus lost some of his majesty. The Christian-leaning emperor allowed locals and others to remove the gold and other valuable materials used to create the artwork. "The valuable portions were melted down, and the amorphous remainder was left to the pagans as a memorial of their reproach,” Constantine wrote. That wasn't the only danger that the statue would face.

Later on, the emperor Theodosius outlawed anything pagan because he wanted Christianity to be the dominant religion. This meant the end of both the Olympic Games and the statue. The site was looted until 426 BCE when it was converted into a Christian church. Still, it seemed no mortal man could completely destroy the Statue of Zeus. But something else could.

In CE 522 and 551, earthquakes destroyed the original temple site, which was then covered by the Alpheus River. It’s theorized what remained of the Zeus statue was saved by Lausus, a eunuch who served in the court of Theodosius II. He collected antiques from pagan rituals — perhaps future generations could appreciate this Wonder of the World.

Lausus moved the statue in the late CE 400s, and it remained in his Constantinople palace among other Greek artworks until CE 475. Sadly, that was when a fire destroyed the building and the priceless art contained within, including Phidias’ statue. For several hundred years, it symbolized the mighty power of Zeus, but it's not alone in having met an unfortunate end all too soon.

Besides the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World are the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, and the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus. The pyramid is the only one left — and experts are still uncovering secrets about this legendary structure even today.

It’s difficult to appreciate just how old the Giza Pyramids really are. For more than 4,000 years, these structures have stood tall by the River Nile, becoming an enduring symbol of Egypt and its history. Many people have been drawn to them during that time, all trying to wrap their heads around these marvels of engineering.

The oldest of the Giza Pyramids is known as the Great Pyramid, which was raised to honor a pharaoh named Khufu. The structure’s also the biggest in the Giza complex, reaching a height of close to 500 feet. Its sides are around 750 feet in length.

The exact methods used to construct the pyramids all those millennia ago still baffle experts. Thanks to the work of historians, though, we know a certain amount about the circumstances in which they were raised. But in terms of the design and construction techniques employed, we’re still largely in the dark.

Then there are the specific quirks of the pyramids themselves. These structures are strange and confusing, often leaving experts scratching their heads. In the Great Pyramid, for example, there are mysterious doors at the end of two narrow shafts, the purposes of which have been unclear. It was easy to imagine that they led somewhere creepy – and now researchers can finally tell us the truth.

As we’ve heard, researchers have struggled to get to grips with precisely how the ancient Egyptians designed the pyramids. But having said that, we have built up an idea of the wider political and economic circumstances of the civilization that led to their creation. For example, we know some things about the people who did all the hard work.

Many of us have grown up under the belief that the pyramids were constructed by slaves. But despite how widely believed that claim is, it turns out there’s no evidence to support it. In fact, as best as researchers can tell, the laborers who worked on the structures were paid for their efforts.

The people who worked on the pyramids ate well, and they came from across the lands of ancient Egypt. They were housed in a makeshift town close to the construction site, which they’d easily be able to travel to and from. So any suggestion that they were slaves just doesn’t bear scrutiny.

It seems that settlements dotted throughout Egypt sent people to work on the pyramids, as well as supplying materials for the project. This has led prominent Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass to formulate a theory. He’s suggested that, rather than the civilization giving rise to the pyramids, it was the structures themselves that helped to construct ancient Egyptian society.

But even though the pyramids brought workers in from all across Egypt, they were still built for one person. The pharaohs held the belief that they’d transform into deities when they died. To help this process, they felt they needed to raise elaborate resting places and fill them with objects to aid them in their journey through the afterlife.

The pyramids tell us a lot about ancient Egypt, as an Egyptologist named Perter Der Manuelian pointed out to National Geographic. “Many people think of the site as just a cemetery in the modern sense,” he explained. “But it’s a lot more than that. In these decorated tombs you have wonderful scenes of every aspect of life in ancient Egypt – so it’s not just about how Egyptians died but how they lived.”

Artworks discovered inside Egyptian crypts often depict scenes of normal life in the society. For example, you might see a farmer with their animals or out in the fields. Or maybe you’ll be given a glimpse into spiritual beliefs and customs. As Der Manuelian remarked, “Almost any subject you want to study about Pharaonic civilization is available on the tomb walls at Giza.”

On top of everything else, the Giza Pyramids are iconic, known far and wide. And given its status as the biggest structure in the complex, the Great Pyramid of Giza is probably the most famous. For thousands of years, in fact, it was the highest man-made construction on Earth, before the Eiffel Tower took its mantle in 1889.

And it was less than a decade earlier that the Great Pyramid of Giza had finally been investigated in a modern fashion. This occurred in 1880, led by a British researcher named Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie. Enchanted by the monument, Flinders Petrie later wrote of it, “The Great Pyramid has lent its name as a sort of by-word for paradoxes; and, as moths to a candle, so are theorizers attracted to it.”

In terms of its construction, the Great Pyramid was built up using a vast amount of stone slabs. More than two million of these blocks were used during construction, each of which was huge and extremely heavy. And just how ancient workers managed to lift and place these rocks is something that still baffles experts today.

Of course, numerous theories have been posited in an attempt to explain the construction of the pyramids, but none have proven definitive. One, for example, suggests that the huge stone blocks were brought to the top of the pyramid with the help of ramps rising up its sides. That might sound promising, but most researchers have now dismissed it as a fantasy.

Because nobody’s ever managed to convincingly explain the process behind the pyramids’ construction, there’s also been an opportunity for more wacky hypotheses to flourish. The most famous of these beliefs, perhaps, is the idea that the structures were raised by aliens from another planet. To some people, that explains why we can’t figure out the methods employed in their construction.

And it isn’t just the mystery of how the enormous exteriors of the pyramids were built that captures these eccentric theorizers’ imaginations. Inside the buildings, too, there are plenty of oddities that nobody’s yet been able to explain. In the Great Pyramid alone, rooms such as the Grand Gallery, King’s Chamber and Queen’s Chamber all pose questions that still need to be answered.

The Grand Gallery’s a passageway that connects the King’s and Queen’s Chambers. It’s an extremely long and confined space, which surely isn’t the most pleasant place for claustrophobic individuals to experience. One might even begin to feel like the small gap between the walls is closing in on them.

At one end of the Grand Gallery, you’ll eventually reach a trio of pink granite slabs. These mark the entrance to the King’s Chamber, another space that isn’t exactly roomy. It spans 35 feet by 17 feet, though it has a tall ceiling shooting up almost 20 feet from the ground. It may be the case that the room was intended to hold the remains of a pharaoh, but that isn’t certain.

The King’s Chamber is a marvel of engineering in its own right, given the ingenuity of its design. The space has to withstand intense pressure, because of the vast weight of the stone above it. But the ancient Egyptians came up with a brilliant way of dealing with this issue, so just a single fracture has ever appeared in the whole 4,000-year history of the structure.

The King’s Chamber was also constructed with two narrow passageways branching out of the room, which is a feature that can also be seen in the Queen’s Chamber. These unusual tunnels have been subject to much debate, because nobody really understands why they were built. In short, they represent yet another mystery of the pyramids.

The Queen’s Chamber is a little controversial anyway, mainly because of its name. It was given this title by local researchers, but experts have since concluded that no queens were ever meant to be laid to rest there. The name still seems to have stuck, though.

The Queen’s Chamber is split into two levels, meaning you have to go down from the first part into the second. It isn’t clear if this was originally meant to be a feature of the room or not. It’s possible that a stone ramp once joined the two parts, but that this was removed at some point. We may never know the truth.

The standout feature of the Queen’s Chamber is that it’s made with limestone, which gives it a regal feel. The walls aren’t inscribed with any text or images, though there’s a little crevice up high. Some experts have suggested that a statue was once held here, but again nobody knows for sure.

The tunnels leading out of the Queen’s Chamber are another feature of the room that experts don’t quite understand. They’re reminiscent of the two passageways in the King’s Chamber, and their purpose still mystifies researchers. Of course, that isn’t to say that people haven’t tried to figure it out.

One of the more intriguing suggestions regarding the two tunnels in the Queen’s Chamber is that they may lead to some sort of hidden chamber. And the fact is that it’s proven very difficult to reach any firm conclusions about this one way or the other over the years. With the help of modern technology, though, recent efforts have been made to finally solve this particular riddle.

Going as far back as 1993, there were efforts to employ robot technology to solve the mystery of the tunnels. A device known as Upuaut2 was sent into the passageways, where it would film what was inside. Sadly, though, the robot failed to snake its way through one of the channels – but it at least made it to the end of the other. Finally, the researchers could see what was at the end.

Thanks to the robot, the researchers learned that the tunnel led to a sort of limestone panel on some metal pins. In short, it appeared to be a door. This set minds racing, naturally, with some people’s imaginations getting the better of them. Metal isn’t commonly found throughout the Great Pyramid, so certain individuals took its presence here to be proof that aliens were involved in the construction. In their heads, the metal pins would’ve been utilized to generate power for the extra-terrestrials.

Then, in 2002 researchers took another crack at trying to figure out the purpose or meaning of the door. This time, the robot they used managed to make it to the end of both channels, revealing that there were doors at the end of each of them. And they were both situated the same distance from the Queen’s Chamber.

Then, during 2011 yet another attempt using a robot was made to figure out what lies behind these doors. This time, the work was part of the Djedi Project, which employed a device that we might describe as a “micro snake camera.” The program took its title from an ancient Egyptian magician who advised the pharaoh.

The Djedi robot finally managed to make it past one of the doors. And what it found behind was a small room covered in markings. Applied in red paint, what these hieroglyphs signify remains unclear. They may be examples of ancient graffiti, or they might explain what the rooms and doors were designed for. Translators will hopefully find out for sure one day.

Speaking to New Scientist in 2011, Peter Der Manuelian focused on the possibility that the markings were simply an example of ordinary graffiti. He said, “Red-painted numbers and graffiti are very common around Giza. They are often masons’ or work-gangs’ marks, denoting numbers, dates or even the names of the gangs.”

The camera that the experts used this time around was able to capture footage around sharp corners, which proved useful. And as one of the device’s designers explained, it helped to dispel some of the more fantastical theories about the doors. Shaun Whitehead told New Scientist, “Our new pictures from behind the pins show that they end in small, beautifully made loops, indicating that they were more likely ornamental rather than electrical connections.”

Whitehead went on to speculate as to what these doors meant to the ancient Egyptians. “Also, the back of the ‘door’ is polished, so it must have been important,” he added. “It doesn’t look like it was a rough piece of stone used to stop debris getting into the shaft.”

Kate Spence, an expert from the University of Cambridge, believes that the doors were more ornamental than practical. “The metal pins look like symbolic door handles, and the shafts from the Queen’s Chamber are oriented north-south, not east-west,” she reflected. “So I strongly suspect that their function is symbolic.”

The idea that the Queen’s Chamber was predominantly a place of spiritual and symbolic importance seems to be reasonable. Some researchers believe that it may have been built to allow the pharaoh’s soul to make it to the afterlife. The enigmatic doors, then, were perhaps associated with that.

After all, the robot investigation found that the second door in the other chamber didn’t actually lead anywhere and therefore never served any practical purpose. As Spence explained, “It’s most likely to be a backing stone – there won’t be another chamber behind it, it makes no sense. However, it’s fascinating from a symbolic point of view, and this sort of work will allow us to get at the intention behind the construction of the pyramid.”

The head of the Djedi Project, Zahi Hawass, also offered his thoughts to New Scientist. He speculated, “The King’s Chamber may have been a dummy room, since the most important thing in the mind of the ancient Egyptians was to hide the burial chamber.” It’s all open to interpretation, of course, but Hawass of all people is an authority on the subject of ancient Egypt.

Even though it looks like the doors and secret chambers inside the Great Pyramid of Giza are all symbolic, Hawass isn’t closed off to the idea that researchers still might find something concrete hidden away. He said, “We have a story that the magician Djedi met Khufu, who was searching for the god Thoth so he could find the secret of hiding his pyramid. Based on that, maybe there is something hidden in the pyramid.”