When and who built the Alexander Lighthouse? Introduction to historical materials.

Alexander is one of the most influential emperors in world history. Alexandria is named after Alexander the Gre

When and who built the Alexander Lighthouse? Introduction to historical materials.

Alexander is one of the most influential emperors in world history. Alexandria is named after Alexander the Great. There is an Alexander lighthouse by the sea in this city, which has a long history! When was the Alexander Lighthouse built? Who was it built for?

Today, Alexandria, the largest seaport city in Egypt, was originally an ancient city established by Alexander the Great of Macedonia in the west of the mouth of the Nile River in Egypt. In 236 BC, Alexander, the most outstanding man in ancient Greece, succeeded to the throne at the age of 20 and became the king of Macedonia. Later, he led the Greek Coalition forces to build this Hellenistic city in an unknown fishing village with superior geographical position at the mouth of the Nile River in Egypt, and named it "Alexandria" after himself, ordering Ptolemy to station here.

After the death of Alexander the Great, the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt began to rise, and Alexandria became the capital of the Ptolemaic dynasty and prospered. In addition, Alexandria is located at the junction of Asia, Africa and Europe, and it can also lead to the ports of the Nile and the Mediterranean. You can imagine the prosperity and trade of Alexandria at that time. Moreover, the lighthouse of Alexandria, known as one of the "Seven Wonders of the World", shines on the harbor, watches the people passing by day and night, and becomes the watchman of dynasty change.

According to historical records, Alexander Lighthouse was built on Faross Island from 285 BC to 247 BC. It was supervised by Ptolemy's later king, General Ptolemy, and its designer was a Greek. This lighthouse was built to facilitate people's navigation at that time, and on the other hand, it also showed Alexander the Great's brilliant military achievements. Ever since it was built on Fallows Island at the tip of Cape Alexander, the firewood at the top of the tower has been burning, and the ships in the Mediterranean also have a sailing direction, greatly reducing the number of shipwrecks at night. It has been working for 15 centuries. Even though there were many earthquakes in Alexandria, most houses collapsed and the lighthouse still stood.

The total height of the lighthouse is134m, which is 28m higher than the modern tallest lighthouse in Yokohama, Japan. It is said that the dazzling torch light reflected by the concave metal mirror enables ships sailing at night to find their way to Alexandria, 56 kilometers away. The lighthouse tower consists of upper, middle and lower parts, all of which are pure white marble, and the gap is cast with molten lead, which is rock-solid.

The bottom of the lower tower is square, and the tower body gradually shrinks with the rise, and the height is about 7 1 m. Each side of the bottom is half the height, and a cast statue of Poseidon's son blowing the conch horn is placed in each of the four corners to indicate the wind direction. The middle layer is octagonal, about 34 meters high, which is equivalent to half the height of the lower layer. The upper layer is cylindrical and about 9 meters high. Above the upper tower, there is a circular tower top, in which a huge torch is burning day and night. A bronze statue of Poseidon, about 7 meters high, was cast at the top of the tower. Around the tower, a circular track was built and circled to the furnace room for the carriage to transport fuel. This lighthouse is actually a skyscraper with 300 rooms for managers and guards to live in.

However, the legend is just a legend, and not seeing the real thing is a mystery after all. Who can believe that such a huge lighthouse could be built more than 2000 years ago? For some time, there is no substantial information about lighthouses to prove that such a magnificent lighthouse really existed in that distant era, so people can't help wondering whether the Alexandria people could really build such a magnificent tower more than 2,000 years ago. Some people even think that the towering lighthouse of Alexandria depicted in history books may be just a beautiful and fictional legend.

Later, after archaeological research, the Mediterranean earthquake in 235 BC and the ensuing tsunami razed countless buildings in Alexandria in an instant, killing 50 thousand residents, but the Faros lighthouse miraculously survived. Unexpectedly, in the two strong earthquakes 130 1 and 1302, the lighthouse partially collapsed. Then in 1375, another more violent earthquake finally overturned the only remaining tower foundation on the Mediterranean sea floor.

For thousands of years, the Faroe Islands lighthouse, which has made extraordinary contributions to ancient navigation, has disappeared. More than a century later, Alexandria was in flames of war, and the light of the lighthouse was gradually forgotten in the diffuse smoke. Especially in 1472, the Mamluk dynasty, which ruled Egypt, simply built a military fortress on the original site of the lighthouse in order to resist foreign invasion, and named it Mamluk fortress. 1994, when building a breakwater near the former lighthouse site, something similar to an ancient stone ship was accidentally discovered, and the underwater archaeology that attracted worldwide attention began.

Around the former site of Faros Lighthouse, the expedition discovered a large number of ancient cultural relics submerged in the sea in the 3rd century earthquake, including the palace of Cleopatra, the last queen of Ptolemy dynasty, the palace of her lover and Roman commander Antony, and many small sphinxes, including the head weighing 5 tons from Ptolemy II. Their bodies and pedestals were also found nearby, 3.5 meters long and engraved with the title of Ptolemy II on the side.

In addition, a group of giant statues, totaling more than 2,000, were found on the seabed. They are huge, with a height of over 13 meters and a weight of tens of tons. After a long underwater search, the expedition finally found the Faros lighthouse tower. According to the measurement, the side length of the lighthouse is about 36 meters. There are a large number of exquisite giant statues on both sides of the lighthouse as decoration. It is conceivable how spectacular the lighthouse was in those days!

Confusingly, the obelisk of ancient Egypt was also found in the salvage. It is a symbol of the sun god and a relic of the Pharaoh era. The head of the obelisk is made of granite, with a height of1.44m and a pyramid-shaped top. Below the obelisk, the name of Sadie I and the image of the patron saint of the 19 dynasty ruled by Sadie I are engraved in hieroglyphics. It is speculated that this cultural relic should have a history of more than 3,000 years and witnessed the vicissitudes of the past. In addition, cultural relics engraved with a large number of hieroglyphs and symbols of the Pharaoh era have reappeared.

The mysterious Alexander lighthouse finally reappeared in front of the world, and people's long-standing doubts about the lighthouse were completely dispelled. However, why a large number of statues and stones were found around the lighthouse, even the remains of ancient Egypt before 3000 BC, can not help but make people have too much speculation, and can not explore when the lighthouse itself was built.

Some people think that the lighthouse itself came from the hands of the ancient Egyptians in the Pharaoh's era more than 3,000 years ago. More people believe that this lighthouse was built by Ptolemy dynasty, and these ancient Egyptian statues and stones were collected from ancient Egyptian temples after Alexander the Great conquered Egypt. Maybe this is a reasonable explanation. After all, there were many wars at that time, and Alexander led an expedition and could do anything wherever he went. It is also possible that these things were brought back as trophies.

Today, Alexandria has a population of 2.5 million. Every summer, more than 1 10,000 people come here for the summer. The annual throughput of the port is 27.6 million tons; There is indeed a lighthouse at the cape of the harbor, but it is greatly inferior to the ancient lighthouse. 1892 The Greek and Roman Museum, converted from the Summer Palace, is littered with cultural relics, showing the vicissitudes of Alexandria's history. However, when and by whom Alexander Lighthouse was built is still inconclusive.