The Lighthouse of Alexandria

The Lighthouse of Alexandria

Author: Charles River Charles River Editors

Publisher: CreateSpace

Published: 2014-05-06

Total Pages: 40

ISBN-13: 9781499371451

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*Includes pictures. *Includes historic accounts that describe the Lighthouse. *Explains the debates over how the lighthouse was built and operated, and how it was destroyed. *Includes a bibliography for further reading. "At the harbor of Alexandria stands the tower called Pharos, the first wonder. It is held together by glass and lead and is 600 yards high" - Epiphanius the Monk "The Pharos today is composed of four stages. The first, of a rectangular design, is remarkably built in rectangular cut stones, of which the joints are so well concealed that the whole seems to be formed of a single block of stone, remaining insensible to the ravages of time." - Al Bakri, a medieval traveler and writer. Over 2,000 years ago, two ancient writers named Antipater of Sidon and Philo of Byzantium authored antiquity's most well known tour guides. After the two Greeks had traveled around the Mediterranean, they wrote of what they considered to be the classical world's greatest construction projects. While there is still some question as to who actually authored the text attributed to Philo and when it was authored, their lists ended up comprising the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, igniting interest in the ones they chose and inspiring subsequent generations to identify their own era's Seven Wonders. The youngest of the Wonders also turned out to be the most practical and one of the longest-lived, surviving into the late Middle Ages. It was a lighthouse built on the northern coast of Egypt in Africa, at the Greek city founded in Alexander's name. It was the Pharos, the Great Lighthouse of Alexandria. Among antiquity's wonders, the Lighthouse of Alexandria was fairly unique both in terms of its purpose and its secular nature. While pyramids and statues served religious purposes in Egypt and Greece, and others were impressive works of art, the origins of the Lighthouse were not even as a lighthouse at all. Instead, the large formation on the island of Pharos in the harbor of Alexandria was originally meant to help sailors identify the location of the city during the day, and some speculate it was not until later that Alexandrians decided to make it a true lighthouse that would serve sailors at night. Julius Caesar himself noted the Lighthouse's other practical use in his commentaries about Rome's civil wars: "Now because of the narrowness of the strait there can be no access by ship to the harbour without the consent of those who hold the Pharos. In view of this, Caesar took the precaution of landing his troops while the enemy was preoccupied with fighting, seized the Pharos and posted a garrison there. The result was that safe access was secured for his...supplies and reinforcements." It's easy to understand Caesar's point, because while there is still debate over its height, the Lighthouse of Alexandria was unquestionably one of the tallest man-made structures in the world at the time, if not the tallest. While ancient accounts often exaggerated its height, medieval Arab sources often claimed it was somewhere around 300-350 feet tall, with an incredibly wide base, and those sources wrote at a time where it had already required repairs due to earthquake damage. Efforts to repair it kept going until the 14th century, when the damage was so extensive that it was mostly left in ruins, the last of which were taken for other building projects and/or slipped underneath the Mediterranean. Fortunately, due to descriptions of the lighthouse and archaeological remains, modern scholars are able to understand this wonder better than most, and there may even be future attempts to build a replica and bring it back to life. The Lighthouse of Alexandria covers the ancient wonder's history and the mysteries surrounding it, including the debate over how it was built, operated, and destroyed. Along with pictures and a bibliography, you will learn about the Lighthouse of Alexandria like never before.


14 Fun Facts About the Lighthouse of Alexandria

14 Fun Facts About the Lighthouse of Alexandria

Author: Jeannie Meekins

Publisher: Learning Island

Published: 2017-11-27

Total Pages: 36

ISBN-13:

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Alexander the Great was a Greek ruler. He conquered many lands. He also built or named 17 cities Alexandria – after himself. One of these cities is in Egypt, 20 miles west of the Nile. In this a massive, ancient lighthouse was built. The Lighthouse of Alexandria is one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Amaze your family and friends with these fun facts about the Lighthouse of Alexandria.


The Mirror of Pharos

The Mirror of Pharos

Author: J S Landor

Publisher: Troubador Publishing Ltd

Published: 2017-11-28

Total Pages: 344

ISBN-13: 1788034155

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An action-packed, high concept, time-travelling adventure. Full of animal magic and with an epic wolf character. Linked to a website with ‘Meet the Character’ profiles, book excerpt and background stories


The Rise and Fall of Alexandria

The Rise and Fall of Alexandria

Author: Justin Pollard

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2007-10-30

Total Pages: 356

ISBN-13: 9780143112518

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A short history of nearly everything classical. The foundations of the modern world were laid in Alexandria of Egypt at the turn of the first millennium. In this compulsively readable narrative, Justin Pollard and Howard Reid bring one of history's most fascinating and prolific cities to life, creating a treasure trove of our intellectual and cultural origins. Famous for its lighthouse, its library-the greatest in antiquity-and its fertile intellectual and spiritual life--it was here that Christianity and Islam came to prominence as world religions--Alexandria now takes its rightful place alongside Greece and Rome as a titan of the ancient world. Sparkling with fresh insights on science, philosophy, culture, and invention, this is an irresistible, eye- opening delight.


The Architecture of Alexandria and Egypt, C. 300 B.C. to A.D. 700

The Architecture of Alexandria and Egypt, C. 300 B.C. to A.D. 700

Author: Judith McKenzie

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2007-01-01

Total Pages: 492

ISBN-13: 9780300115550

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This masterful history of the monumental architecture of Alexandria, as well as of the rest of Egypt, encompasses an entire millennium—from the city’s founding by Alexander the Great in 331 B.C. to the years just after the Islamic conquest of A.D. 642. Long considered lost beyond recall, the architecture of ancient Alexandria has until now remained mysterious. But here Judith McKenzie shows that it is indeed possible to reconstruct the city and many of its buildings by means of meticulous exploration of archaeological remains, written sources, and an array of other fragmentary evidence. The book approaches its subject at the macro- and the micro-level: from city-planning, building types, and designs to architectural style. It addresses the interaction between the imported Greek and native Egyptian traditions; the relations between the architecture of Alexandria and the other cities and towns of Egypt as well as the wider Mediterranean world; and Alexandria’s previously unrecognized role as a major source of architectural innovation and artistic influence. Lavishly illustrated with new plans of the city in the Ptolemaic, Roman, and Byzantine periods; reconstruction drawings; and photographs, the book brings to life the ancient city and uncovers the true extent of its architectural legacy in the Mediterranean world.


The Pharos Objective

The Pharos Objective

Author: David Sakmyster

Publisher: Variance LLC

Published: 2010-07-06

Total Pages: 480

ISBN-13: 1935142151

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Driven by visions of his dead father, Professor Caleb Crowe reluctantly joins the Morpheus Initiative, a team of remote-viewing archaeologists determined to locate the remains of the seventh Wonder of the Ancient World¿the Pharos Lighthouse¿beneath which the legendary treasure of Alexander the Great is rumored to be hidden. Crowe¿s quest spans two thousand years of visionary history that connects the ashes of Herculaneum and the lost Library of Alexandria with a secret government program and ancient society called The Keepers. To discover a threshold guarded by deadly traps and forgotten prophecies is one thing, but facing the truth about himself is something else altogether.


The Shards of Heaven

The Shards of Heaven

Author: Michael Livingston

Publisher: Tor Books

Published: 2015-11-10

Total Pages: 416

ISBN-13: 1466873310

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Michael Livingston's The Shards of Heaven reveals the hidden magic behind the history we know, and commences a war greater than any mere mortal battle Julius Caesar is dead, assassinated on the senate floor, and the glory that is Rome has been torn in two. Octavian, Caesar's ambitious great-nephew and adopted son, vies with Marc Antony and Cleopatra for control of Caesar's legacy. As civil war rages from Rome to Alexandria, and vast armies and navies battle for supremacy, a secret conflict may shape the course of history. Juba, Numidian prince and adopted brother of Octavian, has embarked on a ruthless quest for the Shards of Heaven, lost treasures said to possess the very power of the gods-or the one God. Driven by vengeance, Juba has already attained the fabled Trident of Poseidon, which may also be the staff once wielded by Moses. Now he will stop at nothing to obtain the other Shards, even if it means burning the entire world to the ground. Caught up in these cataclysmic events, and the hunt for the Shards, are a pair of exiled Roman legionnaires, a Greek librarian of uncertain loyalties, assassins, spies, slaves . . . and the ten-year-old daughter of Cleopatra herself. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.


The Lighthouses of Greece

The Lighthouses of Greece

Author: Elinor De Wire

Publisher: Pineapple Press Inc

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 178

ISBN-13: 1561644528

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With thousands of islands adrift in cerulean waters and a long, labyrinthine coastline, Greeks have always traveled liquid highways. They built the world's first documented lighthouse at the Mediterranean port of Alexandria more than two-thousand years ago, and since that time countless sentinels have risen and fallen on Greek shores. Weather, warfare, erosion, and earthquakes have reduced some to rubble, but more than 100 traditional stone lighthouses still stand in Greece today--old sentries keeping watch over every vessel, large or small, from freighters and tankers and cruise ships to fishermen and ferries. Their romance, beauty, and history are captured in this handy guidebook. Beguiling images, fascinating histories, and helpful travel information will guide you to these beloved seamarks in the land of Hellene.


Alexandria

Alexandria

Author: E. M. Forster

Publisher: Good Press

Published: 2023-11-11

Total Pages: 149

ISBN-13:

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"Alexandria" by E. M. Forster. Published by Good Press. Good Press publishes a wide range of titles that encompasses every genre. From well-known classics & literary fiction and non-fiction to forgotten−or yet undiscovered gems−of world literature, we issue the books that need to be read. Each Good Press edition has been meticulously edited and formatted to boost readability for all e-readers and devices. Our goal is to produce eBooks that are user-friendly and accessible to everyone in a high-quality digital format.