The Mausoleum

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The mausoleum at Halicarnassus was the very great mausoleum tombstone of one Maussollos, the ruler of Caria, one of the provinces of the vast Persian Empire, who also served as a Governor or Satrap of the King of the Persian Empire between 377 and 353 BC (Peter and Mark, 1988). This great tomb monument was so gigantic in size going by the ancient building standards and extremely lavish were the various sculptured adornments or decorations that in next to no time the building was being recognised in the Ancient World as one of the Seven Wonders of these Ancient times (Peter and Mark, 1988). Ever since the Roman times the word mausoleum, has always been a generic term used in reference to any vast or gigantic tomb monument (Juan, 2005). In today’s world this is what most people would consider as a large-scale house built of marble meant to house a deceased person’s remains (Juan, 2005).

Maussollos farther was Hekatomnos a native of Mylasa, who had died earlier (in 377 BC) and left control of the kingdom to him (Claire, n.d). It was at a certain time during Maussollos’ reign that he decided to move the Kingdom’s capital from its location to Halicarnassus, a city located on the coastline of the Kingdom. Maussollos later married Artemisia, his sister (Claire, n.d). It’s his sister Artemisia, who most of the early writers give credit for the erection of the mausoleum at Halicarnassus for Maussollos, her brother and husband (Robin, 2006).

After the death of Maussollos, a distraught Artemisia made sure that the building of her brother/husband's Greek motivated tomb monument (which most probably started during Maussollos lifetime) was successfully completed without sparing any expense (Robin, 2006). Artemisia sought the services of so...

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...s, ancient writers, and the remaining stones of the tomb that were used by groups such as the Knights of St John of Malta to construct other buildings for example the Crusader castle at Bodrum (Robin, 2006), and frantic excavations by different researchers of the site where the tomb was built have all only contributed to the successful rebuilding on paper of this immense ancient history accomplishment.

Works Cited

Claire. The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, n.d. Web 6 April 2011.

Juan, C. Villar. The Seven Wonder Pensacola: Media Creations, 2005. Print

Peter Clayton, and Martin, Prince. The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World London: Routledge, 1988. Print

Robin Fowler. The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus: A Tomb for a King and a Testament to Greek Architecture. 16 July 2006. Web 6 April 2011.

7wonders.org. The Mausoleum of Maussollos, Turkey. 2009. Web 6 April 2011

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