Some things are just plain wrong.
A vote was taken to rewrite the list of the Seven Wonders of the World. Had the vast majority of voters not been Portuguese, would the Statue of Christ Redeemer really be considered more of a wonder than Easter Island or Stonehenge? It should never have been among the candidates to begin with, in my opinion. The only remaining extant wonder on the original list, Egypt's pyramids, had to be given a special place when they didn't make the top seven. Unbelievable. I could accept this list if Giza was swapped for the Christ Redeemer statue, although I'd also trade the Taj Mahal for Stonehenge. And why not the Statue of Liberty, some 50 years older than the Christ Redeemer, you ask? Purely political reasons - voters don't like US Foreign policy, so the Statue of Liberty gets the heave-ho. What an incredibly unbiased and reasonable way to pick Seven Wonders, eh?
Maybe there needs to be two lists: wonders dated before 1000 AD and one for post-1000 AD. Here are my picks for those two lists:
Pre-1000 AD Wonders of the World
- Pyramids of Giza
- Stonehenge
- Acropolis
- Great Wall of China
- Petra, Jordan
- Chichén Itzá
- Roman Colosseum
Post-1000 AD Wonders of the World
- Easter Island
- Macchu Pichu
- Angkor Wat
- Taj Mahal
- Timbuktu
- Mount Rushmore, since the marvelous Buddhas of Bamiyan are gone
- Suez and Panama canals
When we get around to making a 21st century list, I'd be sure to include the construction project currently ongoing at Dubai.
The good news is, since people were able to vote as often as they liked, this list will never catch on.
Quite right. In our "Global Village" where now everybody shares the same values (?) I don't understand why the funny-looking rock formation over near Farmer McGillicudy's cow pasture doesn't get a vote. It's a wonder to me. By the way, we might as well add the original, classical, 4th-century list of wonders as well -
ReplyDelete1. The Great Pyramid of Giza
2. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
3. The Statue of Zeus at Olympia
4. The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
5. The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
6. The Colossus of Rhodes
7. The Lighthouse of Alexandria
See http://ce.eng.usf.edu/pharos/wonders/list.html
I might have to trade Ankor Wat or Timbuktu for the Hagia Sophia on my post-1000 AD list. Even though the Hagia Sophia was originally built before 1000 AD, it straddles both lists and has been rebuilt several times.
ReplyDeleteI think the classic list was mentioned in the IHT article. There was also a modern list from a few decades ago - I think the Empire State Building is on that one. Here are a few more links:
Wikipedia entry
WonderClub
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
I think they would have a list of appropriate professionals that would sign vote forms with reasons for their choices.
ReplyDeleteI have friends who find the Central American structures built far into the jungle quite amazing. For me a major wonder would be the Hanging Gardens.. just imagine coming up with that elaborate water works, and the precision of it all.