Chrysti the Wordsmith > Radio Scripts

Words which come from people's names are called eponyms, and the English language positiviely vibrates with them.

Mausoleum is amodern English eponym whose namesake lived 2300 years ago in what is now SW Turkey.

King Mausolus was a Greek who governed a small region called Caria on the Aegean. Though he involved his empire in numerous political revolts and skirmishes, Mausolus is best remembered for an immense monument he commissioned in his own honor. Built of sparkling white marble, the ediface towered 135 feet above the ground. It was bedecked with colonades and colossal statues of the king and his wife Artemisia.

When King Mausolus died in 353 BC, Artemisia completed the design and construction of her husband's monument. Ultimately both Mausolus and Artemisia were entombed there, and for 1800 years it stood as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

The tomb may have been destroyed in an earthquake in the 14th or 15th century. Its imposing white stones were eventually purloined for the construction of other buildings nearby.

Though the tomb of King Mausolus is gone, the ancient ruler is linguistically memorialized in our word mausolem, which means literally "the shrine of Mausolus." Today, a mausolem is a small tomb, normally built above ground, where individuals or families are laid to rest.

Radio Script > Mausoleum