King Mausolus ruled over Caria, part of morden-day Turkey, in the 4th
century B.C.. He was an ambitious king and attacked many nearby cities
and states. With the money from his conquests, he built a new capital city
at Halicarnassus. Towards the end of his life, King Mausolus decided to
build himself a tomb, as a monument to his power. He wanted to be the most
magnificient tomb ever seen. No expenses was spared and the finished tomb
was grand that it was named a mausoleum, after Mausolus.
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 -- the Satraps.
Like many other provinces,
the kingdom of Caria in the western part of Asia Minor (Turkey) was so far
from the Persian capital that it was practically
autonomous. From 377 to 353 BC, king Mausollos of Caria 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 Artemisia,
and the construction might have started during the king's lifetime. The
Mausoleum was completed around 350 BC, three years
after Maussollos death, and one year after Artemisia's.
For 16 centuries, the Mausoleum remained in good condition until an
earthquake caused some 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 massive castle still stands in Bodrum, and 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
today on display at the British Museum in London.
These include fragment of statues and many slabs of the frieze showing the
battle between the Greeks and the Amazons. At the
site of the Mausoleum itself, only the foundation remains of the once
magnificent Wonder.
Description
The structure was rectangular in plan, with base dimensions of about 40 m
(120 ft) by 30 m (100 ft). Overlying the foundation
was a stepped podium which sides were decorated with statues.
The burial chamber and the sarcophagus of white alabaster
decorated with gold were located on the podium and surrounded by Ionic
columns. The colonnade supported a pyramid roof
which was in turn 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 (140 ft). This is broken down
into 20 m (60 ft) for the stepped podium, 12 m (38
ft) for the colonnade, 7 m (22 ft) for the pyramid, and 6 m (20 ft) for the
chariot statue at the top.