The Alexandria lighthouse, sometimes called Alexandre Farus, pronounced in contemporary Koina, was a lighthouse built by the Ptolemy Kingdom during the reign of Ptolemy II Phaladps (280–247 BC) which was estimated to be at least 100 meters (330 ft) in overall height.One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, it has been one of the highest man-made structures in the world for many centuries.
The lighthouse was severely damaged by three quakes between AD 956 and 1323 and became an abandoned ruin. It was the third longest surviving ancient wonder (after the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus and the former Great Pyramid of Giza) that survived in part until AD 1480, when the last of its remnant stones was used to build the Qaitbay Citadel on the site.
In 1994, French archaeologists discovered some remains of the lighthouse on the floor of the Eastern Harbor of Alexandria. The Alexandria lighthouse, sometimes called Alexandre Farus, pronounced in contemporary Koina, was a lighthouse built by the Ptolemy Kingdom during the reign of Ptolemy II Phaladps In 2016, the Ministry of State of Ancient Egypt planned to transform the submerged remains of ancient Alexandria, including Pharos, into an underwater museum.In 332 BC Alexander the Great founded the town of Alexandria on an isthmus opposite Pharos.
Alexandria and Pharos were later connected by a mole spanning more than 1,200 meters (0.75 miles), which was called the Heptastadion ("seven stadia"—a stadium of about 180 m in length in Greece).
The east side of the mole was the Great Harbour, now an open bay; on the west side was the port of Eunostos, with its inner Kibotos basin now vastly enlarged to form the modern port. Today's urban development, situated between the present Grand Square and the modern Ras el-Tin quarter, is built on a silt that gradually widened and obliterated this mole.The promontory of Ras el-Tin, where the Palace of Ras el-Tin was built in the 19th century, represents all that remains of the island of Pharos, the site of the lighthouse at its eastern point, which had been swept away by the sea.
Construction work
The lighthouse was built in the 3rd century BC. After the death of Alexander the Great, the first Ptolemy (Ptolemy I Soter) declared himself king in 305 BC, and shortly thereafter commissioned its construction. The building was completed during the reign of his son, Ptolemy II Philadelphus, and it took twelve years to complete at a total cost of 800 talents of silver.The light was produced by a furnace at the top, and the tower was said to have been built mostly of solid limestone blocks.However, since the lighthouse was over 300 feet tall, the use of limestone as the main material is doubtful due to the possibility of collapse under its own weight. Rather, the pink granite found nearby is more likely to be much stronger and more resistant to weight.Strabo reported that Sostratus had a dedication to the "Savior Gods" inscribed in metal letters on the lighthouse.Later Pliny the Elder wrote that Sostratus was the architect at issue. In the second century AD, Lucian wrote that Sostratus had hidden his name under a plaster bearing the name of Ptolema, so that when the plaster had dropped, the name of Sostratus would be visible in the stone.Sandstone and limestone blocks used in construction are analyzed from the Wadi Hammamat quarries in the desert east of the city.