Colossus of Rhodes. All the pages. Moderns wonders. The lighthouse of Alexandria is one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the most recent. It is a tall lighthouse made of stone, with characteristic architecture and whose remains are currently in the port of Alexandria. The importance of this edifice placed it on the list of the seven wonders even though it did not appear in it intially: The document which serves us as a reference, the Palatinus , written by Philo de Bysance, not mentioned simply because it was earlier, but the lighthouse came to replace the ramparts of Babylon from this list at a time we do not know.
The presence of the Alexandrian pahre among the seven wonders of the world is thus a way of marking the power of the Egyptian kingdom during Antiquity, Alexandria being the commercial, social and intellectual center of this kingdom at that time.
Constructed during the 3rd century BC, it was demolished definitively during the 14th century, when the region underwent major earthquakes. Nowadays Alexandria is Egypt's second largest city by population, and it is a coastal city of great importance, the country's gateway to the sea. But already in the 3rd century BC the city was a center of knowledge, in the sense that the world of the time was limited to the Mediterranean and the surrounding kingdoms.
The most popular areas were literature, science, mathematics, astronomy and medicine. Many scholars make discoveries that we always remember or that are still used. On the architectural side, it is essentially the monuments that are remarkable. The city is covered with edifice whose purpose is to mark the power of the kingdom.
These monuments are built over time, at different times. By the end of the third century BC the population had increased considerably. The port before a strong activity, it is around him that will build the famous lighthouse.
Learn more about the Context of the lighthouse of Alexandria. There are two reasons for the construction of the Alexandria lighthouse. First of all a utilitarian reason. The city had, at a short distance, an island called "Pharos". Gradually brought closer to the land by the deposit of silt brought by the Nile, it became a peninsula, forming two curves tightening towards the earth, delimiting two natural harbors that were quickly used. Still, the Egyptian coast is dangerous. Flanked by reefs flush with the surface and even under water, it has sent a large number of Greek and Roman ships to the bottom, causing human dramas and material losses.
To secure the port it was necessary to build a lighthouse, which was done. The other reason is symbolic. A lighthouse was a rare building in the world, it was difficult to build because the proximity to the sea made complex work and the maintenance of the building was much more difficult to achieve than for buildings on land.
Moreover, such works were always more useful for other buildings than for a lighthouse, which had always been used by sailors. It was therefore not only useful to build a lighthouse at the entrance to the port. It also marked the power of Egypt, and more particularly of Alexandria.
The lighthouse was therefore a symbol of power, it served to propagate the name of Alexandria in the World. Note that its reputation was so great that the name of this island became a common name: The island of Pharos, originally the word "Pharus" in Latin, which became "Phare" in French. Of course the lighthouse of Alexandria was not the first in history, but if one retains this one it is for its imposing silhouette and immense size that one rendered without comparison with those that existed before.
The Mediterranean is not particularly rich in lighthouse before the 3rd century, but the Greeks used to build it at the entrance of certain ports. They were fired on fire all day and especially at night. One of the oldest is that of Phanari, from the 6th century BC. Of modest size 2m54 , it consists of a cylindrical tower of 3m50 in diameter at the top of which were placed slabs of sandstone on which the appointed persons kept the fire alive.
In Piraeus, the port of Athens, there are several vestiges of lighthouses, the oldest of which date from the 5th century BC. On the island of Thasos, in the Aegean Sea, there is also a lighthouse dating from the 6th century BC. This is a question that is difficult to answer because the sources are scarce and inaccurate. This monument has long been attributed to Sostratos of Cnidus. He was a powerful man, who had the ears of kings, a close relation to King Ptolemy I and his son.
Its name was found on the monument, written in lead characters, as indicated in ancient documents by the Greek geographer Strabo and Lucien, and it was this mention that made all the specialists the origin of the lighthouse. But nowadays this thesis is refuted because such a monument could not have received other mentions than that of King Ptolemy I, which he surely received but of which we have no trace. In fact, a papyrus preserved in the Louvres tells us that the dedication was not intended for the lighthouse but for the statue that overcame it.
It is a poem. This safeguard of the Greeks, that watchman of Pharos, O Lord Proteus, has erected him, son of Dexiphanes of Cnidus, for in Egypt you do not look for heights on islands; at the level of the water stretches the bay where the boats anchor.
That is why erect upright, cut out the sky a visible tower at innumerable stages during the day. At night, in the midst of the waves, the sailor will see the great fire which, at the top, burns, and can run straight on the horn of the Tauros, and which navigates in these waters, can not fail, O Proteus, Zeus Savior. Is this the beginning of an error that will endure to the present day or the reality?
For the time being neither the archaeologists nor the historians have succeeded in answering this question clearly. If the architect of the lighthouse remains unknown to this day, the place of edification is perfectly known, it is on the island of Pharos, an island which at the time was a short distance from the coast. Since the silts of the Nile have filled the arm of the sea between the two, turning the island into peninsula.
The lighthouse was at the eastern end of the island, on the site of Fort Qaitbay. Moreover, the latter was built partially with the stones of the collapsed lighthouse. This island was at that time more important than it is today. It was higher, roughly 5 to 6 meters, and it had support walls that are always visible in scuba diving. Proof of the location of the Alexandria Lighthouse was provided by teams of French archaeologists who carried out a series of underwater diving in the harbor, as explained below.
It should also be noted that Diamond Island was mentioned as a possible place to build the lighthouse, but this hypothesis is now obsolete. In any case, this island is too frightening for it to have received a lighthouse, even after the bombing of that it received from the English navy. Larn more about the location of the wonders. It is the Souda, a Greek text of the Xth century, which makes it possible to know the date of the beginning of the work, A translation of this text, for Article of the letter Phi, is :.
Lighthouse: to the masculine, designates the Lighthouse of Alexandria, that erected under Ptolemy king of Egypt Sostrate of Cnidus, son of Dexiphanes, on Pharos, the island of Proteus, at the time when Pyrrhus the heir Achilles has already received power over Epirus. This provision being given to him in , we have here the date of beginning of the works.
They would have lasted only 15 years if one believes the chronology of Eusebius which affirms that it was completed at the time of the th Olympiad, under Ptolemy II. Such a speed in the construction of such a building is quite remarkable, it is a sign both of a good knowledge of the architecture, but also of the financial health of the sponsor, the satrap governor of Egypt became king Ptolemy I, who could put the means to finish his monument quickly.
At that time it was common to see construction sites stretching for several generations, even if they were not the most frequent cases. As far as the cost of the lighthouse is concerned, it is estimated by Pliny the Elder to talents of silver Pliny the Elder lived in the 1st century AD, 4 centuries later.
Difficult to make an effective comparison with modern means The lighthouse of Alexandria was built of limestone from a quarry near the coast. Geologically this area is sufficiently rich in stone to have necessitated the transport of stones from other regions, unless they have explicitly wanted special stones.
It could have been the case, such as using marble, but in practice it is indeed limestone that was used. These stones had a clear appearance, which made the visitors say that the lighthouse was white - which is false. Note that the stones of Fort Qaitbay are reusable from those of the lighthouse, so have little to see nowadays what these stones were at the time.
Moreover, those found in the port are indeed limestone. But limestone is a soft stone, for a lighthouse it is not a very suitable material.
It is easy to imagine that in the 3rd century BC it was difficult to recover more solid stones in other regions, but this is what was done for the part of the lighthouse most at risk: Angles of the building, frames of the doors and windows, which were built of granite from Aswan.
One finds such a way of building at Fort Qaitbay. The fitting of the stones is quite surprising, as far as we know. The description of the assembly of the lighthouse is little known, it is a hypothesis. The manufacturers obviously did not use mortar to tie the stones together but used an old grooving technique. They were visibly assembled on a bed of molten lead, acting as a shock absorber. What is factual is that the rate of lead in the sea around the archaeological site is important, according to Jean-Yves Empereur, the French archaeologist in charge of maritime excavations.
In fact it is easy enough to know what the lighthouse of Alexandria looked like, as it is represented many times on ancient documents. Inside the lighthouse there were stairs that allowed people to climb to the beacon chamber. It was reported that there was a large mirror inside, possibly made of polished bronze. The purpose of the mirror was to project a beam of light from the reflection of the fire.
It was damaged by three earthquakes. After the last earthquake it was abandoned and fell to ruins. This allowed sailors to see the beam at night. The smoke from the fire was important during the day as it guided sailors during the day. Both the beam of light and the smoke could be seen as far as miles away.
The second is the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus and the Lighthouse of Alexandria was the third longest to survive. In the last the lighthouse's remaining stone was used to build the Citadel of Qaitbay by the sultan of Egypt Qaitbay. The citadel was built on the same island where the lighthouse once stood.
The reason the lighthouse of Alexandria was built, just as with any other lighthouse, was to safely guide sailors into the port since it was believed the inhabitants of Pharos were wreckers. Being the first to ever have such a powerful navigation system in place, it also allowed the city of Alexandria to become one of the most important cities of its time. The total cost to build the Lighthouse of Alexandria was talents of silver , the currency used at that time.
If we compare this amount to another structure, the famous Parthenon temple in Athens in Greece, the massive temple part of the Acropolis, only cost about talents of silver.
The island of Pharo s and the city of Alexandria were eventually connected with a mole , a massive stone structure that served as a causeway between the two places to cross the water. The modern-day port is located on the west side of where the Heptastadion used to be. In ancient times, the Great Harbor used to be east of it. This is now an open bay. This also means that in ancient times, there used to be two harbors in the city of Alexandria, the Port of Eunostos , which was the commercial port, and the Great Harbor , which was the royal port.
Crossing both ports could be done through canals that cut through the Heptastadion. This allowed ships to easily transfer from one port to the other. Ptolemy I, who commissioned the construction of the Lighthouse of Alexandria, turned Egypt into a Hellenistic kingdom.
This means that Alexandria at the time was a major city in Greek culture. It is believed that the light at the top of the Lighthouse of Alexandria was produced by a wood-burning furnace. Sostratus of Cnidus, a Greek architect, and engineer, is mentioned by Pliny the Elder as being the architect of the Lighthouse of Alexandria.
Another historian named Strabo even mentioned that Sostratus helped to fund its construction as he was a friend of Ptolemy I. This same Sostratus is believed to have used a trick for his name to be eternalized on the walls of the Lighthouse of Alexandria. The story goes that he wrote the name of the reigning king using plaster, knowing this would eventually crumble. Below it, he put his own inscription which read:.
Sostratus of Cnidos, the son of Dexiphanes, to the Divine Saviours, for the sake of them that sail at sea. Most contemporary descriptions of the Lighthouse of Alexandria mention that the building was made out of light-colored stones. Al-Masudi, an Arab historian wrote in the 10th century A. The most common explanation for the destruction of the lighthouse is natural causes, mainly earthquakes. In his story , the Byzantines sent an ancient spy to the empire of Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan who convinced him there was treasure at the bottom of the lighthouse.
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