Maybe it's because i've been think about Heidegger's Buidling Dwelling Thinking and the nature of Tolkien's myth that the following article on the 'new' seven wonders of the world makes me so infuriated . . . or maybe because the 'new' list is open for popular vote --a sure sign to me that it's a list designed buy some tourist council.
The Seven wonders of the Ancient world (Great Pyramid of Giza, Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Temple of Artemis, Statue of Zeus at Olympia, Mausoleum of Maussollos, Colossus of Rhodes and the Lighthouse of Alexandria) was compiled in the 2nd c. bc by the Greek Poet Antipater of Sidon. If you believe wiki then it was compiled as an ancient AAA guide to the mediterranean. However, it is difficult for me to believe that the ancient world had the same ravenous consumption mentality of today's modern tourist.
The O.E. wundor (where our Wonder originates) meant "from an unknown origin". This has more in common with the medieval Marvel (O. Fr. merveille and L. mirabilia) than with the modern Spectacle (made for display). The Marvel is something that has such a quality of otherness that there is an implied element of miracle or legend involved in its origin. this is the element that any modern day list of attractions misses.
Heidegger believed that there is an inextricable relationship between what/how we build, who we are as human beings in the world and the way we think about ek-istenze. The present pending list is a reflection of a world living in the framework of savage consumption. A list that is trying so desperately hard to be edgy, inclusive and hip . . . in a travelplanet kind of way.
There are so many marvelous sites around the world which spark the imagination in a way that ties the earth, the sky, the gods and ourselves together rather than setting it aside and apart for our consumption. So, against my better judgement, i offer my own list or at least what i think such a possible list could look like with a little imagination.
Giza and Easter Island are out because they are so over culturally consumed already. The Vatican and or La Sagrad Familia (barcelona) should be in the list but i'll sacrifice my xtian sites to sites less known, less imperial and not of the 20th century.
My list of the Seven Wundor of the world:
1. Cave Paintings of Altamira and Lascaux
2. Teotihuacán: The Temple of the Sun and the Moon (mexico city)
3. Itsukushima Shrine (japan)
4. Timbuktu (mali)
6. Minaret of Jam (afghanistan . . . not destroyed by the Taliban)
7. Urnes Stave Church (norway)
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