2500 BC World's largest pyramid
The first and largest of the three great pyramids at Giza is built for the pharaoh Khufu, later known to the Greeks as Cheops

580 BC Hanging gardens of Babylon
Nebuchadnezzar builds the hanging gardens of Babylon, supposedly to comfort a homesick wife

550 BC Croesus builds temple for Diana
Croesus builds a spectacular temple at Ephesus in honour of Artemis, or Diana

430 BC Phidias sculpts Zeus
Phidias creates a massive statue of Zeus, covered in gold and ivory, to stand in the temple at Olympia

350 BC Artemisia builds mausoleum
Artemisia, widow of Mausolus, builds him a tomb at Halicarnassus so spectacular that his name provides a new word - mausoleum

292 BC Colossus of Rhodes
The Colossus, a giant statue of Helios the sun god, is erected beside the harbour of Rhodes

280 BC Lighthouse at Alexandria
A great lighthouse, subsequently one of the Seven Wonders of the World, is built on the island of Pharos, off Alexandria

120 BC Seven wonders of the world
Antipater, a Greek author living on the Phoenician coast, lists the seven wonders of the world