So far in this series of wonders, we've looked at The Temple of Artemis and The Gardens of Babylon. Today we're going a little more macabre in The Tomb of Mausolus!
Bodrum
Situated in Turkey in a city now known as Bodrum lies the ghost of the Greek city Halicarnassus. Between 377BC to 353BC the city was ruled by a guy called Mausolus, the eldest son of Hecatomnus who was the governor of a region called Caria.
When Hecatomnus died, the governing job was handed down to Mausolus, giving him a sense of unlimited power.
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Mausolus
Mausolus was very successful in his new role, though his prestige may have been somewhat inflated, as seems to be the case so often in history. For example, it's said that he took part in Satrap's Revolt, a religious empire that threatened the existence of his government, though his involvement involved little more than a naval blockade, and the entire thing has been called into question as a myth to begin with:
...neither Mausolus nor Autophraddates participated in any such revolt... what has been perceived tradditionally as a major threat to Artaxerxes' control was in ffact a series of local, but interrelated troubles Michael Weiskopf
Nevertheless, he is said to have conquered and claimed a massive chunk of Southern Turkey, regions known as Lycia and Ionia along with a bunch of Greek Islands. Pretty good going, really. Once he had established himself, he decided to set up his HQ in Halicarnassus from where he and his sister could rule the lands.
Artemisia II of Caria.
As well as being sister and wife, and Queen of the lands, Artemisia was also a naval strategist and commander having been commended by the King. She has since had several modern ships named after her including an Iranian destroyer and a Greek ferryboat.
Developing Halicarnassus
Mausolus strategically deepened the harbour, fortifying one side of it, making use of the clear views of the sea plus the overviews of the forests and land ahoy. He used spare sand from these excavations to build brakewater structures around the bay to control the water flow across the channel, preventing floods.
Statues were commissioned across the city, and temples and buildings made of marble were constructed. This was turning into a modern, stunning city. (Using a huge amount of tax payers money of course.)
Mausolus and his teams built paved streets, houses for the regular people and social market squares, extending the city further south as the society flourished.
As any overtly proud leader would, he started work on his future resting place; a magnificent tomb that overlooked the city around 351BCE.
The tomb was designed by 'famous' architects Pythius and Satyros, with collaborative efforts with artists such as sculptists Scopas, Bryaxis, Leochares. and Timotheus - who were assigned one side of the tomb each.
Perhaps Mausolus knew something, because he rather inconveniently died of unknown causes (that I can uncover) around 353BCE before the tomb was barely even begun, leaving his sister-wife Artemisia to finish the mission.
It was Artemisia who vowed to make the tomb something greater than any man had seen, and it was her who searched out Pytheos, known for designing and building the Temple of Athena. She had ambition.
The Mausoleum
When finally completed, The Mausoleum ('Magnificent Tomb') was over 45 metres high with 36 giant columns with a pyramidal roof where a statue of Mausolus and Artemisia riding together in a carriage was placed.
Whilst the building was constructed of bricks, it was covered with white Proconnesian marble, giving it a splendid look:
Battles scenes made in stone surrounded the tomb area, the Greeks fighting the Amazon Tribe, battles with Centaurs, and carved images of warrior women.
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At each corner, stone warriors mounted on horseback guarded the tomb.
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Statues were placed between every column.
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The beauty of the Mausoleum was not only in the structure itself, but in the decorations and statues that adorned the outside at different levels on the podium and the roof: statues of people, lions, horses, and other animals in varying scales.Source
The tomb of Mausolus stood about 1/3 the height of the building and was also made of marble. It was placed, raised up, in the centre of an enclosed courtyard where people could go to pray, relax, and gather in peace in this iconic Temple.
She Turned Mad
But it wasn't all ponies and statutes. Artemisia took the death of her brother/lover particularly badly. She was said to have kept his ashes in a special jar and would spoon them into her morning tea. Most art depicts her doing this... Not a great thing to be famous for:
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Artemisia is always shown with a cup or urn, either alone or with a group of attendants offering or helping to mix the drinkSource
But it got worse. Two years after Mausolus's death, Artemisia, after a miserable existence ever since that day, died as well, having 'wasted away from sorrow'.
She and Mausolus were both cremated and placed in identical jeweled urns within the Mausoleum tomb upon completion.
The Mausoleum survived the test of time for centuries, but by 1404 only the base of the building remained after it had been hit by an Earthquake and crumbled to its destruction.
Some of the stones had been "stolen" by the Knights of St. John of Rhodes who had gathered and used them to rebuild and fortify Bodrum castle, part of some Turkish invasion in the 1500's.
Research has since shown a cleverly dug hole which seems to have been done by smugglers hundreds of years before. They managed to dig their way into the building and swipe the ashes of Mausolus and Artemisia along with all the jewels and riches.
Sections of the polished marble can still be seen in the rebuilt castle to this day!
Good Ole British Museum
As usual, the remains of such wonderful, ancient wonders were found and saved by the British Museum back in the 19th century. The museum hired a guy called Charles Newton.
Charles was an assistant in the museum’s Department of Antiquities and was well known for making outstanding acquisitions. With such a grand reputation, he was entrusted with a bunch on cash from the British museum with assurance than he could go to Turkey and find where the mysterious Mausoleum tomb once existed.
He didn't know the exact location, nobody did. He spent months trawling through ancient memoirs until he believed that he had enough of an idea of where it should be, then taking a gamble he purchased a plot of land and began to dig down.
Lucky for him it wasn't wasted efforts on a wasted purchase. He had indeed found where the Mausoleum was and once he began excavating with his teams, he found everything he could find in such a long buried wonder.
The statues and relics that were discovered by Sir Charles can now be viewed in the British Museum.
And Next Is?.... The Great Pyramid of Giza
The only ancient wonder which still exists today as one of our modern wonders.
References:
The Great Satraps' Revolt - Michael Weiskopf: The So-called ‘Great Satraps' Revolt’, 366–360 B.C.: Concerning Local Instability in the Achaetnenid Far West.
Historyofwar.org
Artemisia II of Caria
Mausoleum at Harlicarnassus
Mausolus
Halicarnassus
Bodrumturkeytravel.com
Pythius of Priene