It is likely that Mausolus began planning the tomb before his death, as part of the building work at Halicarnassus, so when he died, Artemisia continued the building project. Artemisia spared no expense in building the tomb. He sent messengers to Greece to find the most renowned artists of the time. Among them was Scopas, the man who had overseen the rebuilding of the temple of Artemis at Ephesus. The famous sculptors who participated were (in the order in which Vitruvius mentions them): Leochares, Briaxis, Scopas and Timothy, as well as hundreds of other craftsmen.

The tomb was erected on a hill overlooking the city. The entire construction was in a closed courtyard. In the center of the courtyard was a stone platform on which the tomb sat. A staircase flanked by stone lions led to the top of the platform, which had along its outer walls many statues of gods and goddesses. At each corner, stone warriors on horseback stood guard. In the center of the platform, the marble tomb rose as a square block that tapered to a third of the height of the Mausoleum, about 45 m. This section was covered with bas-reliefs showing scenes of action, including the battle of the centaurs with the Lapiths and the Amazonomachy, combat of the Greeks and the Amazons "Amazons (mythology)"), a race of female warriors.

At the top of this section of the tomb stood thirty-six slender columns, showing ten per side—each corner sharing a column between adjacent sides. The colonnade rose another third of the height. Between each pair of columns was a statue. Behind the columns was a solid block similar to a cella "Cella (architecture)") that supported the weight of the enormous roof of the tomb. The roof, which covered most of the last third of the height, was pyramidal in shape. At the top there was a chariot with four enormous horses that pulled a chariot in which Mausolus and Artemisia traveled.

Modern historians have pointed out that two years would not have been enough to complete the construction and decoration of such a complex and novel monument. For this reason, they believe that the building was begun before the death of Mausolus, and continued afterwards by later rulers.[8] The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus looked like a temple although it was not, and one way to mark the difference from a genuine temple was its high exterior walls. According to the Roman architect Vitruvius, its design was entrusted to Satyrus and Pitheus, who described the main characteristics of the building in a treatise, a treaty that has not survived to us.[8] Pausanias adds that the Romans considered the Mausoleum as one of the main wonders, and that is why the name "mausoleum" came to be applied to every sumptuous tomb.[9]​.

The Mausoleum withstood the invasions and destruction of the city by Alexander the Great, the barbarians and the Arabs. But it is not known precisely when it was ruined. Eustathius, in his commentary on the Iliad written in the , states that "it was and is a marvel." This led Fergusson to conclude that the building was turned into ruins, probably by an earthquake, between that time and 1402, when the Knights Hospitaller or Knights of Malta settled on the site and recorded in writing that it was already in ruins.[9] However, Luttrell mentions that at that time the Greeks and Turks in the area did not have a name or legend to refer to these ruins, which makes him think that the destruction was much earlier.[10]​.

In 1522, the Knights of St. John used the remains of the Mausoleum for the repair of Bodrum Castle. They also reused a series of bas-reliefs to decorate the new building.

All that remained on the original site in the century were the foundations and some fragments of sculpture. The British government sent a mission that undertook the first excavations and sent the best-preserved marble pieces to London.[11] A series of tunnels were found leading to the underground burial chamber, which was later destroyed by tomb raiders. In the excavations undertaken in 1972, there were still enough remains to reconstruct the design of said chamber.[8]​.

Parts of the sculptural group located at the highest part (a group with a four-horse carriage) and some friezes were saved, and today can be seen in the British Museum in London.

Much of the information that has been collected about the Mausoleum and its structure comes from the Roman Pliny the Elder.[12] He recorded in writing some basic data about the architectural design, including its dimensions. The building was rectangular, not square, surrounded by a colonnade of thirty-six columns. It was topped by a pyramidal superstructure that receded in twenty-four steps to the top, where there was a chariot with four marble horses and two human figures. The building was adorned with bas-relief friezes and full-length sculptures. "The free figures were arranged on five or six different levels."[8]​.

We are now in a position to affirm that Pliny's knowledge came from a treatise written by architects. It is clear that Pliny did not fully understand the design of the mausoleum, which creates problems when recreating its appearance. However, it exposes many facts that help the reader put the pieces of the puzzle back together. Other writings by Pausanias, Strabo and Vitruvius also help us gather more information about the Mausoleum.[13]​.

According to Pliny, the mausoleum was 63 feet (19.2 m) north and south, shorter on other fronts, 411 feet (125.3 m) in perimeter, and 25 cubits (11.4 m) high. It was surrounded by 36 columns. They called this part the pteron. Above the pteron there was a pyramid at the top with 24 steps and equal in height to the bottom. The height of the building was 140 feet (42.7 m).[14]​.

There is only one other author who gives the dimensions of the Mausoleum: Hyginus, a grammarian from the time of Augustus. It describes the monument as being built of shining stones, being 80 feet (24.4 m) high and 1,340 feet (408.4 m) in circumference.[15] It is likely that he was referring to cubits, and would therefore match Pliny's dimensions exactly, but this text is considered largely corrupt and has little authority.[13]

The beauty of the Mausoleum was not only in the architectural design itself, but in the decorations and statues that adorned the exterior on different levels of the podium and roof: statues of people, lions, horses and other animals, at different scales. As the statues were of mere mortals and animals, the Mausoleum occupies a special place in the history of great Greek buildings, as it was not dedicated to any of the gods of ancient Greece.

Twenty statues of lions have been found slightly larger than life size. Another important discovery was the depth of the rock on which the building stood. This rock was excavated about 2.5 to 3 m deep in an area of ​​107 by 127 feet (32.6 by 38.7 m).[14]

The Mausoleum was adorned with many large and beautiful sculptures. The sculptures in the north were made by Scopas, those in the east by Briaxis, those in the south by Timothy and those in the west by Leochares. Some of these sculptures have been lost or only fragments have been preserved, and the theme represented is only known through historical accounts. The great figures of Mausolus and Artemisia were on the chariot at the top of the pyramid. Separate equestrian groups are placed at the corners of the subpodium.[13] The semi-colossal female heads may have belonged to the acrotera representing the six Carian cities incorporated into Halicarnassus. The identification work still continues today, as there are still teams that continue to excavate and investigate the artistic elements of the Mausoleum.

In the 19th century, a British consul appropriated several of the statues from Bodrum Castle, which now reside in the British Museum. In 1852, the museum sent archaeologist Charles Thomas Newton to search for more remains of the Mausoleum. His task was not easy. He didn't know the exact location of the tomb, and the cost of buying up all the small plots of land in the area to search for it would have been astronomical. Instead, Newton studied the accounts of ancient writers, such as Pliny, to get an idea of ​​the approximate size and location of the monument, and then purchased a plot in the most likely location. Digging, Newton explored the surroundings through tunnels he dug under the surrounding plots. He was able to locate some walls, a staircase, and finally three of the corners of the foundation. With this knowledge, Newton was able to determine which plots of land he should purchase. Newton then excavated the site and found sections of the reliefs decorating the building's wall and parts of the stepped roof. He also discovered a broken stone cart wheel about 2 m in diameter, which came from the chariot on the roof. Finally, he found the statues of Mausolus and Artemisia that had stood at the pinnacle of the building.

Between 1966 and 1977, the Mausoleum was thoroughly investigated by Professor Kristian Jeppesen of Aarhus University, Denmark. As a result of his investigations, he has prepared a monograph in six volumes, The Mausoleum of Halikarnassos.[16]​.

Today, the enormous castle of the Knights Hospitaller, or Knights of St. John, still stands in Bodrum, and the polished stone and marble blocks of the Mausoleum can be seen incorporated into its walls. On the site of the Mausoleum only the foundations and a small museum remain. Some of the sculptures held in the British Museum include fragments of statues and many frieze slabs depicting the Amazonomachy, or battle between the Greeks and Amazons. There the images of Mausolus and Artemisia watch over the few broken remains of the beautiful tomb that she built for him.

Pinnacle Quadriga Statues

• - Statue commonly identified with Artemisia.

• - Statue commonly identified with Mausolus.

• - Fragment of one of the horses.

Plates from the Amazonomachy frieze

• - Plate showing Heracles dragging the Amazon queen Hippolyta by the hair.

Tentative reconstructions of the Mausoleum

• - Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

• - Colossus of Rhodes.

• - Halicarnassus Theater.

• - Wikimedia Commons hosts a multimedia category on Mausoleum at Halicarnassus.

• - The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (in English).

It is likely that Mausolus began planning the tomb before his death, as part of the building work at Halicarnassus, so when he died, Artemisia continued the building project. Artemisia spared no expense in building the tomb. He sent messengers to Greece to find the most renowned artists of the time. Among them was Scopas, the man who had overseen the rebuilding of the temple of Artemis at Ephesus. The famous sculptors who participated were (in the order in which Vitruvius mentions them): Leochares, Briaxis, Scopas and Timothy, as well as hundreds of other craftsmen.

The tomb was erected on a hill overlooking the city. The entire construction was in a closed courtyard. In the center of the courtyard was a stone platform on which the tomb sat. A staircase flanked by stone lions led to the top of the platform, which had along its outer walls many statues of gods and goddesses. At each corner, stone warriors on horseback stood guard. In the center of the platform, the marble tomb rose as a square block that tapered to a third of the height of the Mausoleum, about 45 m. This section was covered with bas-reliefs showing scenes of action, including the battle of the centaurs with the Lapiths and the Amazonomachy, combat of the Greeks and the Amazons "Amazons (mythology)"), a race of female warriors.

At the top of this section of the tomb stood thirty-six slender columns, showing ten per side—each corner sharing a column between adjacent sides. The colonnade rose another third of the height. Between each pair of columns was a statue. Behind the columns was a solid block similar to a cella "Cella (architecture)") that supported the weight of the enormous roof of the tomb. The roof, which covered most of the last third of the height, was pyramidal in shape. At the top there was a chariot with four enormous horses that pulled a chariot in which Mausolus and Artemisia traveled.

Modern historians have pointed out that two years would not have been enough to complete the construction and decoration of such a complex and novel monument. For this reason, they believe that the building was begun before the death of Mausolus, and continued afterwards by later rulers.[8] The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus looked like a temple although it was not, and one way to mark the difference from a genuine temple was its high exterior walls. According to the Roman architect Vitruvius, its design was entrusted to Satyrus and Pitheus, who described the main characteristics of the building in a treatise, a treaty that has not survived to us.[8] Pausanias adds that the Romans considered the Mausoleum as one of the main wonders, and that is why the name "mausoleum" came to be applied to every sumptuous tomb.[9]​.

The Mausoleum withstood the invasions and destruction of the city by Alexander the Great, the barbarians and the Arabs. But it is not known precisely when it was ruined. Eustathius, in his commentary on the Iliad written in the , states that "it was and is a marvel." This led Fergusson to conclude that the building was turned into ruins, probably by an earthquake, between that time and 1402, when the Knights Hospitaller or Knights of Malta settled on the site and recorded in writing that it was already in ruins.[9] However, Luttrell mentions that at that time the Greeks and Turks in the area did not have a name or legend to refer to these ruins, which makes him think that the destruction was much earlier.[10]​.

In 1522, the Knights of St. John used the remains of the Mausoleum for the repair of Bodrum Castle. They also reused a series of bas-reliefs to decorate the new building.

All that remained on the original site in the century were the foundations and some fragments of sculpture. The British government sent a mission that undertook the first excavations and sent the best-preserved marble pieces to London.[11] A series of tunnels were found leading to the underground burial chamber, which was later destroyed by tomb raiders. In the excavations undertaken in 1972, there were still enough remains to reconstruct the design of said chamber.[8]​.

Parts of the sculptural group located at the highest part (a group with a four-horse carriage) and some friezes were saved, and today can be seen in the British Museum in London.

Much of the information that has been collected about the Mausoleum and its structure comes from the Roman Pliny the Elder.[12] He recorded in writing some basic data about the architectural design, including its dimensions. The building was rectangular, not square, surrounded by a colonnade of thirty-six columns. It was topped by a pyramidal superstructure that receded in twenty-four steps to the top, where there was a chariot with four marble horses and two human figures. The building was adorned with bas-relief friezes and full-length sculptures. "The free figures were arranged on five or six different levels."[8]​.

We are now in a position to affirm that Pliny's knowledge came from a treatise written by architects. It is clear that Pliny did not fully understand the design of the mausoleum, which creates problems when recreating its appearance. However, it exposes many facts that help the reader put the pieces of the puzzle back together. Other writings by Pausanias, Strabo and Vitruvius also help us gather more information about the Mausoleum.[13]​.

According to Pliny, the mausoleum was 63 feet (19.2 m) north and south, shorter on other fronts, 411 feet (125.3 m) in perimeter, and 25 cubits (11.4 m) high. It was surrounded by 36 columns. They called this part the pteron. Above the pteron there was a pyramid at the top with 24 steps and equal in height to the bottom. The height of the building was 140 feet (42.7 m).[14]​.

There is only one other author who gives the dimensions of the Mausoleum: Hyginus, a grammarian from the time of Augustus. It describes the monument as being built of shining stones, being 80 feet (24.4 m) high and 1,340 feet (408.4 m) in circumference.[15] It is likely that he was referring to cubits, and would therefore match Pliny's dimensions exactly, but this text is considered largely corrupt and has little authority.[13]

The beauty of the Mausoleum was not only in the architectural design itself, but in the decorations and statues that adorned the exterior on different levels of the podium and roof: statues of people, lions, horses and other animals, at different scales. As the statues were of mere mortals and animals, the Mausoleum occupies a special place in the history of great Greek buildings, as it was not dedicated to any of the gods of ancient Greece.

Twenty statues of lions have been found slightly larger than life size. Another important discovery was the depth of the rock on which the building stood. This rock was excavated about 2.5 to 3 m deep in an area of ​​107 by 127 feet (32.6 by 38.7 m).[14]

The Mausoleum was adorned with many large and beautiful sculptures. The sculptures in the north were made by Scopas, those in the east by Briaxis, those in the south by Timothy and those in the west by Leochares. Some of these sculptures have been lost or only fragments have been preserved, and the theme represented is only known through historical accounts. The great figures of Mausolus and Artemisia were on the chariot at the top of the pyramid. Separate equestrian groups are placed at the corners of the subpodium.[13] The semi-colossal female heads may have belonged to the acrotera representing the six Carian cities incorporated into Halicarnassus. The identification work still continues today, as there are still teams that continue to excavate and investigate the artistic elements of the Mausoleum.

In the 19th century, a British consul appropriated several of the statues from Bodrum Castle, which now reside in the British Museum. In 1852, the museum sent archaeologist Charles Thomas Newton to search for more remains of the Mausoleum. His task was not easy. He didn't know the exact location of the tomb, and the cost of buying up all the small plots of land in the area to search for it would have been astronomical. Instead, Newton studied the accounts of ancient writers, such as Pliny, to get an idea of ​​the approximate size and location of the monument, and then purchased a plot in the most likely location. Digging, Newton explored the surroundings through tunnels he dug under the surrounding plots. He was able to locate some walls, a staircase, and finally three of the corners of the foundation. With this knowledge, Newton was able to determine which plots of land he should purchase. Newton then excavated the site and found sections of the reliefs decorating the building's wall and parts of the stepped roof. He also discovered a broken stone cart wheel about 2 m in diameter, which came from the chariot on the roof. Finally, he found the statues of Mausolus and Artemisia that had stood at the pinnacle of the building.

Between 1966 and 1977, the Mausoleum was thoroughly investigated by Professor Kristian Jeppesen of Aarhus University, Denmark. As a result of his investigations, he has prepared a monograph in six volumes, The Mausoleum of Halikarnassos.[16]​.

Today, the enormous castle of the Knights Hospitaller, or Knights of St. John, still stands in Bodrum, and the polished stone and marble blocks of the Mausoleum can be seen incorporated into its walls. On the site of the Mausoleum only the foundations and a small museum remain. Some of the sculptures held in the British Museum include fragments of statues and many frieze slabs depicting the Amazonomachy, or battle between the Greeks and Amazons. There the images of Mausolus and Artemisia watch over the few broken remains of the beautiful tomb that she built for him.

Pinnacle Quadriga Statues

• - Statue commonly identified with Artemisia.

• - Statue commonly identified with Mausolus.

• - Fragment of one of the horses.

Plates from the Amazonomachy frieze

• - Plate showing Heracles dragging the Amazon queen Hippolyta by the hair.

Tentative reconstructions of the Mausoleum

• - Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

• - Colossus of Rhodes.

• - Halicarnassus Theater.

• - Wikimedia Commons hosts a multimedia category on Mausoleum at Halicarnassus.

• - The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (in English).