I couldn’t get excited about the New 7 Wonders vote. As John Romer noted seven is a small number to choose which makes the choice personal. I’m wary that a list chosen by committee could mean anything. Unlike K. Kris Hirst, I thought the vote result was pretty bad. You have to mock any Seven Wonders list which doesn’t include an Egyptian pyramid. So I’ve put together my own choice. The rules I’ve adopted are that there must be something to see, so things like the Colossus of Rhodes are out. The other is that I’m only picking a maximum of one wonder from any one country, as I’d like it to be a world-wide list. There’ll be six other posts in the run up to Christmas, and I’ve already chosen them, but if you want to add your own list you can do it below, or choose on your own weblog and send me a link.

The first choice is obvious.

The Giza Plateau


Pyramids of Giza. Photo (cc) Bruno Girin.


I’ve chosen all of the Giza plateau. In the canonical list by Antipater of Sidon it’s only the Great Pyramid that makes the list. It’s possible that he had more refined pyramid tastes than me. Antipater’s choice is not unreasonable. If there were only the Great Pyramid at Giza, then it still would be listed as a Wonder of the World, but there are reasons to include more monuments.

If all you’ve seen of the pyramids are photos, then it’s easy to mistake which pyramid is the Great Pyramid. In the photo above it’s the big one on the right. The central pyramid is the pyramid of Khafre. I’m told that even on-site tourists get confused because Khafre’s pyramid has a higher peak than Khufu’s. The reason is that Khafre has his pyramid built on higher ground. It’s also slightly more impressive looking as the limestone casing survives at the top. In contrast the top of the pyramid of Khufu is flatter. I thought this was due to the effort of a medieval ruler of Egypt who decided to pull down the pyramid to honour Allah, before deciding that Allah was already sufficiently honoured. I tried looking up a source for this, and found Martyn Smith’s blog which tells a similar tale about the pyramid of Menkaure, so I could be wrong about that. In any event, if a pyramid can be confused with the only surviving Wonder of the Ancient World then you have to concede that it must be passably wonderful itself.

The popular image of the pyramids is the three large pyramids standing together. As a trio they’re a logo for ancient engineering, wisdom and bloody-mindedness. It’s recognisable all over the world. It’s even used by the local builders who I assume are aiming for engineering and wisdom rather than we’ll complete your extension even if it takes us decades. They’re also totems for the concept of eternity. “Man fears Time yet Time fears the Pyramids.” according to the Arab proverb. They’re one of the most successful attempts by humans to escape the limits of human time and enter cosmic time.

Sphinx
Sphinx. Photo (cc) Stuart Yeates.

Then on top of all this you have the Sphinx. Since its restoration this has been one of the most recognised faces in the world. The exact attribution is uncertain, most Egyptologists favour Khafre as the face of the Sphinx, while one archaeologist argues it’s more likely to be a statue for Khufu. Whoever the face represents it would need a flint heart to exclude it from the list of wonders. The construction of the temples in the enclosure and the connection to Khafre’s pyramid means that it is possible to including it with the pyramids as part of one site and leave room for one more wonder of the world.

Moreover, I cannot see how you could have a list of seven wonders and not include something from the Giza Plateau. It’s possible these pyramids invented the concept of wonder in Greek imagination. Any list which excluded the Great Pyramid entirely would have an immediate credibility problem. Disagree? Then say so below.