The world's new Seven Wonders were announced in Lisbon, writes Salonaz Sami, and the Great Pyramid was not among them On Saturday 7 July, the ceremony announcing the new Seven Wonders of the World took place in the Benfica Stadium in Lisbon, Portugal. In a night to remember, actresses Hilary Swank and actor Ben Kingsley hosted the event, and the guests included names like Jennifer Lopez, Neil Armstrong, and Portugal's own football star, Cristiano Ronaldo. The new list includes the Great Wall of China; the Colosseum, Italy; the ancient town of Petra, Jordan; Chichén Itzà, Mexico; the statue of Christ the Redeemer, Brazil; ; and the Taj Mahal in India. The Great Khufu Pyramid was named an honorary candidate because it was not included in the formal voting process. On the Internet, the ancient wonders of the world are defined as seven remarkable manmade constructions of classical antiquity. The earliest version of them was compiled by Antipater of Sidon, who described the structures in a poem around BC 140. Those wonders were the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Mausoleum of Maussollos at Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes and the Lighthouse of Alexandria. Of these ancient wonders, the only one still standing is the Great Pyramid, a first-dynasty monument variously described as the tomb of King Khufu (Cheops) and a mystical construction designed to reflect the ancient cosmic order. Egypt's status as the one country with a surviving ancient wonder made Egyptians reluctant to defend their position in the list, though they have since protested that the new wonders should have been selected by scholars and experts, not, as has been the case, by ordinary people. Indeed that is the principal reason behind the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities and the Ministry of Culture's demand that the Pyramids should be removed from the proposed list. Culture Minister Farouk Hosni described the project as "absurd" and its creator as a man primarily concerned with "self-promotion". Still, "The New7Wonders foundation designated the Pyramids of Giza-the only one remaining of the seven wonders of the world -- as an Honorary New7Wonders Candidate, and removed it from the voting list," the Foundation's website read. According to Sayed Al-Naggar, writing in the daily state-owned Akhbar Al-Youm, "It's probably a conspiracy against Egypt, its civilization and monuments." A proposal was made to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) to put together a panel of 300 experts to determine the official seven wonders of the world. The UNESCO, meanwhile, issued a press release on 20 June 2007, stressing that it has nothing to do with the project which it described as "only reflecting the opinions of those with access to the Internet". A paragraph from the press release reads, "There is no comparison between Mr Weber's mediated campaign and the scientific and educational work resulting from the inscription of sites on UNESCO's World Heritage List. The list of the Seven New Wonders of the World will be the result of a private undertaking, reflecting only the opinions of those with access to the Internet and not the entire world. This initiative cannot, in any significant and sustainable manner, contribute to the preservation of sites elected by this public." The initiative to vote for the world's new seven wonders dates back to 2001, when the Swiss-based New Open World Corporation (NOWC) initiated a campaign to choose an alternative list for the world's ancient wonders. The corporation proposed a list of 200 monuments, later narrowed down to 21 finalists and eventually reduced to 20 after the Pyramid was removed from the list. According to the corporation, the monuments which were up for consideration were all man-made, completed before 2000, and in an acceptable state of preservation. The list included ancient buildings like the Colosseum, modern architectural buildings like the Sydney Opera House, iconic statues like the Statue of Liberty, and even whole cities like Timbuktu in Mali. Voters were asked to choose seven preferred finalists, not only one. More than 100 million votes were cast online and through SMSs before the voting was closed on 6 July. The first vote was free to registered members and additional votes were purchased through a payment to the NOWC. "The fact that people participated in such numbers shows that there is a worldwide desire to come together," said Tia Viering, head of communications at the foundation. The project's expert panel was headed by Federico Mayor, former UNESCO director general. According to NOWC milestones page, Swiss businessman Bernard Weber is the man behind the idea, which aims at "bringing the world together to highlight the world's cultural gems and common heritage". It was with this end in view that Weber's New7Wonders Foundation was established in Zurich, Switzerland. On the website, Weber explains that the ancient list came mostly from ancient Greek writings, and only sites known and visited by Greeks were included. None of those wonders is still standing except for the Great Pyramid. "And it was about time for a new list to appear that reflects the opinions of the entire world." Weber added that developing nations were the most enthusiastic participants in the contest. "Because they wanted their monuments on the list for reasons of national pride." The foundation's next project is the new seven wonders of Nature, which will be voted for until 8 August 2008.
