The Seventy Wonders of the Ancient World: The Great Monuments and How They Were Built

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Expands on the traditional 'Seven Wonders' to examine an impressive number of ancient marvels from around the globe.

The traditional list of seven wonders was derived from ancient Greek guidebooks, designed for sightseers in the Hellenic world. The Seventy Wonders of the Ancient World broadens those horizons, incorporating architectural marvels from across the globe, from the walled medieval city of Great Zimbabwe to the pre-Aztec Pyramid of the Sun.

These awe-inspiring monuments provoke profound questions about the communities who built them. How were they able to complete such feats of engineering What prompted people to take on these projects, knowing the human costs involved, and how were the monuments viewed after their completion In this new and updated edition, seventeen leading experts answer these questions. In doing so, they provide a testament to the skill of ancient engineers, and bring us closer to the communities they lived in.

Author Bio

Chris Scarre is Emeritus Professor of Archaeology at the University of Durham and was head of its archaeology department from 2010 to 2013. He is editor of The Human Past, and author of many more, including The Megalithic Monuments of Britain and Ireland and Chronicle of the Roman Emperors, both published by Thames & Hudson.