I had always dreamed of visiting Alexandria, the fabled city
on the Nile delta established by Alexander the Great back in 332 BC. While I
was researching my novel SHADOW OF THE LION, I delved into the history of this
remarkable city. When I was invited to Egypt last March on a travel writer’s
press trip, I told the organizers about my novel and the research I had done
about the founding of the ancient city. Because of this I was given a special
two-day tour of Alexandria, with an escort of three handsome Egyptian men, one
of the highlights of all my travel experiences
Me, Peter from Egyptian Tourism and Magdi the driver
Marko, Magdi and Peter, My Escorts
Alexandria is a
setting in the story. Ptolemy, Alexander’s illegitimate half-brother returned
to Egypt after Alexander’s death to oversee the building according to
Alexander’s wishes. Ptolemy Soter became the first of the Ptolemaic dynasties
of Egypt that lasted up until the era of Cleopatra.
It is said that Alexander had a dream in which he recalled
the lines from Homer’s Iliad of ‘an island, Pharos, by the surging sea.’ Alexander had come to Egypt to drive out the
Persians and to him, this dream was an omen. He wanted to build a new city by
the sea, and chose this location near a small village called Rhakotis. He
ordered his architect and city planner Dinocrates to design and build it but
Alexander died before its completion. After Alexander`s death, Ptolemy hijacked
the funeral carriage when it was being transported from Babylon to Macedon and
brought the body to Egypt where, it is said, Alexander had wanted to be buried.
It was interred first in Memphis, then when the temple for Alexander`s friend Hephaestion
was completed, Ptolemy had Alexander`s body laid there where it remained at
least until the arrival of the Romans, because it was visited by Julius Caesar
and Cleopatra.
Under Ptolemy, Alexandria became a center of Hellenism. It was the home of many Greeks and also home
of the largest Jewish community in the world. It took over the trade and
commerce of Tyre between Europe and the Arabian and Indian East and soon
expanded until it was the largest city in the world, second only to Rome. Over
the years, Alexandria was visited by Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, Nelson,
Napoleon, and was home of others such as Archimedes, Euclid, Mohammed Ali Pasha
and the Greek poet Cavafy.
The ancient Greek city had three regions, The Brucheum,
Royal or Greek quarter which formed the most magnificent part of the city. The
Jewish quarter formed the northeast and Rhakotis, occupied mainly by Egyptians.
The city consisted of the island of Pharos which was joined to the mainland by
a mole nearly a mile long. There stood the famous Great Lighthouse, one of the
Seven Wonders of the World, 138 meters high, a project begun by the first
Ptolemy and completed by his son. The lighthouse was destroyed by an earthquake
in the 14th century and was replaced by an Arab fortress using some
of the original bricks.
I was curious to learn how much of Alexander still exists in
Alexandria, the city named for him. As
the van approached the outskirts the first thing I saw was a monument of
Alexander riding his horse. At our first
stop we were greeted by a young tour guide, Sarah, who showed us around an
extensive excavation known as Kom al-Dikka, which has revealed many Roman era
ruins including a theatre. We didn`t have time to visit the catacombs which are
located near Alexander`s best-known monument, `Pompey`s Pillar. The catacombs,
known as Kom al-Soqqafa, are a multì-level labyrinth reached by a spiral staircase
where there are dozens of chambers with sculpted pillars and statues, burial
niches and sarcophagi.
KOM AL -DIKKA
Our next stop on the tour was the Qaitbay Citadel, built on
the site of the ancient lighthouse, and established in 1477 AD by the Sultan
Qaitbay. It was one of the most
important defensive strongholds on the Mediterranean coast.
Unlike Cairo which is densely packed
between the Nile River and the vast expanse of Sahara desert, Alexandria
sprawls out along the seacoast, a sparkling bright city surrounded by the
verdant Nile Delta, the ancient’s ‘Land of Goshen’.
The Nile Delta
It is the second largest city in Egypt. The
city is divided into six neighbourhoods, each with a large population. Alexandria
is an important industrial area and Egypt’s largest seaport with two harbors,
one facing east, the other west.
There is evidence of the ancient harbour on
the edge of the island of Pharos, but little else remains except what the
underwater archaeologists have discovered under the sea. Some of these finds
can be seen in the Alexandria Museum and on display outside of the new
Alexandria Library.
Outside the Museum: Peter, Sarah, me and Marko
The Alexandria Museum contains a number of exhibits dating
back to the Ptolemaic dynasty as well as Roman. What I found most interesting
were some of the relics that have been brought up by the maritime
archaeologists in the harbor which reveals details of the city both before
Alexander’s time and during the Ptolemaic dynasty. Where is Alexander`s tomb? Most likely at the bottom of the sea.
Evidently they have discovered parts of Cleopatra`s palace and in the front of
the new library is a tall weather-worn statue of one of the Ptolemys brought up
from the seabed.
After my tour of the Roman ruins and museum, I was taken to my
hotel by the seaside, surrounded a beautiful 350 acrew park of palm trees and
flowering bushes, the Montazah Palace Gardens. The elegant Helnan Palestine hotel was built in 1964 to accomodate guests of the Second Arab Summit. It is on the grounds next to what
was King Farouk`s summer palace. Farouk became king at the age of 16 and lost
his throne at the age of 32 in 1952. It made my visit even more
special to know I was on royal territory.
The Hotel Helnan Palestine
Night View from My Hotel Window
The Bibliotheca Alexandrina
The next day was the highlight of my visit when I was taken
to the New Alexandria Library, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, which opened Oct.
16, 2002. It`s an immense cylindrical
shaped modern structure separated from the University of Alexandria by a wide
concourse where I posed under a bust of my hero, Alexander. The library is spectacular in its design with
constant light filtering through the specially curved domes. It houses over 8 million books.
The first Library of Alexandria was created by Ptolemy I
Soter in the 3rd century BC. Most of the books were papyrus scrolls
on great value. It was dedicated to the Muses and functioned as a major center
of scholarship. Many of the most famous thinkers of the ancient world studied
here. It was in Alexandria where Euclid devised geometry and Herophilus
discovered that the brain, was the seat of thought, not the heart. A wealth of works
from the classical world were housed in the old library, including those of
Aristotle and Plato, original manuscripts of Sophocles, Aeschylus and Euripides,
Egyptian treatises on astronomy and medicine; Buddhist texts, original Hebrew
scriptures and many of the works of the lyric poet Sappho.
In 48 BC when Julius Caesar laid siege to the city, a fire
was set and the library was partially destroyed. Later there were other attacks
until finally the library was in ruins and thousands of ancient works were
destroyed. I wondered what Ptolemy would
think now, if he saw this amazing work of art which has replaced the library he
first created.
The new library features a museum dedicated to science and
history. There is also a large planetarium at the entrance. There are all the
modern amenities such as Internet Archives, several specialized libraries,
academic research centres and various permanent exhibits. It is also the home
of several institutions including The Arabic Society for Ethics in Science and
Technology, the HCM Medical Research, the Anna Lindh Foundation for Dialogue Between
Cultures and many others.
There is an international spirit in the Bibliotheca just as
there was back in Ptolemy’s time. Italians and Egyptians work together
preserving rare manuscripts; Greeks help with antiquities; French are in charge
of the science museum and Americans are the computer experts.
The famous burning of the ancient Library of Alexandria
became the symbol of the irretrievable loss of knowledge, but the new
Bibliotheca Alexandria has revived that legacy and the staff works together to
maintain this great Temple of Learning.
After our library tour Sarah took us to a pleasant seaside restaurant so we could relax, enjoy the beautiful shoreline view and taste some delicious Egyptian cuisine.
Marko and me
We had a dinner guest.
Not only was this two-day visit to Alexandria, one of the
most memorable times of my visit to Egypt, but I enjoyed the company of my Egyptian
travel escorts and especially the lovely young woman who was my tour guide,
Sarah Ibrahim. I felt such warmth from her that we immediately bonded. She had
read all about me on the internet and knew an amazing number of stories about
me from my blogs. So I would certainly
love to return there someday to see my new friend and visit more of this
wonderful country that is so rich with history and its warm, friendly people.
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