The Lighthouse of Alexandria

Purpose The purpose of the Lighthouse of Alexandria is pretty self explanatory. Ships crashed onto Pharos often and it was said that the natives there destroyed the ships. The lighthouse was used to guide ships into harbor.

Location The Lighthouse of Alexandria is located in Egypt, Africa. It is at the most northern point of Egypt on an island called Pharos. The coordinate points are 31.2142° N, 29.8850° E.

The Builders The lighthouse was built by Egyptians. Sostratus of Knidos was a Greek sculptor that built and designed the Lighthouse of Alexandria. Most of the construction was done by Satrap Ptolemy I Soter. He was a “governor” of Egypt at the time. A Lucian once wrote that Sostratus put his name underneath a plaque that had the king’s name on it so his name was shown when the plaque fell off.

The Architecture The Architecture was done by the architect, Sostratus. It took about 33 years to complete. It was built in 3 sections: The Top: The top was a circular section. In this section, there is a mirror and a fire pit. This is so it reflects the fire light out into the ocean. The Middle: The middle section was shaped like an octagon. This section had up to 50 rooms. The Bottom: This section was a large rectangle. This section had a large spiral ramp. The section was 200 ft high and 100 square feet.

Destruction The lighthouse had severe damage when the first earthquake hit. The next two made the damage even worse. After these earthquakes an Arab traveler reported, Ibn Battut, that he could not even enter the area, because it was so badly damaged. This picture to the right shows a scuba diver finding an artifact from the lighthouse in the Mediterranean Sea.

Timeline 280 to 247 BC - the lighthouse was constructed 956 - An earthquake occurred and the lighthouse was damaged 1303 - Another earthquake 1323 - An earthquake that left the lighthouse in ruins 1480 - Most of the ruins fell into the Mediterranean Sea 1978 - An attempt to rebuild the lighthouse but the plans failed 2008 - There was discussion of reconstruction of the lighthouse

Sources: http://www.personal.psu.edu/atv5011/group8proj/lighthouse3.gif http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lighthouse_of_Alexandria http://www.nekhebet.com/w_lighthouse.html http://voices.yahoo.com/the-lighthouse-alexandria-6958526.html http://films.louvre.fr/en/the-films/civilization-and-archaeology/egypt/the-lighthouse-of-alexandria-the-seventh-wonder-of-the-world.html http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2e/AlexandriaMap1.jpg/250px-AlexandriaMap1.jpg