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Location

In the city of Bodrum on the Aegean Sea, in south-west Turkey.

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History

 

When the Persians expanded their ancient kingdom to include Mesopotamia, Northern India, Syria, Egypt, and Asia Minor, the king could not control his vast empire without the help of local governors or rulers or the Satraps. The kingdom of Caria in the western part of Turkey was so far from the Persian capital. From 377 to 353 BC, king Mausollos reigned and moved his capital to Halicarnassus. Nothing is exciting about Maussollos life except the construction of his tomb. The project was conceived by his wife and sister, and the construction might have started during the his lifetime. The Mausoleum was completed around 350 BC, three years after Maussollos death,.

For 16 centuries, the Mausoleum remained in good condition until an earthquake caused damage to the roof and colonnade. In the early fifteenth century, the Knights of St John of Malta invaded the region and built a massive crusader castle. When they decided to fortify it in 1494, they used the stones of the Mausoleum. By 1522, almost every block of the Mausoleum had been disassembled and used for construction.

Today, the polished stone and marble blocks of the Mausoleum can be spotted within the walls of the structure. Some of the sculptures survived and are displayed at the British Museum in London. These include fragments of statues and many slabs of the frieze showing the battle between the Greeks and the Amazons. At the site itself, only the foundation remains of the once magnificent Wonder.

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Description

 

The structure was rectangular in plan, with base dimensions of about 40 m by 30 m. Overlying the foundation was a stepped podium which were decorated with statues. The burial chamber and the sarcophagus of white alabaster decorated with gold were located on the podium. The colonnade supported a pyramid roof which was decorated with statues. A statue of a chariot pulled by four horses adorned the top of the tomb.

The total height of the Mausoleum was 45 m. This is broken down into 20 m for the podium, 12 m for the colonnade, 7 m for the pyramid, and 6 m for the chariot statue.

The beauty of the Mausoleum is not only in the structure itself, but in the decorations and statues that adorned the outside at different levels on the podium. These were tens of life-size as well as under and over life-size free-standing statues of people, lions, horses, and other animals. The statues were carved by Bryaxis, Leochares, Scopas, and Timotheus. Because the statues were of people and animals, it holds a special place in history.

Since the nineteenth century, archeological excavations have been undertaken at the Mausoleum site. These excavations together with detailed descriptions by ancient historians gives a fairly good idea about the shape and appearance of the Mausoleum.

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