Tales of the Mausoleum Trivia Quiz

Answer: Turkey

Caria was a kingdom within the First Persian Empire, also called the Achaemenid Empire, that was ruled by a local governor called a satrap. The native Carians claimed they were descended from local people, however, the historian Herodotus wrote that he believed they had descended from Minoans. By the time the mausoleum was built, there had been influence from the Dorian Greeks and later Ionians. The kingdom was located on the western part of an ancient land called Anatolia; today this region is called Turkey. The ruins of the Wonder are located near the present-day town of Bodrum, which is on the Aegean coast.

In a quick review of the other Ancient Wonders, the Great Pyramid and Lighthouse of Alexandria were both built in Egypt, the Hanging Gardens were located in Babylon, a city in Mesopotamia, the Statue of Zeus and the Colossus of Rhodes were was located in Greece (although the island of Rhodes is off the coast of Turkey), and the Temple of Artemis was found in Turkey.

Answer: Mausolus

Of course! The word mausoleum is derived from the tomb of Mausolus! He was the son of Hecatomnus and inherited the Kingdom of Caria and the title from his father. Mausolus enlarged the kingdom and decided to move the capital from Mylasa to Halicarnassus, ruling from the city for 24 years and overseeing many building projects there. In addition he planned for the building of a grand tomb, as he considered himself an important official, and incorporated ideas from nearby tombs to design his own.

Mausolus was a member of the Hecatomnid Dynasty, which was founded by his father, Hecatomnus. Previously a member of the Delian League, Hecatomnus returned Caria to the First Persian Empire, which had been founded by Cyrus the Great. The family ruled the area from approximately 395-334 BC.

Answer: She was the adopted mother of Alexander the Great.

Artemisia II was the sister and wife of Mausolus. She continued to rule Caria two years after his death and gained quite a reputation for herself. She did lead a naval fleet, even though some regions of Caria were not sure they wanted a female ruler. Artemisia used her fleet of ships to take over the island of Rhodes. The story is that she mixed a drink daily that included some of her husband's ashes - she loved and missed him so much - and that she eventually wasted away due to her grief; her love for her husband was the topic of art for centuries. She died two years after Mausolus at a time when the mausoleum was still unfinished. The statue on the left was found onsite and recreated on the right to show her imagined image.

Mausolus and Artemisia II came from a rather large family. One of their sisters, named Ada, also married her brother, Idrieus, and served as the ruler of Caria after his death. Usurped by yet another brother, she took refuge in the city of Alinda, which she gave to Alexander the Great in 334 BC as his army was moving east through the area, adopting him as her son. He helped her recapture Halicarnassus and gave her the title Queen of Caria.

Answer: Egyptian and Greek

The plan of the mausoleum was divided into three parts. First, the rectangular base measured 440 feet in perimeter, according to the historian Pliny. The second part, called the pteron, consisted of 36 columns, and the third part, reminiscent of an Egyptian step pyramid, featured 24 steps. It is believed that the design was influenced by tombs from the nearby area of Lycia, which had been conquered by Mausolus. Some of the rock-cut tombs in Lycia had been constructed as early as the 6th century BC; commonly called pillar tombs, they were located at the city of Xanthos. Considering the kingdom's proximity to Egypt, it is not surprising that some inspiration was taken the ancients there.

It is believed that the funeral urns containing the ashes of Mausolus and Artemisia II were placed in the tomb after she died, animals were sacrificed, and then the stairs leading up to the burial chamber were filled in. According to the Roman author Pliny the Elder, one of the best sources of information regarding the tomb, the artisans continued to work on the tomb because they felt it was not only a tribute to Mausolus, but also to their ability. It is likely that members of the couple's family oversaw the completion and that some of them were also buried within the structure.

Answer: Temple of Artemis

Scopas was a Greek architect and sculptor who was famous for his life-like representations; in fact, the Romans favored his statue, "Pothos", so much that they copied it! It was written that a different artisan worked on the statues that went on each side of the mausoleum; Scopas is credited with the ones placed on the north side.

The Temple of Artemis was built in Ephesus, and historians believe the original building dated as far back as the Bronze Age. In the 7th century BC it was rebuilt, only to be burned to the ground in 356 BC, according to legend, on the day Alexander the Great was born by a man named Herostratus. When Alexander passed through the area, he volunteered to refinance the rebuilding of the temple, however, the people of Ephesus refused his help and oversaw the rebuilding themselves. According to Pliny, Scopas sculpted the images of the Amazons that were on the Temple of Artemis. It was after this reconstruction of the Temple of Artemis that it was placed on the list of Ancient Wonders. This would have occurred about thirty years after Scopas worked on the mausoleum.

Really these are the only two Ancient Wonders in which Scopas might have been involved. The Great Pyramid, Hanging Gardens, and Statue of Zeus were all constructed much earlier, and the others came later. Also, the Temple of Artemis is the only one with known reconstructions. Finally, as stated in the question, both structures are relatively close; by modern standards they are about 106 miles (170 km) apart, so that would have made the logistics associated with working on both easier.

Answer: Bas-relief

In a relief the images that have been sculpted stay attached to the background, which is made of the same material. There are three different styles - high relief, mid-relief, and low relief, which is also called bas-relief. A good example of low relief is the art that is found on stamped coins; the images are clearly visible, but there is not a lot of depth to them.

The perimeter of the bottom third of the mausoleum, the rectangular base, was decorated with a series of bas-reliefs, including scenes that are of a Amazonomachy, like the ones in the picture. An Amazonomachy depicts battles between the Amazons, female warriors, and heroes in Greek mythology.

Answer: Chariot drawn by four horses

From the Latin "quadriiuga", with "quadri" meaning four and "iugum" meaning yoke, the quadriga at the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus was a chariot drawn by four horses that ran abreast. Chariot racing in this manner was originally an event at the ancient Olympic games, where it was called the "tethrippon" if four horses were used and the "synoris" if two were used. The image was frequently used on Greek pottery and even the god Apollo rode in a quadriga, bringing both day and night to the people. As you may know, the ancient Romans were crazy about this sport, as portrayed in the movie "Ben-Hur" (1959).

Some of the art pieces that decorated the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus were free standing statues that were made with a scale that was a bit larger than life. The quadriga was placed on the top of the building, and the bronze chariot contained two statues believed to be Mausolus and Artemisia. By the way, 20 lion statues did decorate the monument and four mounted carved soldiers guarded the tomb at each corner.

Answer: Earthquake

Earthquakes are a common occurrence in Turkey - even in ancient times - as it mostly sits on the Anatolian Plate that is surrounded by two fault zones. It is interesting to note, however, that the actual earthquake that led to the destruction of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus was not recorded at the time that it occurred. Consequently, historians are debating when this occurred. Some believe that it was sometime during the 1100s-1300s, due to accounts that were written before and after that time. The Byzantine scholar Eustathius wrote that it "was and is a wonder" in the late 1100s, and by 1404 it was found in ruins with only the base intact.

This is what is known about the history of the structure after it was completed. It was viewed by Alexander the Great in all its majesty after he conquered the area. The Romans eventually incorporated the area into their empire; they were so taken by the building that they began using the term "mausolea" for their elaborate tombs. Pirates attacked the area in 62 BC and 56 BC, but were not credited with doing any harm to the tomb. In looking at the list of earthquakes in Turkey, there was one in 1268 that is called the Cilicia earthquake that caused 60,000 deaths. The Crete earthquake of 1303 was also recorded; it had a magnitude of 8 and caused destruction all the way to Alexandria to the west. Since buildings and other casualties were recorded at that time in Acre, now on the coast of Israel, it stands to reason that southeastern Turkey was also affected.

Answer: Knights of Saint John of Rhodes

The Knights of Saint John of Rhodes, also known as the Knights Knights Hospitaller or Knights of Malta, was established to give assistance to people who were making pilgrimages to the Holy Land. After the Crusades began, the pope made their mission more of a military one when he put them in charge of defending the Holy Land. They began building the Castle of St. Peter, called Bodrum Castle today, in 1402. When news came in 1494 of a possible Turkish invasion of the area, the knights used pieces of the mausoleum to do some refortifying, and did the same in 1522. Some of the stones were ground to make lime for plaster during this time.

Some of the statues and other pieces were taken by the knights and used to decorate the interior of the castle, where they stayed for 300 years. As far as the contents of the tomb are concerned, it is generally accepted that plundering took place long before the knights came to the area. There is a story that at one point some of the knights entered the base and found a large coffin there. When they came back to explore, they found that the tomb held nothing. There is evidence today that suggests at some point grave robbers dug a tunnel beneath the tomb and removed its contents.

Answer: British Museum

It is known that sometime during the 1800s a British diplomat acquired some of the statues that had been placed in Bodrum Castle. Interested in obtaining more, the British Museum sent Charles Thomas Newton to the area with the intention of purchasing the land where the ruins were located in order to find more artifacts. This is when the larger-than-life statues of Mausolus and Artemisia, among other items, were discovered. Interestingly, Newton removed some marble that made up the base of the structure and relocated it to Malta, where it was used to build a harbor for use by the British navy.

Today there is a museum on the site in Bodrum and Bodrum Castle has been turned into the Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology. Many of the prized artifacts, however, remain housed at the British Museum, currently in Room 21. In recent years there has been a movement in Turkey to bring them back home, but will that happen? Only time will tell.