Pharos Lighthouse of Alexandria

Many people have been in awe at the might of the ancient Egyptians, at their architectural power, at what they were able to do so many years ago…a classic example is the Great Pyramid of Giza; there are more theories as to how they managed to build that thing then you can shake a stick at. There is another thing that they built which is equally impressive, even if maybe it is not quite as well known. It is the Pharos Lighthouse of Alexandria.

While the Great Pyramid of Giza was built at the beginning of Egypt’s reign, the Lighthouse of Alexandria was built in towards the end of it. Both, the Great Pyramid and the Lighthouse are considered part of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

As the name suggests, the lighthouse was built near Alexandria, it stood on the eastern point of Pharos Island, it was constructed at the very beginning of the third century BC. It took a lot of money and a lot of slaves over a twenty years period to make the lighthouse. But when it was finally done it was a wonder to behold; it was a Greek named Sostratos who designed the lighthouse, it is said that he wanted to put his name on the Lighthouse but the king would not let him. Sostratos would not take "no" for an answer, he carved his own inscription on the wall and then plastered over it, on that plaster that he put the inscription of the king…kind of sneaky, as time went by, the plaster wore off leaving only Sostratos’ inscription. I guess that’s one way to do it, I hope the king never found out.

Considering the times the tower was huge, they say that it equaled 40 stories of a modern building, it was quite a tourist attraction, food and other things were even sold there to the people who came to get a look at the sea from a perspective that was not possible anywhere else. The Lighthouse of Alexandria was a sensation, all kinds of stories came up about the things that it was used for; some visitors describe a huge mirror others a big lens…there are stories that say a huge mirror was used as a weapon it reflected the sun, and just like you can do with a dead leaf and a magnifying glass, any enemy ships that were brave enough to come near were burnt to shreds.

There was another story that said there was a type of looking glass that could be used to look out across the sea to the cities that were on the other shore, in so doing they could see what was going on in those cities. It goes without saying that these stories are nothing more then stories, there is no proof of such things ever existing, much less being kept up in the top of a lighthouse.

Borrowing on the work of the ancient Egyptians, the Lighthouse was built in three tiers, one placed on top of the other. The first level was quadrangular, the second was shaped kind of like an octagon and the third one that stood on the very top of the tower was circular, like the modern lighthouses we have today…one thing at the top that we do not have today were giant statues of Zeus and they think the other one was a statue of Poseidon.

There is a story that in 850 AD the emperor of Constantinople tried to get rid of the tower by spreading the rumor that there was a huge treasure buried underneath the lighthouse, so the caliph ordered the building to be torn down in search of the hidden treasure, the giant mirror fell into the sea the first two tiers were totally destroyed . It was not until they reached the third tier when they realized that it had all been a big hoax to get rid of the lighthouse; after a feeble attempt to rebuild, the caliph figured out that there was not enough money to rebuild. So instead of a lighthouse that made a nation proud, he had a shabby mosque built on the site. This story is highly unlikely because there are written reports of people coming to visit the great lighthouse well after 850 AD.

This lighthouse survived the tides, tidal waves, and everything that was tossed its way for two millennia, finally an earthquake brought the great place down, into the sea never to be rebuilt. The world had lost one of its great wonders.