HALICARNASSUS, MAUSOLEUM OF

Battle between Greeks and Amazons, section of marble frieze from the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The monument was the tomb of Mausolus, the tyrant of Caria in southwestern Asia Minor, and was built between about 353 and 351 BC by Mausolus' sister and widow, Artemisia. The architect was Pythius (or Pytheos), and the sculptures that adorned the building were the work of four leading Greek artists: Scopas, Bryaxis, Leochares, and Timotheus. According to the description of the Roman author Pliny the Elder (AD 2379), the monument was almost square, with a total periphery of 411 feet (125 m). It was bounded by 36 columns, and the top formed a 24-step pyramid surmounted by a four-horse marble chariot. Fragments of the mausoleum's sculpture that are preserved in the British Museum include a frieze of battling Greeks and Amazons and a statue 10 feet (3 m) long, probably of Mausolus. The mausoleum was probably destroyed by an earthquake between the 11th and the 15th century AD, and the stones were reused in local buildings.