The Lighthouse of Alexandria was a significant city known for its trading commerce during 4 century B.C. It was named after the great military leader Alexander the Great. It was sometimes also called the Pharos Lighthouse. It’s located at the end of the Nile delta, closer to the Mediterranean Sea. It was named after the death of the legendary King ‘Alexander the Great’ It was after his death that Ptolemy became the King. The lighthouse was built in honor of his predecessor ‘Alexander the great’.It was a Lighthouse of the dreams or, the century that it earned a place among the seven wonders or seven marvels of the world. It earned this title because of its magnificent architecture and the fact that it was the world’s tallest lighthouse, ever, in the world. It was the tallest structure until the Eiffel Tower. Historians still have disputes about the actual height of it. Most historians agree on the common height is 384 feet. It still stays at the second position even if it has a low height. It is mentioned by the 2 most important accounts by Moorish travelers. They in their credentials say that the lighthouse is at least 300 cubits high. This puts the lighthouse at around 450 to 650 feet. The lighthouse was used to guide thousands of ships safely to the harbor. There was an impressive structural functionality that revealed that during the day, a reflective mirror was placed on the top level of the lighthouse which was used to reflect the light of Sun to guide Ships towards Habour and to 100 miles out to the sea.
CONSTRUCTION:
The lighthouse was constructed between the 3rd and 4th century BC: once the great leader Alexander the Great died shortly after leaving Egypt after Greek administration,
His companion Ptolemy the first crowned himself the King. During his reign, he commanded the construction of the Lighthouse. The construction of this building was completed during the reign of his successor Ptolemy the second. A total of 12 years were needed to complete this building. The Lighthouse took a total of 800 talents of silver were used. The lighthouse was made 300 feet tall; At the time of its construction, the only taller man-made structure would have been pyramids. A lot of information about the construction of the Lighthouse of Alexandria remains a highly influenced risk after the tower collapsed due to a powerful earthquake in 1323 AD. The tower was made out of light-colored stones. It was made out of three tapering layers the first one was a lower square second one was an octagonal layer and at the top was a circular layer.
The lighthouse was built by Sostratus of Cnidus who was an architect and a powerful
Man. He had ears of kings or a close relation to king Ptolemy the first and his son.
Though it would be a probable question that if it’s still standing. But unfortunately, it is not standing it fell during a severe earthquake. It destroyed by earthquakes. During the first two earthquakes during the 793 and 951, it partially got destroyed but during the following three earthquakes during 1303 and 1313 it completely got destroyed. It is said that the earthquake was the most dangerous of them all.
In 19688 during archeological research by UNESCO, the lighthouse of Alexandria was rediscovered submerged in an area of the Mediterranean Sea close to the city of Alexandria, Egypt. The research was led by Honor Frost to the site of the Lighthouse; Frost confirmed the existence of ruins representing parts of the lighthouse. the zone was later confirmed as a military zone which made up frost making the exploration on hold.
Later in 1994, French archeologist, Jeans-Yves Empereur discovered the physical remains of the lighthouse and retracted it onto the floors of Eastern Harbor. They were able to capture images of the columns and statues found underwater. Most of the findings consisted of large tons of granite and sphinxes statues etc. Many other researchers in the future years continued to find remains of the Lighthouse To this day, it’s possible for divers to see the underwater remains submerged by the earthquakes.
By Geowon George Biby
