The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus is one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, located in the coastal city of Halicarnassus, today known as Bodrum, Turkey. It consists of a large funerary temple that was built to house the remains of King Mausoleum of Caria, in the middle of the 4th century BC.
Considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world due to the grandeur and magnificence of its architecture, as well as the meanings and realism of all the sculptures and figures inside, today there is almost nothing left of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, other than the rectangular foundational space and the remains of some columns.
Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, depicted in this 16th century hand engraving by Martin Heemskerck
However, the idea of the past makes it a major tourist attraction in Turkey. The reconstructions and images that can be seen today of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, and that present it in all its glory, have been thanks to studies and excavations that have been able to provide a notion of the architectural and interior form that said funerary temple possessed.
It is estimated that part of the mausoleum was damaged in the 13th century by an earthquake that knocked down its upper part. Since then its remains have been used for the construction of other structures, such as the Bodrum Castle.
History of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus
The history of the conception and construction of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, one of the most vast and imposing structures of antiquity, could begin with King Mausolos of Caria, who ruled this region between 377 and 353 BC. C., and who was also considered a governor within the Persian Empire.
Mausolos was the son of Hekatomnos de Mylasa, where the capital of that kingdom was. Eventually, and upon coming to power, Mausolos moved the capital to the coastal city of Halicarnassus, taking with him his sister Artemis II, whom he would later marry.
The credit for the conception and construction of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus is actually due to Artemis II, in honor of her brother and husband.
It is estimated that the Mausoleum was built in the two years that separated the death of Mausolos from that of Artemis, between 353 and 351 BC However, the vastness and size of this monument cast doubt on whether it could have been completed in just two years. Therefore, the theory that construction began even before the death of Mausolos himself is also used.
The Mausoleum, once completed, stood for centuries. The records and vestiges found over the years during the multiple excavations, have added much more details about the sculptors that could be part of the construction and ornamentation of the Mausoleum.
Decline
One of the main causes attributed to the destruction and almost total dismantling of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus points to the conception and construction of Bodrum Castle in the mid-fourteenth century.
Although sources affirm that the Mausoleum was damaged for the first time due to an earthquake, in the 13th century, which collapsed its upper part, from this moment on the opportunity was taken to continue dismantling it in its entirety.
In 1494, the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem decided to fortify their castle in Bodrum, and the large rectangular stones of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus seemed an ideal material to carry out this task.
It is believed that the total removal and dismantling of the Mausoleum took almost 30 years, leaving only its bases, existing until today, and the tomb of Mausolos open and looted.
The large quantity of marble present in the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus surprised the looting knights, who even found large quantities of marble in the form of columns and ornate rocks in the underground sectors that they used for their own constructions.
Some pieces were transferred and added to the castle, such as ceramic murals depicting battles between the Greeks and Amazons, or between mythological beasts such as centaurs, without being damaged or destroyed.
The archaeological excavations that were carried out during the 19th and 20th centuries served to demonstrate the degree of destruction and pillage that the knights caused to the Mausoleum, leaving it in conditions that do not leave room for a restoration or better interpretation of what this wonder could be. erected in its entirety.
Design
The records around the physical and architectural qualities of the Mausoleum have been very varied, and some have even been discarded as implausible or discordant with the rest of the vestiges.
The artists Briaxis, Timoteo and Leocares are attributed the main designs and pieces of the Mausoleum, although the possibility that other artists participated in the conception of ornaments is also handled.
Architecturally, the Mausoleum consisted of three main parts: a rectangular podium or base, also called the lower part, approximately 20 meters high; above it, a colonnade composed of 36 columns distributed in 11 columns at the longest ends of the structure and 9 at the shortest.
Above the colonnade, a roof in a stepped pyramidal shape, with approximately 24 steps ending in a platform where there was an ornamental carriage with four horses as the crowning of the entire temple.
The sculptures on each side of the Mausoleum, of great quality and neatness, were carried out as follows: Escopas made those on the east side; Briaxis those from the north, Timoteo those from the south and Leocares those from the west.
The remains found have not been able to account for the authorship of other sculptural pieces inside the Mausoleum. However, the chariot with four horses on the top of the temple is attributed to Pytheus.
Today, some of the sculptures that were once in the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus are preserved and exhibited in the British Museum in London, as are many other vestiges of this wonder of the ancient world.
References
- Clayton, PA, & Price, MJ (2013). The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. New York: Routledge.
- Cook, BF (2005). Relief Sculpture of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Müller, A. (1966). The seven wonders of the world: five thousand years of culture and history in the ancient world. McGraw-Hill.
- Woods, M., & Woods, MB (2008). Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Twenty-Firts Century Books.