The Great Pyramid of Giza and the New Seven Wonders of the World

There are two lists with the same name, and almost all misunderstandings on this topic arise from confusing them.

The first is ancient. Greek authors compiled a list of particularly notable structures in the third and second centuries BC. It comprised seven entries, one of which was the Great Pyramid of Giza. Of these seven, exactly one still stands today: the one from Giza. All others have been destroyed, and for one, it remains disputed to this day whether it ever existed.

The second is new. In 2007, a worldwide public vote organized by a private Swiss foundation concluded, allowing people to vote via the internet and telephone for a new list of seven. The status of the Great Pyramid as a world wonder was problematic from the start, and it was resolved in a way that continues to cause confusion.

In short: The pyramid was not on the final ballot, but it did not fail either. It was removed. Why this happened and what this special path practically means is the content of this page.

The ancient list was never an official register

The ancient list is older than most assume, and it was never an official register.

It was compiled by Greek authors who wrote a kind of travel recommendation for educated readers. The best-known are Philo of Byzantium, who wrote a treatise on the seven sights around 225 BC, and Antipater of Sidon, whose poem from the second century BC is considered the oldest surviving version. This was thus a subjective selection, written within the Greek cultural sphere, and accordingly, almost all entries are located in the eastern Mediterranean.

What became of the other six is known and partly well documented. The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus was destroyed and rebuilt multiple times, finally ending in late antiquity. The Colossus of Rhodes, a bronze statue at the harbor, stood for only about half a century before an earthquake toppled it; its remains lay on the ground for centuries afterward. The Lighthouse of Alexandria survived the longest and only decayed in the Middle Ages after several earthquakes; its blocks now form part of a fortress at the same location. The Statue of Zeus at Olympia and the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus are gone, with fragments of the latter preserved. And the Hanging Gardens of Babylon are the only entry for which no archaeological evidence exists to date. An overview of the ancient list shows how varied the source situation is for each entry.

One detail makes this remarkable: All seven structures stood simultaneously for a period of less than sixty years. The Colossus of Rhodes fell during an earthquake when other entries had not yet been built or were just being completed. Thus, the list does not describe a permanent world order, but a very brief moment.

And in that moment, the Great Pyramid of Giza was already over two thousand years old. It was the only entry that appeared ancient at the time of the enumeration. To the Greek authors, it was what it is to us: a structure from an unimaginably distant past.

The new list emerged from a campaign

The new list emerged from a campaign, and this is not a derogatory description, but a factual one.

The initiator was the Swiss filmmaker and entrepreneur Bernard Weber, who organized a worldwide vote through his own foundation. From initially over one hundred proposals, a selection of twenty-one finalists was formed, which could be voted on via the internet and telephone. The results were announced on July 7, 2007, in Lisbon.

The scale was impressive. From over one hundred proposed structures, a list of twenty-one finalists was created, including the Acropolis, the Alhambra, the Hagia Sophia, the Sydney Opera House, and the Statue of Liberty. The organizers subsequently spoke of approximately one hundred million votes cast, a figure that cannot be independently verified because the procedure did not require registration. The foundation itself describes its relationship with UNESCO as separate, sharing common goals without formal connection.

The action was a media success and was criticized from the outset. The main point of criticism concerned the method: Those voting do not decide based on which structure is culturally significant, but on which country organized the largest campaign. Multiple votes were possible, and several governments actively called on their populations to participate.

Scientifically, the selection was thus based on a different premise than any scientific evaluation. It measures attention, not significance. This is legitimate as long as one knows what was measured, and this is precisely what UNESCO pointed out in a statement.

Why Egypt protested

For Egypt, the matter was sensitive for a different reason, and the reaction was clear.

The objection was essentially: A structure that has stood for over four and a half thousand years and is the sole survivor of the ancient list should not have to prove itself against younger structures in an internet vote. From an Egyptian perspective, participation was not an opportunity but a demotion. The criticism came from the highest levels of the Supreme Council of Antiquities and was presented publicly.

The organizers reacted with a compromise. In spring 2007, the site was removed from the vote and declared an honorary candidate instead. The honorary status of the Great Pyramid of Giza thus means exactly what it sounds like: It stands outside the competition, explicitly recognized, but not elected.

Practically, this means three things. The pyramid is not a member of the new list of seven. It did not lose the vote. And it remains part of the ancient list, from which it was never removed and which no one can award or revoke anyway.

The title that actually makes a difference

If you are looking for a title that actually has an effect, it is neither of the two mentioned so far.

It is the World Heritage status. The Giza Necropolis has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1979, together with the pyramid fields of Abusir, Saqqara, and Dahshur, under the title "Memphis and its Necropolis – the Pyramid Fields from Giza to Dahshur". This status is not an honorary title, but a procedure with consequences.

It obligates the state to take protective measures and report on them, binds interventions to documentation, and allows international participation in conservation and monitoring. A significant part of what visitors experience as standard rules on the plateau today is related to this: the climbing ban, the barriers around the Sphinx, the construction prohibition zones at the edge of the site, and the limitation of interior tickets.

Concretely, this means: The contracting state must regularly report on the condition of the site, announce planned interventions, and cooperate with the World Heritage Committee in case of endangerment. If protection is lacking, a site can be placed on the Red List of endangered World Heritage and, in extreme cases, deleted. Both have actually happened, albeit rarely. Exactly this possibility is the leverage behind construction bans and regulations, and it explains why the discussion about development on the eastern edge of the plateau has been ongoing for decades.

The difference can be summarized in one sentence. The ancient list is literary history, the 2007 vote was a campaign, and the World Heritage status is administration. Only the third point affects whether the structure will look the same in a hundred years as it does today.

The pyramid doesn't need the list

Remarkable about this whole story is that the pyramid doesn't need it at all.

It was the first structure on a list that has existed for over two thousand years. It is the only entry from it that still exists. It stood at the top of the world's tallest structures for longer than has passed since then. And it was already a destination for travelers when Greek authors began writing lists.

A vote in 2007 adds nothing to it and takes nothing away. This was likely the core of the Egyptian objection: Not the fear of losing, but the assertion that the question was posed incorrectly.

Anyone wanting to explain this in one sentence would do best to say: The Great Pyramid of Giza is the only ancient wonder still standing, and it participated outside the competition in 2007. Everything else is campaign history.