Colossus

, a celebrated brazen image at Rhodes, which pa ed for one of the seven wonders of the world. Its feet were upon the two moles which formed the entrance of the harbour, and ships pa ed full sail between its legs. It was 70 cubits, or 105 feet high, and everything in equal proportion, and few could clasp round its thumb. It was the work of Chares the disciple of Lysippus, and the artist was 12 years in making it. It was begun 300 years before Christ; and after it had remained unhurt during 56 or 88 years, it was partially demolished by an earthquake, 224 B.C. A winding staircase ran to the top, from which could easily be discerned the shores of Syria, and the ships that sailed on the coast of Egypt, by the help of gla es, which were hung on the neck of the statue. It remained in ruins for the space of 894 years; and the Rhodians, who had received several large contributions to repair it, divided the money amongst themselves, and frustrated the expectations of the donors, by saying that the oracle of Delphi forbade them to raise it up again from its ruins. In the year 672 of the christian era, it was sold by the Saracens, who were masters of the island, to a Jewish merchant of Ede a, who loaded 900 camels with the bra , whose value has been estimated at 36,000 l . English money.