Alexandria

Alexandria, city and major seaport in northern Egypt, in the River Nile delta, on a ridge that separates Lake Mareotis from the Mediterranean Sea. The modern city is situated mainly on a peninsula about the mole, reaching to and including the island of Pharos, and on the portion of the mainland immediately south of the eastern harbour. The part of the modern city on the peninsula is a characteristically Egyptian town; the European quarter is on the mainland. Alexandria has had, since ancient times, two harbours, of which the western one is the chief commercial centre containing the customs house and many warehouses for cotton, grain, sugar, and wool. More than 80 per cent of Egypt's imports and exports pass through the city. Population 3,328,000 (1998 estimate).

The ancient city was about 6.4 km (4 mi) long, and constructed symmetrically, with roads crossing at right angles and colonnades adorning the principal streets. The most magnificent district, the Brucheium, was situated on the eastern harbour. Farther west was the Serapeion, or temple of the Egyptian deity Serapis; the Soma, or mausoleum of Alexander and the Ptolemies; the Poseidonium, or temple of Poseidon, god of the sea; the museum; the great theatre; and the emporium, or exchange. The north-eastern quarter was occupied by the Jews. In Alexandria the Jews came into contact with Greek learning, which was to have a profound influence on later religious thought; here the Greek translation of the Old Testament, called the Septuagint, was made before ad 100. Later philosophers attempted to fuse the doctrines of Christianity with the ideals of Greek philosophy. A noteworthy archaeological site of Abu Mena, an early Christian sanctuary, is nearby; it was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979 and was inscribed on the list of World Heritage in Danger in 2001.

Alexandria was founded in 332 bc by Alexander the Great, king of Macedonia, who planned it as the finest port of the ancient world. A mole (breakwater made of large stones or masonry) nearly 1.6 km (1 mi) in length called the Heptastadium (“seven furlongs”) was built to the island of Pharos, enclosing a spacious harbour. A famous lighthouse, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, was also built on Pharos. Another smaller harbour was open to the west. A canal joined Lake Mareotis to the Canopic branch of the Nile. Soon after the city was founded, the population, consisting chiefly of Greeks, Jews, and Egyptians, numbered 300,000 citizens, exclusive of slaves and foreigners. Alexandria was made the capital of Egypt, numerous palaces were built by the Ptolemies, the Alexandria Library and Museum were founded, and influential schools of philosophy, rhetoric, and other branches of learning were established. During the early 3rd century bc, the Alexandrian Library had almost 500,000 volumes, the largest collection of books in the ancient world, but the collection was gradually broken up and destroyed over several centuries.

Under the Ptolemies, the city was the literary and scientific centre of the ancient world. After the defeat of Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, at Actium in 31 bc and her suicide the following year, the city came under the rule of Octavian (later the Roman emperor Augustus), and was governed by a prefect appointed by him. Its position made it the centre of commerce between East and West, and fleets of grain ships sailed from Alexandria to Italy year after year. Gradually, however, the city's prosperity declined. A Jewish revolt in ad 116 resulted in the annihilation of the Jewish population and the destruction of a large portion of the city. In 215 the Roman emperor Caracalla ordered a massacre of the male inhabitants of the entire city for reasons that remain obscure but were possibly retribution for some form of seditious conduct. The founding of Constantinople further eclipsed the Egyptian metropolis. The Muslims, under the general Amr ibn-al-As, besieged, captured, and almost destroyed the city in 638 and again about 646. Under Muslim rule the city declined, particularly with the rise of Cairo after about 968 and the opening of the sea route to India in the 15th century.

Alexandria was captured and held from 1798 to 1801 by Napoleon Bonaparte; by that time it had declined in importance and was merely the size of a large village. During the subsequent rule of Muhammad Ali Alexandria grew rapidly, with the creation of the Mahmudiya Canal connecting the settlement to the Nile, the restoration of the harbour, and a programme of urban renewal, which included the construction of a modern city centre. After the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, Alexandria emerged as a major export hub and continued to expand despite widespread damage it sustained during the British intervention in Egypt in 1882.

In the 20th century the city retained its economic importance. During World War II it served as the main Allied military base in the eastern Mediterranean. Early negotiations concerning the founding of the Arab League took place in Alexandria in 1944. The nationalization of the Suez Canal was announced in the city in 1956. Today, Alexandria is one of the most culturally diversified cities in Egypt, with significant Armenian, Greek, Italian, Maltese, and Syrian minorities. In 2002 the city witnessed the opening of Bibliotheca Alexandrina, a modern library complex designed to build on the ancient tradition of learning and scholarship and constructed on the site where the original Library of Alexandria had once stood.