# Which of the Seven Ancient Wonders would you like to see restored? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 5, 2017, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-the-seven-ancient-wonders-would-you-like-to-see-restored/795575 "2017-09-05T18:46:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-the-seven-ancient-wonders-would-you-like-to-see-restored/795575/21 "2017-09-06T00:33:55Z")
The Hanging Gardens, because The Cure never wrote a song about the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. ---
**Author:** ![magnusblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@magnusblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magnusblitz)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-the-seven-ancient-wonders-would-you-like-to-see-restored/795575/22 "2017-09-06T02:40:03Z")
I think the Colossus beats out the Hanging Gardens for me, but just barely. Don’t know what either of them looked like. I suppose we know less about the Gardens (don’t even know where they were!) but I think the Colossus could be more impressive-looking. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-the-seven-ancient-wonders-would-you-like-to-see-restored/795575/23 "2017-09-06T03:28:11Z")
The library could probably be rebuilt using the late fees from books which were never returned. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-the-seven-ancient-wonders-would-you-like-to-see-restored/795575/24 "2017-09-06T03:39:30Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > The library could probably be rebuilt using the late fees from books which were never returned. What library? ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-the-seven-ancient-wonders-would-you-like-to-see-restored/795575/25 "2017-09-06T05:15:20Z")
Jayne Mansfield. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-the-seven-ancient-wonders-would-you-like-to-see-restored/795575/26 "2017-09-06T05:17:04Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-the-seven-ancient-wonders-would-you-like-to-see-restored/795575/27 "2017-09-06T07:33:07Z")
The OP as phrased doesn’t preclude “All of them”, so that’s my choice. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-the-seven-ancient-wonders-would-you-like-to-see-restored/795575/28 "2017-09-06T09:06:20Z")
Didn’t I read somewhere recently that the Colossus of Rhodes may never have been built? It was planned but wasn’t completed, or something. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-the-seven-ancient-wonders-would-you-like-to-see-restored/795575/29 "2017-09-06T15:04:23Z")
I thought some archaeologist figured out the Hanging Gardens, starting with the fact that they weren’t in Babylon nor built by King Nebuchadnezzar but in Nineveh built by King Sennacherib. :smack: Still in Iraq, though, so not going to be a major tourist site either way. ☹ [Googles.] [This is her.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephanie_Dalley) [And here’s the television documentary on her theory and research, including going to Iraq.](http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/the-lost-gardens-of-babylon-about-this-episode/1165/) Seems pretty convincing to me, admittedly a layman as to archaeology. There’s only the barest remains at the site, though, so it would still be cool to have the Hanging Gardens restored. Just not necessary (IMHO) for learning more or less what they looked like. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-the-seven-ancient-wonders-would-you-like-to-see-restored/795575/30 "2017-09-06T15:11:48Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Didn’t I read somewhere recently that the Colossus of Rhodes may never have been built? It was planned but wasn’t completed, or something. My understanding is that it was built, but toppled over in an earthquake, and the remains - much later - hauled away for scrap. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-the-seven-ancient-wonders-would-you-like-to-see-restored/795575/31 "2017-09-06T15:16:37Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I’d have to go with either the Hanging Gardens or the Colossus. The Gardens because, as others have said, we have very little idea what they were actually like, and they were probably very beautiful, from a human perspective walking around in them. The Colossus because, even though it was much shorter than the Statue of Liberty (108’ vs. 305’), it was still tall enough to be an absolutely phenomenal feat of engineering for the time, and I’d love to see how they managed it. > > The rest of the Wonders may have been the greatest specimens of the sort of thing they were, but they weren’t too different from the second-fanciest temple, or the second-prettiest gold statue, or whatever. But those two were the _only_ specimens of what they were. Heel to head, though it seems both statues were about the same size. Liberty just has a big ol pedestal under her. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-the-seven-ancient-wonders-would-you-like-to-see-restored/795575/32 "2017-09-06T17:43:03Z")
if you have not seen Game of Thrones, they have a city with a big statue at the entrance of the harbor. picture here: [Braavos | Game of Thrones Wiki | Fandom](http://gameofthrones.wikia.com/wiki/Braavos) Most likely inspired by Rhodes ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-the-seven-ancient-wonders-would-you-like-to-see-restored/795575/33 "2017-09-06T18:30:37Z")
> [@](#): > > if you have not seen Game of Thrones, they have a city with a big statue at the entrance of the harbor. picture here: > > [Braavos | Wiki of Westeros | Fandom](http://gameofthrones.wikia.com/wiki/Braavos) > > Most likely inspired by Rhodes The statue at the harbor of Braavos was undoubtedly inspired by the Colossuis of Rhodes. There was a medieval notion that the statue spanned the harbor with its legs – a feat beyond ancient engineering. The statue’s pose was probably much more like the Statue of Liberty, as I stated. Its core likely consisted on a stone tower with projecting rods that supported the thin copper sheathing. The statue “stood” on two legs together (maybe covered by a robe), possibly with one hand (close in to the body, no doubt) shielding its eyes as it looked out to sea. Trying to build two inward-leaning pillars to support legs over a space large enough to accommodate a ship would realy be pushing it. Nevertheless, the image is arresting, as the image of Braavos shows. The Italian 1960s epoic **the Colossus of Rhodes** (Directed by Sergio Leone, long before his Clint Eastwood westerns) depicts it thus. The statue was even depicted holding a bowl, from which, if desired, the rulers of Rhodes could drop fire onto a passing ship. [![](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pqn60eQL7L8/T_UGg6tIbEI/AAAAAAAAGkA/eC6qQ_9Yovw/s1600/COLOSSUS+RHODES+SERGIO+LEONE+1960+EXYU+MOVIE+POSTER.jpg) ](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pqn60eQL7L8/T_UGg6tIbEI/AAAAAAAAGkA/eC6qQ_9Yovw/s1600/COLOSSUS+RHODES+SERGIO+LEONE+1960+EXYU+MOVIE+POSTER.jpg) [![](https://www.indiewire.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/colossus-of-rhodes.jpg) ](https://www.indiewire.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/colossus-of-rhodes.jpg) [![](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lzGnQClu-80/WOfvGFA7e5I/AAAAAAAAi5I/Y2PYFgCMEHsF4UQxSrVwVdUiHrDwK-J2QCLcB/s1600/colossus_film.jpg) ](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lzGnQClu-80/WOfvGFA7e5I/AAAAAAAAi5I/Y2PYFgCMEHsF4UQxSrVwVdUiHrDwK-J2QCLcB/s1600/colossus_film.jpg) Ray Harryhausen was similarly inspired, in his **Jason and the Argonauts** , to have his bronze giant Talos assume a Colossus-like pose bestriding the harbor entrance, and pick up Jason’s passing _Argo_ [![](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KLbPIl2uH64/TkEQa8MtLVI/AAAAAAAAADU/cvoe5PwOAxo/s1600/talos3ng4.jpg) ](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KLbPIl2uH64/TkEQa8MtLVI/AAAAAAAAADU/cvoe5PwOAxo/s1600/talos3ng4.jpg) [![](https://pages.vassar.edu/grst-202-52-2015b/files/2015/05/Talos.png) ](https://pages.vassar.edu/grst-202-52-2015b/files/2015/05/Talos.png) I wonder why filmmakers feel the need to have the Colossus take it out on ships? ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-the-seven-ancient-wonders-would-you-like-to-see-restored/795575/34 "2017-09-06T19:16:20Z")
IF the Hanging Gardens were really as spectacular as reputed, I’d love to have seen them. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-the-seven-ancient-wonders-would-you-like-to-see-restored/795575/35 "2017-09-06T19:46:30Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I’d have to go with either the Hanging Gardens or the Colossus. The Gardens because, as others have said, we have very little idea what they were actually like, and they were probably very beautiful, from a human perspective walking around in them. The Colossus because, even though it was much shorter than the Statue of Liberty (108’ vs. 305’), it was still tall enough to be an absolutely phenomenal feat of engineering for the time, and I’d love to see how they managed it. I agree about the Colossus, but the Hanging Gardens may be mythical. > **[Hanging Gardens of Babylon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanging_Gardens_of_Babylon)** > > The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World listed by Hellenic culture. They were described as a remarkable feat of engineering with an ascending series of tiered gardens containing a wide variety of trees, shrubs, and vines, resembling a large green mountain constructed of mud bricks. It was said to have been built in the ancient city of Babylon, near present-day Hillah, Babil province, in Iraq. The Hanging Gardens' name is derived from the Greek word κρεμ... The “mythical” part of the Colossus is that some thought it straddled the harbor, which is rather unlikely. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-the-seven-ancient-wonders-would-you-like-to-see-restored/795575/36 "2017-09-06T19:48:09Z")
> [@](#): > > The “mythical” part of the Colossus is that some thought it straddled the harbor, which is rather unlikely. See my post, two above yours. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-the-seven-ancient-wonders-would-you-like-to-see-restored/795575/37 "2017-09-06T20:01:43Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I’d trade them all for the Library at Alexandria. This. It was certainly by far and away the leading choice in that other thread. Can we bundle the Lighthouse and the Library together and get a package deal on them? Hey, they were in the same neighborhood! ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-the-seven-ancient-wonders-would-you-like-to-see-restored/795575/38 "2017-09-06T20:08:17Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > I’d trade them all for the Library at Alexandria. Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-the-seven-ancient-wonders-would-you-like-to-see-restored/795575/39 "2017-09-06T22:13:14Z")
Oh, I know that the Colossus didn’t straddle the harbor. But even with legs together, that’s still plenty phenomenal. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-the-seven-ancient-wonders-would-you-like-to-see-restored/795575/40 "2017-09-06T22:21:56Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I wonder why filmmakers feel the need to have the Colossus take it out on ships? “The real engineering feat was not making the Colossus straddle the harbor - the real engineering feat was how they managed to redirect the city’s sewers all the way up there!” "Well, however it was done, the ‘Squatting Colossus’ certainly has discouraged invaders … " [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-the-seven-ancient-wonders-would-you-like-to-see-restored/795575.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-the-seven-ancient-wonders-would-you-like-to-see-restored/795575.md?page=3)