Discovery Channel - Seven Wonders of the World (1994) Part 3 Wonders of the East

Two statues, a temple, a hanging garden, two tombs and a lighthouse. This selection of monuments became known as “The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World”. There are probably few who could list them right away, are even fewer who know something about each of them or the reasons for which they were labeled as Wonders. Six of those seven were destroyed by forces of nature, or by human hand. Each episode in this series describes one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and we see besides the monuments themselves the people who designed and built them, with the vision to create something wonderful.

Now they exist only within the precise, rectangular pits of excavated remains that capture a once-powerful dream whose images continue to echo around us. But, centuries ago, the Seven Wonders of the World were advertisements for a contemporary, thrilling, and heroic way of life, the finest examples of a brand-new civic architecture, the ancestors of every modern city on the planet. Here is the history behind these legendary lost structures: the enormous statue to the Greek god Zeus, carved by Phidias and holding a figure of Victory in one hand and a scepter in the other; the Colossus of Rhodes, a tribute to freedom looking up to Olympus and over the sea; the elegant lighthouse on the island of Pharos in Alexandria; the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, adorned with numerous statues and carvings; the many-tiered Hanging Gardens of Babylon; the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, as beautiful as the goddess for whom it was named; and the eternal Pyramids and the Rise of Wonder.

Journey back to the ancient world to discover it's man-made Wonders. Each wonder is recreated with computer animation, and your host, author and archaeologist, John Romer examines the historical background of these ancient monuments and the civilizations to which they belonged.

Part 3: Wonders of the East

Now presenter John Romer studies the history and beauty of two other Wonders: Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus. Romer explains the myths around the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. In Iraq, archaeologists discovered the remains of great palaces and walls, but none of the famous gardens. They were an opulent dream, brought from the Orient. This Persian paradise filled with fruit and flowers was used by the Greeks to plant olive groves on impressive terraces. At Ephesus, Romer details ancient goddess worship at the temple which attracts all those who believed in it. The place is now near the ruins of Didyma, and he reveals how you could still see the remains of Temple of Artemis.