The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus.



The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, also in Asia Minor,derived its name from King Mausolus of Caria. After his death in the middle of the 4th century BC, his queen, Artemisia, employed Greek architects to construct a superb monument over his remains. It was a great rectangular pile of masonry, surmounted by an Ionic colonnade supporting a rooflike pyramid. At the apex stood a four-horse chariot in which were statues of the king and queen. So famous was this structure that the word mausoleum came to be applied to any monumental tomb. Some relics of the original Mausoleum are preserved in the British Museum.


Notes on Halicarnassus : Mausolus (4th century BC), king of Caria, whose wife Artemisia erected famous "mausoleum" at Halicarnassus to his memory. Artemisia (4th century BC), queen of Halicarnassus, an ancient Greek city in Asia Minor; built famous tomb for her husband, Mausolus.