| In 377 B.C., the city of Halicarnassus was the capitol of a small kingdom along the Mediterranean coast
of Asia Minor. It was in that year the ruler of this land, Hecatomnus of Mylasa, died and left control
of the kingdom to his son, Mausolus. Hecatomnus, a local satrap to the Persians, had been ambitious and
had taken control of several of the neighboring cities and districts. Mausolus in his time, extended the
territory even further so that it finally included most of southwestern Asia Minor. |
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Mausolus, with his queen Artemisia, ruled over Halicarnassus and the surrounding territory for 24 years.
Mausolus decided to be like the Greeks way, like there government, and civilization. He founded many
cities of Greek design along the coast and encouraged Greek self-governing traditions.
Then in 353 B.C. Mausolus died, leaving his queen Artemisia, who was also his sister. It was the custom
in Caria for rulers to marry their own sisters, broken-hearted. As a tribute to him, she decided to
build him the most splendid tomb in the known world. It became a structure so famous that Mausolus's
name is now associated with all splendid tombs through our modern word mausoleum. The building was
also beautiful and unique it became one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. |
| Soon after construction of the tomb. Artemisia found herself in a crisis. Rhodes, an island in the Aegean Sea between Greece and Asia Minor, had been conquered by Mausolus. When the Rhodians heard of his death they rebelled and sent a fleet of ships to capture the city of Halicarnassus. Knowing that the Rhodian fleet was on the way, Artemisa hid her own ships at a secret location at the east end of the city's harbour.
After troops from the Rhodian fleet descend to attack, Artemisia's fleet caught Rhodians fleet and towed them out to sea. |
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Artemisa put her own soldiers on the invading ships and sailed them back to Rhodes. They were fooled thinking that they won, so they got conquered easily and Atremisia's fleet won.
The Mausoleum overlooked the city of Halicarnassus for many centuries. It was untouched when the city fell to Alexander the Great in 334 B.C. and still undamaged being attacked by pirates in 62 and 58 B.C. It stood above the city 17 centuries. |
| Then a series of earthquakes shattered the columns and sent the stone chariot crashing to the ground. By 1404 A.D. only the bottom Mausoleum was still recognizable. Crusaders, who had occupied the city from the thirteen century, recycled the broken stone into their own buildings. In 1522 rumors of a Turkish invasion caused Crusaders to strengthen the castle at Halicarnassus (which was by then known as Bodrum) and much of the remaining portions of the tomb was broken up and used in the castle walls. Small pieces of polished marble can still be seen there.
In 1846 the Museum sent the archaeologist Charles Thomas Newton to search for more remains of the Mausoleum. He had a difficult job. He didn't know the exact location of the tomb and the cost of buying all the small parcels of land in the area to look for it would have been overpriced. |
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Instead Newton studied the accounts of ancient writers like Pliny to obtain the actual size and location of the memorial. Then he bought a plot of land in the most common location.
Digging down, Newton explored the surrounding area through tunnels he dug under the surrounding plots. He was able to locate some walls, a staircase, and finally three of the corners of the foundation. With this knowledge, Newton was able to figure out which plots of land he needed to buy. |
| Newton then dig the site and found sections of the relief's that decorated the wall of the building and parts of the roof. Also a broken stone chariot wheel, some seven feet in diameter, from the sculpture on the roof was discovered. Finally, he found the statues of Mausolus and Artemisia that had stood at the top of the building.
Today these works of art stand in the Mausoleum Room at the British Museum. |
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