The New 7 Wonders of the World
by Denise Morris on 07/10/2007 at 11:09 AM
For those of you who have visited the Colosseum in Rome or the Great Wall in China, you have officially had the honor of seeing one of the new 7 Wonders of the World. On Saturday (7/7/07 -- get it?), the results were announced in Lisbon, Portugal after online voting which allowed people to choose from 21 different man-made structures throughout the world.
The Great Pyramid in Giza, Egypt is the only one of the original ancient wonders of the world that is still standing. Most of the others were destroyed and never rebuilt. According to the new 7 Wonders website, part of the goal of this initiative is to prevent destruction of these great sites in the future:
Monuments in jeopardy, perhaps in a dangerous state of decay, can be saved by publicizing their beauty and highlighting their plight to the international community.
The places that were picked and most of the ones that were in the running, seemed pretty sweet to me. I've only been to a couple of them, and I'm thinking that next, I would really like to see Petra -- it reminds me of Indiana Jones. You should check out this site, which gives some information on the new and old wonders. Which ones have you been to -- or which would you like to see?
1. Carrie said the following at 11:42 AM on Jul 10:
I've been to the Great Wall. I'd like to see Chichen Itza (preferably during the autumnal equinox) and Macchu Pichu.
2. Rachel said the following at 1:17 PM on Jul 10:
Both Chichen Itza and Machu Picchu are pretty wondrous, and I can definitely see why they made the list. I'd really like to see the Great Wall next. By the way, I heard they are now going to conduct a new 7 wonders of the natural world poll.
3. Katherine said the following at 1:21 PM on Jul 10:
I've seen Petra. It's glorious. Sure, you think about Indiana Jones when you first see the Khasneh (because the place does show up in the film), but that lasts about, oh, 2 seconds. Then you can spend days lost in the wonder of the place.
4. Katie M. said the following at 2:30 PM on Jul 10:
While the Great Wall is a marvelous engineering feat, I cannot dissociate from it the grievous human rights abuses entwined with its construction under the tyrranical Qin Dynasty. That wall stands more as a long, winding headstone for the forced slave laborers who died building it.
5. Megan said the following at 6:03 PM on Jul 10:
If we want to talk human rights violations, I bet seeing most of those 7 wonders would be a problem.
What about the Colosseum? We know way too much about the kind of cruelty and horror that went on in those walls. Machu Pichu, Chichen Itza, Petra, and the Taj Mahal weren't exactly built by people concerned for the welfare of their rough laborers, were they?
Are they still products of the ability God gave us to build things? Yup. If I were near them would I visit just to see them? Yup. Would I shiver? Well, maybe in the Colosseum. I would probably stay out of China just on principle.
6. Emily said the following at 7:56 PM on Jul 10:
I'd love to see the Colosseum. I'm surprised the Pyramids didn't make it to the list of the top 7.
7. Jonathan Chang said the following at 8:19 PM on Jul 10:
And I am sure that the other things were not built without "grievous human rights being abused." The Roman Colosseum, I am sure the upright and proper citizens were the ones that built the structure. I don't mean to be rude, but these structures stand for both the feat of its existence, and for the burden it placed on the people to build it. Of course those forced to build it probably did not enjoy it, but the Great Wall isn't a Disneyland contraption made to entertain.
8. Mandi said the following at 9:05 PM on Jul 10:
The Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt is something everyone should try to see if they have a chance! One of those things you just have to go to in order to appreciate. Not enough to read about the ingenuity of those ancient people. Besides, if you go, you'll have a chance to visit some other historic sites in a land our Lord Himself took refuge in!
The Colosseum was pretty breathtaking, too. Worth going into for the extra 10 euros or something. You can almost "see" the Christians who were thrown to the centre amidst lions, etc. for their refusal to deny Christ, and "hear" the crowds cheering and jeering. Certainly gives a sobering perspective about any and all "sacrifices" we have to make for Christ in this day and age, at least on this side of the ocean.
9. Anna said the following at 11:11 PM on Jul 10:
I'm on a missions trip in Peru, and Macchu Pichu was voted one of the 7 Wonders the day after I got here. I get to go see it in 2 weeks! Yay! :)
10. Laura Z said the following at 8:43 AM on Jul 11:
When I tried the link to the article, it didn't work, so I searched and found an article from 7/8/07 on MSNBC...so I don't know if it was the same one, but this one said:
"The only certainty for today's travelers is that the wonders of the world are perishable, whether they're made of stone or ice, by man or nature."
Wow, Reminded me of this verse:
Isaiah 40: 8-10
"The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever.Get you up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength,O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah,
"Behold your God!"
Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might,and his arm rules for him;
behold, his reward is with him,and his recompense before him. He will tend his flock like a shepherd;he will gather the lambs in his arms."
How cool! He remind's us that the things of earth wither away, and yet also sends us to these places, to proclaim good news...to say "Behold your God!"
11. Robert J Espe said the following at 9:18 AM on Jul 11:
Things like this make me think about how differently we build things now. We build WAY cooler stuff. It is bigger, cleaner, brighter, safer, etc....
But nothing we build lasts. Steel, glass, and sheet rock don't last for centuries. Most of our big buildings get run down in a couple decades even with maintenance. I'm thinking we could learn something about quality workmanship from ancient builders.
I think a Japanese temple should have made the list for the high-quality carpentry. And they left off Duluth's Aerial lift bridge!
12. Hannah said the following at 6:37 PM on Jul 11:
I've been to the great wall, which was incredible. It definitely deserved to be one of the 7 wonders.