Between 353 and 350 B.C., the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, which would become one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, was erected in what is now the city of Bodrum located in southeastern Turkey.
The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus was designed as a tomb for Mausolus, who was a satrap or governor of the region. The tomb was ordered to be constructed by Artemisia, for her husband upon his death in 353 B.C. Mausolus and Artemisia II of Caria were husband and wife, as well as brother and sister and they had ruled the adjoining regions from Halicarnassus for a period of twenty four years.
The tradition of sibling marriage was common in Caria and was primarily a strategy for keeping supremacy and prosperity in the family. Upon the death of Mausolus, Artemisia was said to be so undone by his death that she combined his ashes with water and drank them.
She then ordered the awe inspiring tomb erected in his memory. The magnificent tomb soon became so well known that his name became the basis for the word mausoleum.
Perched atop a hill watching over the city of Halicarnassus, the tomb was within a courtyard. Composed completely of white marble, the great beautiful stone mausoleum is believed to have reached a height of 148 feet.
Greek architects, Satyros and Pythis are credited with designing the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus which included a blending of Lycian, Greek and Egyptian architectural elements. The bottom of three quadrilateral layers was a base of steps sixty feet in length.
The steps were guarded by stone lions. The middle layer was made up of thirty six Ionic columns roofed with a pyramid. Amidst each pair of columns there stood a statue.
At the center of this level was a marble block. Without heed to cost, Artemisia also sought out brilliant Greek sculptors Leochares, Scopas of Paros, Bryaxis and Timotheus who were brought in to carve bas-reliefs, depicting battles between centaurs and lapiths and between the Greeks and Amazons, in each of the four walls of this center section.
The most recognized of these artists was Scopas, who had designed the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus. The four sculptors and the architect were assisted by an uncounted number of additional craftsmen.
The tomb itself was within the highest point of the roof and included a twenty foot model of a four-horse chariot composed of marble that held a likeness of mausolus stone and Artemisia.
The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus earned a unique historical position as it was one of few of that time that was not constructed to honor a deity.
The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus survived the fall of the city to Alexander the Great and remained guarding the ruins of Halicarnassus for sixteen centuries. A series of earthquakes destroyed the columns and catapulted the chariot to the ground. By 1404 AD the only identifiable portion was the base itself.
The stones from the Mausoleum were used to erect the Bodrum Castle in 1494. The British Museum is now home to many of the remains of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus.
Grant’s Tomb, The Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Los Angeles City Hall and the House of the Temple in Washington, D.C. are just a few of the present day buildings based upon the architecture of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus.
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