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The
Mausoleum of Halicarnassus (circa 353 BC) was a monumental marble
tomb,decorated by the leading sculptor of the age, for King Mausolus
of Caria in AsiaMinor; only fragments remain.
The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, also in Asia Minor,derived its name
from King Mausolus of Caria.
After his death in the middle ofthe 4th century BC, his queen, Artemisia,
employed Greek architects to constructa superb monument over his
remains. It was a great rectangular pile of masonry, surmountedby
an Ionic colonnade supporting a rooflike pyramid. At the apex stood
a four-horsechariot in which were statues of the king and queen.
So famous was this structurethat the word mausoleum came to be applied
to any monumental tomb. Some relics ofthe original Mausoleum are
preserved in the British Museum.
Only crumbling fragmentsremain of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
on the coast of Asia Minor. It was raisedto the memory of King Mausolus
of Caria by his devoted Queen, Artemisia.
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