How the Alexandria lighthouse was destroyed (2023)

Of the seven wonders of the ancient world, only the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt remains. War, neglect, and natural disasters have wiped them off the face of the earth, leaving only descriptions by ancient historians and geographers, or the occasional coin or painting, as symbols of their greatness. Since the Seven Wonders of the World were first proposed by the Greeks, most of them are in and around Greece, but two are in Egypt.

Of course, as mentioned above, the Great Pyramid of Giza is in Egypt, but next to the pyramid is the younger but equally impressive Lighthouse of Alexandria, often called the “Lighthouse of Lighthouses” and for the Mediterranean island on which it is located stands, is famous . Of all the Seven Wonders of the World, the Alexandria Lighthouse was one of the most functional and helped facilitate trade in and out of Egypt.

Judging by its age, the Alexandria Lighthouse existed in its original form for around 1,000 years, making it one of the longest-lived structures in the Seven Wonders of the World. Since the lighthouse no longer exists, and has been for almost 1,000 years, there are great mysteries about its size and structure, but above all about the mystery of its destruction. Perhaps because it was often confused with and/or included in the famous Library of Alexandria, rumors and lies about the lighthouse's disappearance persisted. Examination of the sources shows that the Alexandria Lighthouse was damaged by various factors, including earthquakes and saltwater erosion. After the Arab-Muslim conquest of Egypt in AD 642, the lighthouse suffered a natural disaster and its reputation, like that of Alexandria itself, was greatly diminished. For Muslims, Alexander is no longer as important as it used to be. So the Greeks and Romans abandoned the dilapidated lighthouse until they finally changed its function.

lighthouse construction

Although Alexandria is in Egypt, it was founded by the Macedonian conqueror Alexander the Great when he conquered Egypt in 331 BC. BC Reconquered Egypt from the Persians. Alexander liked the location of the area for its natural harbor and he decided to build a city there as a monument to its greatness and to promote the Hellenistic concept of Greece. Construction of the city began with the first Greco-Macedonian ruler of Egypt, Ptolemy I (r. 305–282 BC), who commissioned the architect Dinokrates of Rhodes to lay out the city in a grid pattern, which was quite revolutionary at the time . Time.^[1]At the heart of this bold new city is the landmark known as the Pharos Lighthouse, or Lighthouse of Alexandria.

Construction of the lighthouse probably began during the reign of Ptolemy I, but was completed during the reign of his successor, Ptolemy II (284–246 BC). Although there is no consensus among modern historians, many believe that the dyke connecting the mainland to the island of Pharos, the 'Dyke of the Seven Towers', was built during the reign of Ptolemy I, but most of the actual lighthouse is Ptolemy was built by him. during the reign of King Mi II.^[2]As in many cases in antiquity, we cannot be sure who the architect of the lighthouse was. Ancient historians associated the name Sostratus with the lighthouse in their writings, and his name is said to be engraved on the building, leading modern scholars to believe that he was either the architect of the lighthouse or the main donor.^[3]

Old descriptions of lighthouses.

Besides mentioning the possible architects of the lighthouse, ancient writers are the best sources for the modern understanding of the lighthouse's size, structure and purpose. Julius Caesar mentioned lighthouses in his military memoirs on the civil wars of the 1st century BC. According to Caesar's own account, during the Battle of Alexandria in 48 BC, Caesar's army caused Damage to buildings on the island of Pharos near the lighthouse, and according to Strabo, a Greek geographer from the 1st century B.C. BC, the damage was very serious. .

"Similarly, the end of the island was a rock washed by the sea, and upon it was a tower of white marble with many steps, bearing the same name as the island. This was Sóstrato de Nidos, a friend of the king .A sacrifice for the safety of the sailors, as the inscription says: Since the coast has no harbor and is low on both sides and has reefs and shoals, those of higher need those of Sea sailing thither, large and visible ships. A sign to properly orient your course towards the entrance to the port. And the western entrance is not easy to enter, albeit with less caution than the others. It also forms a second port, the so-called port of Eunostos at Dug, by the hand of man, for the port which permitted entrance on the side of said Farosta is the great port, and these two ports are at their innermost niches with connected to this port, separated only by a causeway called the Seven Towers. Bridge that extended from the mainland to the west of the island, leaving only two passes to the port of Eunostos over which bridges were built. However, the project did not just form a bridge to the island and an aqueduct, at least when Faros was inhabited. But in modern times it was destroyed by Saint Caesar in his war with the Alexanders for siding with the king.^[4]

Although Caesar's troops did some damage to the island of Faros, and apparently also to the lighthouse itself, the Romans soon rebuilt Egypt and made it a second gateway to the Seven Wonders of the World. It remained an important city when control of Alexandria passed from Ptolemy to the Romans. Apparently the Romans quickly repaired the damage to the lighthouse, for when Josephus, the first century AD C. Jewish historian, wrote about it, did not mention the damage.

"Because it is difficult to enter Egypt by land and there are few ports on the coast... even in peacetime it is difficult for ships to approach Alexandria. The entrance is narrow and the flooded rocks make it impossible to drive in a straight line.” The left side is closed by artificial breakwaters, on the right side is the island of Pharos, not far from the coast, and on the island stands a huge lighthouse whose fire can be seen from a distance of 35 miles and warns incoming ships that anchor far offshore at night because it is difficult to enter the port.^[5]

Josephus' article not only shows that the lighthouse was fully operational again around 100 years after the Battle of Caesar, but also shows that it was in fact a lighthouse using firewood as a light source. More ancient descriptions of lighthouses can be found on coins minted by Alexander during Roman times. The so-called "lighthouse coin", depicting a lighthouse, was minted during the reigns of six emperors, from Domitian to Marlux Aurelius and then again in the twenty-ninth year of Commodus.^[6]

Based on ancient descriptions, modern scholars believe the lighthouse was between 400 and 660 feet tall and was divided into three tiers. The base is square, the center octagonal and the top tier is circular on which a statue of Zeus stands proud.^[7]The Alexandria Lighthouse is truly a sight to behold, which is why the story of its destruction is almost as important as its life.

Destroyed the Alexandria lighthouse

As noted above, the Alexandria Lighthouse suffered the first recorded man-made damage at the hands of Julius Caesar. After Josephus, very little is known about the lighthouse. The medieval Islamic historian Ibn Battuta visited Alexandria twice during his epic voyages through the Islamic world (1326 and 1349) and found the lighthouse badly damaged on the first voyage, almost completely destroyed on the second voyage. Batua never commented on the cause of the damage. Thanks to advances in science, modern scientists have been able to determine that most of the damage to the lighthouse in the post-Roman/Islamic period was due to natural causes.

The numerous devastating earthquakes that shook Egypt in the Middle Ages probably caused the most damage to the lighthouse. In 956 AD C., a particularly strong earthquake destroyed the top floor of the tower and was felt throughout Egypt and as far away as Syria.^[8]In addition to recurring earthquakes, Mediterranean salt erosion appears to have played a role in the lighthouse's disappearance. Due to numerous earthquakes, the outside of the lighthouse has long been in poor condition, and repeated erosion from wind and sand will cause damage to the outside of the lighthouse.^[9]Despite severe earthquake damage and salt spray erosion at the Alexandria Lighthouse, this marvel can still be rebuilt. The eventual sinking of the Alexandria Lighthouse was not due to a single event, but to cultural and demographic shifts in the region.

Alexandria was a city built by the Greeks and later succeeded by the Romans and the Byzantine Empire. For these peoples, Alexandria was an important place in their empire, and the lighthouse was the physical center of the city, both literally and metaphorically. When the Muslim Arabs conquered Egypt in 642 AD. C., saw Alexandria and the lighthouse very differently. While Muslims were impressed by some aspects of Greek civilization, they were not part of it, and monuments such as the Seven Wonders of the World had little impact on them. Egypt played an important role in the new caliphate, but the new city of Cairo was more central to medieval Egypt than Alexandria.

Still, the Muslims did not completely abandon Alexandria and the lighthouse. As mentioned above, Ibn Battuta knew of lighthouses, but by his time they had long ceased to function as real lighthouses. In the 9th century, about a century before a major earthquake destroyed the upper floor, the lighthouse was converted into a mosque.^[10]It's unclear if Egyptian rulers attempted to rebuild the lighthouse mosque after a devastating 10th-century earthquake, but it is known that Sultan Qaitbay converted the remains of the lighthouse into a fortress in 1480.^[11]

finally

Although the Alexandria Lighthouse, like the other five of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, no longer exists, it still captures the imagination of countless people around the world. For around 1,000 years, the lighthouse has been a symbol of Alexandria's greatness and a beacon of safe passage through treacherous Alexandria. Unfortunately, this great monument was destroyed for several reasons. Earthquake and erosion were responsible for most of the damage to the lighthouse, but when the Muslim Arabs conquered Egypt, they did not view the monument with the same reverence as the Greeks who conquered Alexandria. The city itself was so important to the Islamic Caliphate that they decided to convert the remains of the lighthouse first into a mosque and then into a fortress.

Reference

administrative,Jared KrebsbachjEric Lambrecht