A Blast from the Past...

This past weekend we finally had the opportunity to explore some of the sights around Alexandria. The city, which has been ruled by the Pharaonic, Greek, Roman, and Arab empires to name just a few and has been home to Alexander the Great, Cleopatra, Ptolemy, and Napoleon, has existed since its founding by Alexander in the early hundreds B.C. and has been home to one of the Wonders of the World and the ancient library which was considered the largest in its day.
We started out the day visiting one of the Coptic churches, Saint Mark's. Tradition has it that Mark, who was one of the 12 disciples of Christ and the writer of the Gospel of Mark, came to Alexandria in 61 A.D. and founded what eventually became the Coptic Church, thus fulfilling the second part of the prophecy in Isaiah 19:19 ("In that day there will be an alter to the Lord in the heart of Egypt and a monument to the Lord at its border"-the first part of the prophecy is considered to be when Mary, Joseph and the infant Jesus fled to Egypt (see Isaiah 19:1)). After visiting the church, we headed to the Pompey's Pillar, which ironically has nothing to do with the ancient Roman city (Pompeii, actually) that was buried under the Mount Vesuvius eruption in 79 A.D. The Pompey for whom this pillar is named is a reference to the famous General who was killed by Cleopatra's brother and the monument stands in the debris of the ancient settlement of Rhakotis, the precursor to the city of Alexandria. In the remains lie the "sister library" to the great Library of Alexandria, which used to be a great center of enlightenment and learning in the early ages until it was destroyed by Christians in 391 A.D. in an attempt to wipe out all forms of pagan intellectualism. The pillar is actually supposedly the only ancient monument still standing in Alexandria today.
From Pompey's pillar we moved on to the Catacombs of Kom Ash-Shuqqafa, which were, in a word, awesome. This burial site was discovered in 1900 when a donkey disappeared through the ground (yikes!) and is the largest known Roman burial site in Egypt. Although originally intended to be a private burial chamber, there are three tiers of tombs, with chambers cut out the rock, and on the first level are small chambers of a man and a woman, probably portraying the original owners. Cut out sections in the wall reveal where bodies would have been laid, and on some of the coffins and walls you can see the fusion of Greek and Ancient Egyptian burial decoration. Additionally, there was a section which had much larger nooks in the wall, and we were told that this section of the catacombs was intended for larger animals, such as horses. After visiting the Catacombs, we briefly checked out the Roman Amphitheatre and then headed toward the Alexandria National Museum, where we gazed and gawked at Pharaonic, Greek, and Roman objects of antiquity and artifacts.
After the museum, we went to Fort Qaitbey, which was built in AD 1480 by a Mamluk sultan on the place where the legendary Pharos lighthouse used to be. The tower of Pharos was constructed under the order of Ptolemy the First and was erected, after 12 years of construction in 283 B.C. to aid ships coming into the harbor. Although it probably had been topped by a statue as was common in that time, it became a lighthouse around the first century A.D. and was such a phenomenon that it was heralded as One of the Wonders of the World (now the Ancient World). Although the Lighthouse stood for many years and endured many natural disasters, it was finally brought down by an earthquake in 1303. Decades later, a sultan ordered a fort to be built on the remains and the fortress still stands today, offering fantastic views of the Corniche (the coastal region of the city) and out to the beautiful big blue sea.
After the ancient sites, we wrapped up the day with a tour of Mosque of Abu Abbas al-Mursi, and finished the day off with dinner at the University Club/Gymnasium which, in comparison to the rest of the day, was rather anticlimactic. Although we had spent the whole day visiting places in Alexandria, we still have yet to explore more. Alexandria is a goldmine of history, and although is the scene of fantastic historical events, the rapid development of the city often impedes archeological progress and archeologists find themselves in short time frames and limited budgets for the work that needs to be done. However, nautical archeology in the bay has been relatively successful, and it's amazing to see what kind of treasures the ocean yields and how well preserved some artifacts have remained. Inshallah, Alexandria will progress in the uncovering of its valuable history and I look forward to its development.