Alexandria - Revision history

Irlandos: /* Antiquities */

2008-02-09T09:48:19Z

Antiquities

Irlandos: /* Ancient remains */

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Ancient remains

Irlandos: /* History */

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History

Irlandos: /* Born in Alexandria */

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Born in Alexandria

Irlandos: /* Foundation */

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Foundation

Irlandos: /* Born in Alexandria */

2007-03-09T12:25:08Z

Born in Alexandria

Irlandos: /* Born in Alexandria */

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Born in Alexandria

Irlandos: /* Post-Roman history */

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Post-Roman history

Irlandos: /* Post-Roman history */

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Post-Roman history

Irlandos: /* Layout of the ancient city */

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Layout of the ancient city

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 Persistent efforts have been made to explore the antiquities of Alexandria. Encouragement and help have been given by the local Archaeological Society, and by many individuals, notably Greeks proud of a city which is one of the glories of their national history.
-The past and present directors of the museum have been enabled from time to time to carry out systematic excavations when opportunity offered; [[D. G. Hogarth]] made tentative researches on behalf of the Egypt Exploration Fund and the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies in 1895; and a German expedition worked for two years (1898&ndash;1899). But two difficulties face the would-be excavator in Alexandria.
+The past and present directors of the museum have been enabled from time to time to carry out systematic excavations when opportunity offered; D. G. Hogarth made tentative researches on behalf of the Egypt Exploration Fund and the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies in 1895; and a German expedition worked for two years (1898&ndash;1899). But two difficulties face the would-be excavator in Alexandria.
 Since the great and growing modern city stands right over the ancient one, it is almost impossible to find any considerable space in which to dig, except at enormous cost. Also, the general subsidence of the coast has sunk the lower-lying parts of the ancient town under water. This underwater section, containing much of the most interesting sections of the Hellenistic city, including the palace-quarter, is still being extensively investigated by the French underwater archaeologist [http://www.franckgoddio.org Franck Goddio] and his team [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/203470.stm] and [http://newssearch.bbc.co.uk/cgi-bin/search/results.pl?q=Alexandria+underwater&scope=newsukfs&tab=news]. It raised a noted head of [[Ptolemy XV Caesarion|Caesarion]], left.  These are even being opened up to tourists, to some controversy [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/940333.stm].

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 Very little of the ancient city has survived into the present day. Much of the royal and civic quarters sank beneath the harbour due to earthquake subsidence, and much of the rest has been rebuilt upon in modern times.
-"Pompey's Pillar" is the most well-known ancient monument still standing. It is located on Alexandria's ancient [[acropolis]] &mdash; a modest hill located adjacent to the city's Arab cemetery &mdash; and was originally part of a temple colonnade. Including its [[pedestal]] it is 30&nbsp;m (99&nbsp;feet) high; the shaft is of polished red granite, roughly three meters in diameter at the base, tapering to two and a half meters at the top. The structure was plundered and demolished in the [[4th century]] when a bishop decreed that Paganism must be eradicated.  "Pompey's Pillar" is a misnomer, as it has nothing to do with Pompey, having been erected in [[293]] for Diocletian, possibly in occasion of the rebellion of Domitius Domitianus. Beneath the acropolis itself are the subterranean remains of the Serapeum, where the mysteries of the god Serapis were enacted, and whose carved wall niches are believed to have provided overflow storage space for the ancient Library.
+"Pompey's Pillar" is the most well-known ancient monument still standing. It is located on Alexandria's ancient [[acropolis]] &mdash; a modest hill located adjacent to the city's Arab cemetery &mdash; and was originally part of a temple colonnade. Including its pedestal it is 30&nbsp;m (99&nbsp;feet) high; the shaft is of polished red granite, roughly three meters in diameter at the base, tapering to two and a half meters at the top. The structure was plundered and demolished in the [[4th century]] when a bishop decreed that Paganism must be eradicated.  "Pompey's Pillar" is a misnomer, as it has nothing to do with Pompey, having been erected in [[293]] for Diocletian, possibly in occasion of the rebellion of Domitius Domitianus. Beneath the acropolis itself are the subterranean remains of the Serapeum, where the mysteries of the god Serapis were enacted, and whose carved wall niches are believed to have provided overflow storage space for the ancient Library.
-Alexandria's catacombs, known as ''Kom al Sukkfa'', are a short distance southwest of the pillar, consist of a multi-level labyrinth, reached via a large spiral staircase, and featuring dozens of chambers adorned with sculpted pillars, statues, and other [[syncretism|syncretic]] Romano-Egyptian religious symbols, burial niches and [[sarcophagus|sarcophagi]], as well as a large Roman-style banquet room, where memorial meals were conducted by relatives of the deceased. The [[catacomb]]s were long forgotten by the citizens until they were discovered by accident in the 1800s.
+Alexandria's catacombs, known as ''Kom al Sukkfa'', are a short distance southwest of the pillar, consist of a multi-level labyrinth, reached via a large spiral staircase, and featuring dozens of chambers adorned with sculpted pillars, statues, and other syncretic Romano-Egyptian religious symbols, burial niches and sarcophagi, as well as a large Roman-style banquet room, where memorial meals were conducted by relatives of the deceased. The catacombs were long forgotten by the citizens until they were discovered by accident in the 1800s.
-The most extensive ancient excavation currently being conducted in Alexandria is known as ''Kom al Dikka'', and it has revealed the ancient city's well-preserved theatre, and the remains of its [[Roman baths|Roman-era baths]].
+The most extensive ancient excavation currently being conducted in Alexandria is known as ''Kom al Dikka'', and it has revealed the ancient city's well-preserved theatre, and the remains of its Roman-era baths.
 ==Antiquities==

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 ==History==
-The city of Alexandria was named after its founder, Alexander the Great, and as the seat of the Ptolemaic rulers of Egypt, quickly became one of the greatest cities of the [[Hellenistic civilisation|Hellenistic]] world &mdash; second only to Rome in size and wealth. However, upon the founding of Cairo by Egypt's mediæval Islamic rulers, its status as the country's capital ended, and fell into a long decline, which by the late Ottoman period, had seen it reduced to little more than a small fishing village.  The current city is Egypt's leading port, a commercial and transportation center, and the heart of a major industrial area where refined petroleum, asphalt, cotton textiles, processed food, paper, plastics and styrofoam are produced.
+The city of Alexandria was named after its founder, [[Alexander the Great]], and as the seat of the Ptolemaic rulers of Egypt, quickly became one of the greatest cities of the [[Hellenistic civilisation|Hellenistic]] world &mdash; second only to Rome in size and wealth. However, upon the founding of Cairo by Egypt's mediæval Islamic rulers, its status as the country's capital ended, and fell into a long decline, which by the late Ottoman period, had seen it reduced to little more than a small fishing village.  The current city is Egypt's leading port, a commercial and transportation center, and the heart of a major industrial area where refined petroleum, asphalt, cotton textiles, processed food, paper, plastics and styrofoam are produced.
 ===Foundation===

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 *[[Constantine P. Cavafy]] (poet)
 *[[Konstantinos Tsaldaris]] (politician and PM of Greece)
 *[[Manos Loizos]]
 *[[Dinos Eliopoulos]] (actor)

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 ===Foundation===
-Alexandria was founded by [[Alexander the Great]] in or around 334 BC (the exact date is disputed) as Αλεξάνδρεια (''Alexándreia''). Alexander's chief architect for the project was [[Dinocrates]]. Ancient accounts are extremely numerous and varied, and much influenced by subsequent developments. One of the more sober descriptions, given by the historian [[Arrian]], tells how Alexander undertook to lay out the city's general plan, but lacking chalk or other means, resorted to sketching it out with grain.
+Alexandria was founded by [[Alexander the Great]] in or around [[331 BC]] (the exact date is disputed) as Αλεξάνδρεια (''Alexándreia''). Alexander's chief architect for the project was [[Dinocrates]]. Ancient accounts are extremely numerous and varied, and much influenced by subsequent developments. One of the more sober descriptions, given by the historian [[Arrian]], tells how Alexander undertook to lay out the city's general plan, but lacking chalk or other means, resorted to sketching it out with grain.
 A number of the more fanciful foundation myths are found in the Alexander Romance and were picked up by mediæval Arab historians. The 14th century Arab historian Ibn Khaldun ridiculed one where sea-monsters prevent the foundation, but were thwarted when Alexander descends in a glass box, armed with exact knowledge of their appearance, and goes on to erect metal effigies on the beach which succeed in frightening the monsters away.

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 *[[Demis Roussos]] (singer)
 *[[Georges Moustaki]]  (singer and composer)
 ==References==

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 ==Born in Alexandria==
 *[[Antonis Benakis]]
 *[[Penelope Delta]] (author)

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 ===Post-Roman history===
-In 616, it was taken by Khosrau II, King of Persia. Although the [[Byzantine Emperors|East-Roman Emperor]] [[Heraclius]] recovered it a few years later, in 641 the Arabs, under the general Amr ibn al-As, captured it decisively after a siege that lasted fourteen months. The city received no aid from [[Constantinople]] during that time; Heraclius was dead and the new Emperor [[Constantine III|Constantine III]] was barely twelve years old. Notwithstanding the losses that the city had sustained, Amr was able to write to his master, the caliph Omar, that he had taken a city containing "4,000 palaces, 4,000 baths, 12,000 dealers in fresh oil, 12,000 gardeners, 40,000 Jews who pay tribute, 400 theatres or places of amusement."  In [[645]] a Byzantine fleet recaptured the city, but it fell for good the following year.
+In 616, it was taken by Khosrau II, King of Persia. Although the [[Byzantine Emperors|East-Roman Emperor]] [[Heraclius]] recovered it a few years later, in 641 the Arabs, under the general Amr ibn al-As, captured it decisively after a siege that lasted fourteen months. The city received no aid from [[Constantinople]] during that time; Heraclius was dead and the new Emperor [[Constantine III (emperor)|Constantine III]] was barely twelve years old. Notwithstanding the losses that the city had sustained, Amr was able to write to his master, the caliph Omar, that he had taken a city containing "4,000 palaces, 4,000 baths, 12,000 dealers in fresh oil, 12,000 gardeners, 40,000 Jews who pay tribute, 400 theatres or places of amusement."  In [[645]] a Byzantine fleet recaptured the city, but it fell for good the following year.
 The library and its contents were destroyed in 642 during the war. The Lighthouse was destroyed by earthquakes in the 14th century, and by 1700 the city was just a small town among the ruins.

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:18, March 9, 2007
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	In July 1954, the city was a target of an Israeli firebomb campaign.		In July 1954, the city was a target of an Israeli firebomb campaign.
		+
		+	Alexandria was the centre of a very large Greek community in Egypt, which at one time numbered nearly 450,000 souls. Most were forced to leave, abandoning their wealth, during the rule of Gamal Abdel Nasser with his ultra-nationalist policies.

	==Geography==		==Geography==

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 In Strabo's time, (latter half of [[1st century BC]]) the principal buildings were as follows, enumerated as they were to be seen from a ship entering the Great Harbour.
-#The Royal Palaces, filling the northeast angle of the town and occupying the promontory of Lochias, which shut in the Great Harbour on the east. Lochias (the modern Pharillon) has almost entirely disappeared into the sea, together with the palaces, the "Private Port" and the island of Antirrhodus. There has been a land [[subsidence]] here, as throughout the northeast coast of Africa.
+#The Royal Palaces, filling the northeast angle of the town and occupying the promontory of Lochias, which shut in the Great Harbour on the east. Lochias (the modern Pharillon) has almost entirely disappeared into the sea, together with the palaces, the "Private Port" and the island of Antirrhodus. There has been a land subsidence here, as throughout the northeast coast of Africa.
 #The Great Theatre, on the modern Hospital Hill near the Ramleh station. This was used by Caesar as a fortress, where he stood a siege from the city mob after the [[battle of Pharsalus]]
 #The [[Poseidon]], or Temple of the [[Poseidon|Sea God]], close to the Theatre
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 #The Serapeum, the most famous of all Alexandrian temples. Strabo tells us that this stood in the west of the city; and recent discoveries go far to place it near “Pompey's Pillar” which, however, was an independent monument erected to commemorate Diocletian's siege of the city.
-The names of a few other public buildings on the mainland are known, but there is little information as to their position. None, however, are as famous as the building that stood on the eastern point of Pharos island. There, [[Lighthouse of Alexandria|The Great Lighthouse]], one of the [[Seven Wonders of the World]], reputed to be 138&nbsp;meters (450&nbsp;feet) high, was constructed. The first [[Ptolemy]] began its erection, and the second Ptolemy completed it, at a total cost of 800&nbsp;talents. It took 12&nbsp;years to complete and served as a prototype for all later lighthouses in the world. The light was produced by a furnace at the top and was built mostly with solid blocks of limestone. The Pharos lighthouse was destroyed by an earthquake in the 14th century, making it the second longest surviving ancient wonder next to the Great Pyramid of Giza.
+The names of a few other public buildings on the mainland are known, but there is little information as to their position. None, however, are as famous as the building that stood on the eastern point of Pharos island. There, [[Lighthouse of Alexandria|The Great Lighthouse]], one of the [[Seven Wonders of the World]], reputed to be 138&nbsp;meters (450&nbsp;feet) high, was constructed. The first Ptolemy began its erection, and the second Ptolemy completed it, at a total cost of 800&nbsp;talents. It took 12&nbsp;years to complete and served as a prototype for all later lighthouses in the world. The light was produced by a furnace at the top and was built mostly with solid blocks of limestone. The Pharos lighthouse was destroyed by an earthquake in the 14th century, making it the second longest surviving ancient wonder next to the Great Pyramid of Giza.
 A temple of [[Hephaestus]] also stood on Pharos at the head of the mole. In the first century, the population of Alexandria contained over 180,000 adult male citizens (from a papyrus dated 32&nbsp;CE), in addition to a large number of freedmen, women, children and slaves. Estimates of the total population range from 500,000 to over 1,000,000, making it one of the largest cities ever built before the Industrial Revolution and the largest pre-industrial city that was not an imperial capital.