|
|
|
Halloween Costumes 2009
Wonders
of the Ancient World
Michael came up with this year's theme of
"Wonders of the Ancient World". We dressed
as the Great Pyramids of Giza, Colossus of
Rhodes, Lighthouse at Alexandria, Statue of Zeus
at Olympia, Hanging Gardens of Babylon and
Temple of Artemis at Ephesus. Extra credit
if you know the seventh wonder without having to
scroll down.
|
|
 |
Diablo Magazine Costume Contest:
Award for "Most Original"Downtown
Halloween Costume Contest Parade:
"Best Group Theme" winner |
|
Pyramids of Giza (Jason) |
Temple of Artemis (Amara) |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
The
great Pyramids at Giza, which date from the Old
Kingdom (2700-2300 B.C.) are the oldest and most
famous of the Seven Wonders of the World.
The Great Pyramids in Egypt are the only of of
the Seven Wonders that survive substantially
intact. |
The Temple of Artemis, also known
less precisely as Temple of Diana, was a Greek
temple dedicated to Artemis (goddess of the
moon, the hunt, forests and hills). The whole
temple was made of marble except for the roof. Completed around 550 B.C. at Ephesus (in
present-day Turkey) only the foundations and
sculptural fragments of the temple remain today. |
|
Colossus of Rhodes (Michael) |
Hanging Gardens of Babylon
(Rosemary) |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
The Colossus of Rhodes was a
statue of the god Helios, erected on the Greek
island of Rhodes between 292 and 280 B.C. The
Colossus stood over 30 meters (107 ft) high,
making it one of the tallest statues of the
ancient world before it was toppled by an
earthquake in 226 B.C. The design, posture
and dimensions of the statue became the
inspiration for the modern-day Statue of
Liberty. |
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
were built by Nebuchadnezzar about 600 B.C. to
console his queen, who missed the mountains,
trees and flowers of her native Persia. The lush
gardens consisted of multiple terraces with
massive slabs of stone to prevent the water from
eroding the ground. Water was raised from the
Euphrates River using something similar to an
Archimedes screw. The gardens were
destroyed by several earthquakes after the 2nd
century B.C. |
|
Statue of Zeus at Olympia
(Blaine) |
Lighthouse at Alexandria
(Felicia) |
 |
 |
 |
 |
The Statue of Zeus at Olympia was
made by the Greek sculptor Phidias, circa 432 BC
on the site where it was erected in the Temple
of Zeus, Olympia, Greece. For six hundred years
after the death of the sculptor, people from all
over the civilized world traveled to view it as
it was thought to be a misfortune to die without
seeing this work.
The statue was built around a wooden frame, with
sheets of ivory and gold leaf. The seated
statue, some 12 meters (39 feet) tall, occupied
the whole width of the aisle of the temple built
to house it. "It seems that if Zeus were to
stand up," the geographer Strabo noted, "he
would unroof the temple." The statue was
destroyed by fire in the 5th or 6th century A.D. |
The Lighthouse at Alexandria was
built in 279 B.C. on the island of Pharos in
Alexandria, Egypt, to serve as that port's
landmark, and later, its lighthouse. With a
height over 400 feet it was the world's third
tallest building, after the two Great Pyramids
during its entire lifetime.
Constructed from large blocks of
light-colored stone, the tower was made up of
three stages: a lower square section with a
central core, a middle octagonal section, and,
at the top, a circular section. At its apex was
positioned a mirror which reflected sunlight
during the day; a fire was lit at night. |
|
Mausoleum of Masolus |
|
 |
Not
represented in costume, but here for
completeness. One of the Seven Wonders of the
Ancient World. |
|
The Mausoleum of Mausolus at
Halicarnassus was erected between 353 and 350
B.C. by Artemisia II. The word mausoleum comes
from Mausolus, a Persian governor who built the
city of Halicarnassus. When Mausolus died his
wife collected the greatest artisans from Greece
to design and build the tomb. Though not as
large as other structures, its aesthetic beauty
and simplicity made it a wonder. It was so
beautiful that invaders often left it untouched.
Even after the city was destroyed, the tomb sat
alone and undamaged for 15 centuries until a
series of earthquakes reduced it to rubble. |
|
|
Can you give me a clue on
last year's theme? >>
|
