“In this palace he erected very high walls, supported by stone pillars; and by planting what was called a pensile paradise, and replenishing it with all sorts of trees, he rendered the prospect an exact resemblance of a mountainous country.”
(Flavius Josephus, CE 93, Against Apion, Book I, 128)

“The walls, 22 feet thick, were made of brick. The bases of the tiered sections were sufficiently deep to provide root growth for the largest trees.”
(Diodorus Siculus, BCE 54, Library of History, Book II, 10)

“We read, too, of hanging gardens, and what is even more than this, a hanging city, Thebes in Egypt: it being the practice for the kings to lead forth their armies from beneath, while the inhabitants were totally unconscious of it. This, too, is even less surprising than the fact that a river flows through the middle of the city.”
(Pliny the Elder, CE 77, The Natural History, BOOK XXXVI, 20)

Hanging Gardens of Babylon 1.1

“To you, O Sun, the people of Dorian Rhodes set up this bronze statue reaching to Olympus, when they had pacified the waves of war and crowned their city with the spoils taken from the enemy. Not only over the seas but also on land did they kindle the lovely torch of freedom and independence. For to the descendants of Herakles belongs dominion over sea and land.“
(Dedicatory inscription of the Colossus)

“Why man, he doth bestride the narrow world Like a Colossus, and we petty men Walk under his huge legs and peep about To find ourselves dishonourable graves”
(William Shakespear, CE 1600, Julius Caesar, Act I, Scene II)

“The brazen giant of Greek fame with conquering limbs astride from land to land”
(Emma Lazarus, CE 1883, The New Colossus)

Colossus of Rhodes 1.1

“At a moderate height in one of the sides is a stone, which may be taken out; when that is removed, there is an oblique passage to the tomb.”
(Strabo, BCE 17, The Geographica, Book XVII.1)

”Accident has consigned to oblivion the names of those who erected such stupendous memorials of their vanity”
(Pliny the Elder, CE 77, The Natural History, BOOK XXXVI, 17)

“Two of these are even numbered among the Seven Wonders of the World, for they are a stadium in height, are quadrangular in shape, and their height is a little greater than the length of each of the sides; and one of them is only a little larger than the other.”
(Strabo, BCE 17, The Geographica, Book XVII,1)

Great Pyramid of Giza 1.1

“And likewise the extremity of the isle is a rock, which is washed all round by the sea and has upon it a tower that is admirably constructed of white marble with many stories and bears the same name as the island.”
(Strabo, BCE 17, Geographia, Volume VIII, 17, Egypt and Ethiopia)

“The lighthouse was constructed from large blocks of light-coloured stone. The tower was made up of three tapering tiers: a lower square section with a central core; a middle octagonal section; and, at the top, a circular section“
(Muhammad al-Idrisi, CE 1154, Geography, Volume III, 4)

“Therefore this tower, in a straight and upright line, appears to cleave the sky from countless stadia away, during the day, but throughout the night quickly a sailor on the waves will see a great fire blazing from its summit.“
(Posidippus of Pella, BCE 300, Epigrams)

Lighthouse of Alexandria 1.1

“The tomb was erected on a hill overlooking the city. A stairway flanked by stone lions led to the top of the platform, which bore along its outer walls many statues of gods and goddesses.”
(Unknown Author)

“The one [tomb] at Halicarnassus was made for Mausolus, king of the city, and it is of such vast size, and so notable for all its ornament, that the Romans in their great admiration of it call remarkable tombs in their country - Mausolea”
(Pausanias, CE 170, Description of Greece, Book VIII, 16)

“The building was rectangular, not square, surrounded by a colonnade of thirty-six columns. There was a pyramidal superstructure receding in twenty four steps to the summit.”
(Pliny the Elder, The Natural History, Book XXXVI, 30-31)

Mausoleum at Halicarnassus 1.1

“The floor in front of the image was paved with black tiles and surrounded by a raised rim of marble to contain the oil. This reservoir acted as a reflecting pool which doubled the apparent height of the statue”
(Pausanias, Description of Greece, Book V, 11)

“The statue gives the impression that if Zeus arose and stood erect he would unroof the temple.”
(Strabo, BCE 17, Geographica, Book VIII, 3)

“The throne featured painted figures and wrought images and was decorated with gold, precious stones, ebony, and ivory.”
(Pausanias, Description of Greece, Book V, 11)

Statue of Zeus at Olympia 1.1

“I have set eyes on the wall of lofty Babylon on which is a road for chariots, and the statue of Zeus by the Alpheus, and the hanging gardens, and the colossus of the Sun, and the huge labour of the high pyramids, and the vast tomb of Mausolus; but when I saw the house of Artemis that mounted to the clouds, those other marvels lost their brilliancy, and I said, «Lo, apart from Olympus, the Sun never looked on aught so grand.“
(Antipater of Sidon, BCE 140 Greek Anthology IX.58)

“And afterwards around that image was raised a shrine of broad foundations. That it shall dawn behold nothing more divine, naught richer.”
(Callimachus, BCE 238, Hymns III. to Artemis, v. 248-250)

“A wonderful monument of Grecian magnificence, and one that merits our genuine admiration.”
(Pliny the Elder, CE 77, The Natural History, BOOK XXXVI, 21)

Temple of Artemis at Ephesus 1.1

PHYSICAL

7.1 is a series of oil paintings depicting the seven ancient wonders as described in the ancient texts, and seen through the lenses of text-to-image algorithms. Through a painstaking bibliography built in collaboration with historians, the series is born from gathering the references to the seven ancient wonders and using them to create historically informed contemporary interpretations of the lost wonders.

7.1

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