The Lighthouse of Alexandria
was initially built as a landmark—not
an actual lighthouse—and was
known by the name of the island on
which it was located: Pharos. In his
Life of Alexander, the Greek historian
and biographer, Plutarch, recounts
that the conqueror, being so captivated
by Egypt, decided to found:
...a large and populous
Greek city which should bear his name,
and by the advice of his architects
was on the point of measuring off
and enclosing a certain site for it.
Then, in the night, as he lay asleep,
he saw a wonderful vision. A man with
very hoary locks and of a venerable
aspect appeared to stand by his side
and recite these verses:
Now there is an island
in the much-dashing sea,
In front of Egypt; Pharos is what
men call it.
Pharos was a small island just off
the coast of Alexandria. It was linked
to the mainland by a man-made connection
called the Heptastadion, which thus
formed one side of the city's harbor.
Since the Egyptian coast is very flat
and lacking any kind of landmark used
for navigation, a marker of some sort
at the mouth of the harbor was deemed
necessary—a function the Pharos
was initially designed to serve. Use
of the building as a lighthouse, with
a fire and reflective mirrors at the
top, is thought to date to around
the first century C.E., during the
Roman period. Prior to that time the
Pharos served solely as a navigational
landmark. Some descriptions report
that the Pharos was surmounted by
a huge statue, possibly representing
either Alexander the Great or Ptolemy
I Soter in the form of the sun god
Helios. The Pharos did not appear
in any list of 'wonders' until the
sixth century C.E. (the earliest list
gives the walls of Babylon instead).
Pharos became the etymological origin
of the word for 'lighthouse' in many
Romance languages, such as French
(phare), Italian (faro), Portuguese
(farol), Spanish (faro), Romanian
(far), and Greek.
Construction
A reconstruction of the Lighthouse
of Alexandria in the "Window
of the World" Cultural Park in
Changsha, ChinaThe initial building
was designed by Sostratus of Cnidus
(or Knidos) in the third century B.C.E.,
after having been initiated by Ptolemy
I of Egypt, Egypt's first Hellenistic
ruler and a general of Alexander the
Great. After Alexander died unexpectedly
at age 33, Ptolemy made himself king
in 305 B.C.E. and ordered the construction
of the Pharos shortly thereafter.
The building was finished during the
reign of his son, Ptolemy Philadelphos.
According to legend,
Sostratus was forbidden by Ptolemy
from putting his name on his work.
But the architect left the following
inscription on the base's walls nonetheless:
"Sostratus, the son of Dexiphanes,
the Cnidian, dedicated (or erected)
this to the Saviour Gods, on behalf
of those who sail the seas."
These words were hidden under a layer
of plaster, on top of which was chiseled
another inscription honoring Ptolemy
as builder of the Pharos. After centuries
the plaster wore away, revealing the
name of Sostratus.
Legend tells of the
light from the Pharos being used to
burn enemy ships before they could
reach shore; this is unlikely due
to the relatively poor quality of
optics and reflective technology in
the period during which the building
existed. Only slightly less impressive—and
probably more accurate—is the
claim that the light from the lighthouse
could be seen up to 35 miles from
shore.
Constructed from large
blocks of light-colored stone, the
tower was made up of three stages:
a lower square section with a central
core, a middle octagonal section,
and, at the top, a circular section.
At its apex was positioned a mirror
which reflected sunlight during the
day; a fire was lit at night. Extant
Roman coins struck by the Alexandrian
mint show that a statue of a triton
was positioned on each of the building's
four corners. A statue of Poseidon
stood atop the tower during the Roman
period.
Fort Qaitbey was built
on the site of the Pharos in the fifteenth
century, using some of its fallen
masonryThe Pharos' walls were strengthened
in order to withstand the pounding
of the waves through the use of molten
lead to hold its masonry together,
and possibly as a result, the building
survived the longest of the Seven
Wonders—with the sole exception
of the Great Pyramid of Giza. It was
still standing when the Muslim traveler
Ibn Jubayr visited the city in 1183.
He said of it that: "Description
of it falls short, the eyes fail to
comprehend it, and words are inadequate,
so vast is the spectacle." In
his time there was a mosque located
on the building's top instead of a
beacon, reportedly built by sultan
Ahmed ibn Touloun.
The tower was severely
damaged by two earthquakes in 1303
and 1323, to the extent that the Arab
traveler Ibn Battuta reported not
being able to enter the ruin. Even
the stubby remnant disappeared in
1477, when the then-Sultan of Egypt,
Qaitbay, built a medieval fort on
the former location of the building,
using some of the fallen stone. The
remnants of the Pharos that were incorporated
into the walls of Fort Qaitbey are
clearly visible due to their excessive
size in comparison to surrounding
masonry.
Recent archaeological
research
Reverse of a Roman coin featuring
the lighthouse from 189 C.E.In 1994,
archaeologist Jean-Yves Emperor, founder
of the Center for Alexandrian Studies,
discovered hundreds of huge masonry
blocks in the water off Pharos Island.
The Egyptian government had asked
him to do an underwater exploration
of the area before a concrete breakwater
was erected. Emperor's mapping of
the area suggested at least some of
these blocks may have fallen into
the sea when an earthquake destroyed
the lighthouse in the 1300s.
Additionally, a number
of statues were found, including a
huge statue of a king dating to the
third century B.C.E., considered to
be a representation of a deified Ptolemy
II. Another statue, a companion piece
of a queen as Isis, representing Ptolemy's
wife, Arsinoe, was discovered in the
vicinity in the 1960s. These two statues
may have been placed just below the
lighthouse proper, overlooking the
harbor entrance. Due to these remarkable
finds, the Egyptian government canceled
its breakwater plans, deciding instead
to establish an underwater park where
divers could view the many statues,
stone sphinxes, and lighthouse remains.
Today, the park is open to divers
who are at least 18 years of age.
