Alexandria

The Greek city founded by Alexander the Great in 332 BC, capital of the Ptolemy dynasty, located on a narrow strip of land in the Nile Delta of Egypt. Alexandria was placed on the earlier Egyptian settlement of Raqote of which pre-Ptolemaic seawalls are the only archaeological traces. The great city soon replaced Memphis as the capital of Egypt and is famed for its lighthouse (Pharos, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, built by Sostratos of Knidos between 299-279 BC; destroyed in 1326 AD by an earthquake), the jetty of Heptastadion, the royal palaces; and the Museion, a library and institution of scientific and philological research. It was composed of quarters: Egyptian, Greek, Jewish, and Kings. The city became the center of trade and culture in the eastern Mediterranean. The Ptolemys ruled over Egypt until 30 BC.

Founded by Alexander the Great in 331 bc on a narrow strip of land in the northwestern area of the Nile Delta, Alexandria soon replaced Memphis as capital of Egypt. With its double harbour favourably situated at a natural intersection of the shipping lanes of the classical world, the new city rapidly achieved a remarkable prosperity and, subsequently, a reputation for the cosmopolitan life-style of its inhabitants. Its celebrated university and library were of focal importance in the manuscript transmission of earlier classical literature, and Alexandrian editing is inevitably reflected in modem editions. The harbour was well-known in antiquity for its gigantic lighthouse, the Pharos, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. A three-tier structure in glistening white limestone, some 110 metres high, the Pharos was destroyed by an earthquake in the 14th century. During the imperial period Alexandria was notorious for its race and religious riots, notably between the large local Jewish community and the new adherents of Christianity.