We admire the ancient wonders today, but somebody had to build them. No heavy machinery, no semitrucks, no cement mixers. How was it even possible to build such wonders as pyramids and temples in ancient times?

Each one was unique, its beauty and magnificence lauded by the greatest poets and writers of the age. Everyone longed to see for themselves the Wonders of the World: the Colossus of Rhodes, the majestic Great Pyramids of Giza, the Lighthouse of Alexandria (which withstood earthquakes and gales), the spellbinding Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the breathtaking Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon (inspiration for so many myths and legends). Just one of them—the pyramids—survives today. But come with us as we go back in time and learn the secrets of how these gems of ancient architecture were created. The building of each architectural masterpiece comprised so many details and small jobs, so much daily grind and sustained effort, with or without the help of machines.