The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus (in Greek Μαυσωλεῖον / Mausôleĩon) is the tomb of the king of Caria (Asia Minor) Mausolus (died in 353 BC). It was the fifth of the Seven Wonders of the World. The monument was admired since Antiquity for its dimensions and its decoration, so much so that we call “mausoleum” any large tomb, for example the mausoleum of the Emperor Hadrian, current Castel Sant’Angelo. The mausoleum was located in the city of Bodrum (southwestern Turkey).
Caria was a dependent province of the Persian Empire, but which had become almost autonomous. It was King Mausolus who moved the capital to Halicarnassus, after taking control of most of southwestern Anatolia. Although officially dependent on the Persian Empire, it was of Greek culture. He undertook major works to embellish and fortify his capital. In particular, he built a theater and a temple to Ares, the god of war.
Building
According to tradition (Strabo, Pausanias), it was his sister and widow, Artemis II who decided to build an exceptional monument in his honor. Nevertheless, as she reigned only two years after him, it is probable that the monument was begun during Mausole's own lifetime. It was completed in 350 BC. AD, a year after the death of Artemis II. We do not know by whom it was completed, perhaps by Mausole's brother, perhaps by Alexander the Great, perhaps it was never even completed.
The greatest contemporary artists were called upon for the construction of the Mausoleum:the architect Scopas, who had directed the reconstruction of another of the Seven Wonders, the Artemision of Ephesus, and the sculptors Leochares, Bryaxis and Timothy.
The Mausoleum rested on a rectangular substructure, surrounded by a sacred enclosure (τέμενος / témenos) opened to the east by a propyleum. The substruction was surmounted by 36 columns, supporting a 24 degree pyramid, on top of which was a marble quadriga.
It remained in good condition until the 12th century, then, for lack of maintenance, it fell into disrepair. In the 15th century, the Hospitallers used it as a quarry to build the Saint-Pierre castle on the ancient acropolis of Halicarnassus, then to repair the fortifications of the city.
Archaeological discovery
In 1857, Charles Thomas Newton first located the monument thanks to his knowledge of ancient literature, especially Vitruvius and Pliny the Elder, but also thanks to a great mastery of the interpretation of the fragments found on the ground, a habit acquired thanks to a long work in the field.
He had to adapt his excavation technique to local conditions. Indeed, he did not have the means to buy all the land supposed to contain the Mausoleum. He therefore resorted to tunnels, not trenches, to locate the outer limits of the building. He was thus able, after discovering the four corners, to buy only the fields he wanted to explore more thoroughly.
He removed from the ground numerous fragments of architecture and sculpture, including four slabs of the East frieze, work of Scopas representing a fight between Greeks and Amazons. All these fragments, as well as one of the monumental wheels of the quadriga on which were the colossal statues of Mausolus and Artemis are in the British Museum. He was also able to collect in this museum the other identified fragments of the Mausoleum scattered in Geneva, Constantinople or Rhodes. There, his work as a curator joined that of an archaeologist.