Mausoleum at Halicarnassus facts for kids

A fanciful interpretation of the Mausoleum of Maussollos, from a 1572 engraving by Marten Heemskerk (1498–1574), who based his reconstruction on descriptions

The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, or Tomb of Mausolus, was a tomb built between 353 and 350 BC at Halicarnassus (present Bodrum, Turkey). It was bult for Mausolus, a satrap in the Persian Empire, and Artemisia II of Caria, who was both his wife and his sister.

The building was designed by the Greek architects Satyros and Pythius of Priene. It was about 45 meters (135 feet) tall. Each one of the four sides was decorated with sculptural reliefs created by one of four Greek sculptors — Bryaxis, Leochares, Scopas and Timotheus. It was such an accomplishment that Antipater of Sidon said it was one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The word mausoleum has come to be used generically for any grand tomb.

Related pages

• Seven wonders of the world

Images for kids

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  Coinage of Mausolus as Achaemenid dynast of Caria. Head of Apollo facing/ Zeus Labrandos standing, legend ΜΑΥΣΣΩΛΛΟ ("Maussollo"). Circa 376–353 BC.

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  The ruins of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus.

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  Reconstitutions of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus.

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  Colossal statues of a man and a woman from the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, traditionally identified as Mausolos and Artemisia II, around 350 BC, British Museum.

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  Relief of an Amazonomachy from the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus.

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  A fragmentary horse from a colossal four-horse chariot group which topped the podium of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus.

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  Bodrum Castle

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  An actress performs a play in front of two statues from the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. Room 21, the British Museum, London

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  Reconstruction of the Amazonomachy can be seen in the left background. British Museum Room 21

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  Statue usually identified as Artemisia; reconstruction of the Amazonomachy can be seen in the left background. British Museum Room 21

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  This lion is among the few free-standing sculptures from the Mausoleum at the British Museum.

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  Slab from the Amazonomachy believed to show Herculeas grabbing the hair of the Amazon Queen Hippolyta.

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  The design of the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne was inspired by that of the Mausoleum.

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  The Masonic House of the Temple of the Scottish Rite, Washington, DC, designed by John Russell Pope, 1911–1915, another scholarly version.