Lighthouse of Alexandria

The purpose of the lighthouse is to guide sailors into harbors at night. It serves as light that gives the sailors light if ever they wander.

The Lighthouse of Alexandria, also known as the Pharos of Alexandria, was a tower built between 280 and 247 BC on the island of Pharos at Alexandria, Egypt to guide sailors into the harbor at night. With a height variously estimated at between 120–140 m (390–460 ft), it was for many centuries among the tallest man-made structures, and was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

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The Lighthouse of Alexandria was originally referred to as the Pharos after the name of the former island where it finally stood. Pharos gave its name to the building and is used as a word for ‘lighthouse’ in several languages (the word phare in French and faro in Italian and Spanish)

The Lighthouse of Alexandria was constructed in the ancient city which was founded by Alexander the Great and it achieved growth and prosperity for almost 1000 years. The city was described by the writer Strabo as ‘the greatest emporium in the inhabited world’. Within fifty years of the founding of the city it became the major commercial center of the ancient Mediterranean and the richest city of antiquity. The entrance to Alexandria was one of the most important ports of the Mediterranean. Trading ships flocked to the city but because of dangerous sailing conditions and the flat coastline, the construction of a lighthouse became necessary.

The Pharaohs Ptolemy I and Ptolemy II utilized the skills of Sostratus, the son of Dexiphanes, the Conidian who was the architect of the Lighthouse.  Sostratus was a wealthy Alexandrian courtier and a diplomat. Sostratus officially inaugurated the Lighthouse and the dedication on the monument, according to Strabo, read: “Sostratus the Conidian, friend of the sovereigns, dedicated this, for the safety of those who sail the seas”.

The interior of the Lighthouse of Alexandria was massive. It is believed that 364 rooms were built in the Pharos Lighthouse measuring form ten to twenty cubits square. The rooms were designed with vents and windows in order to absorb gusts of wind against the lighthouse reducing the risk of collapse. There were also a series of wide 72 ramps creating access to the top of the lighthouse. The rooms were covered with beams of teakwood and an arch of stones, cemented and decorated. The viewing galleries constructed on the second and third levels of the structure where visitors could experience a view from nearly 400 feet high. Important visitors would be lavishly entertained in rooms allocated for this purpose.

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A series of earthquakes from the 10th to the 14th century contributed to the destruction of the Pharos Lighthouse of Alexandria. However, the fabulous Pharos Lighthouse survived until the middle Ages when it was believed to have been attacked in 1365 by the Cypriot king, Pierre I de Lusignan who sacked Alexandria. The site of the Pharos Lighthouse is covered by the Islamic Fort of Kait Bay which was built on, and from, some the ruins of the collapsed lighthouse. The lasting remains of the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the last of the Seven Wonders of the World, lie underwater near the entrance to Alexandria’s Eastern Harbor.

Sources: www.king-tut.org.uk

                en.wikipedia.org