Only one of the seven wonders of the ancient world had a practical purpose - the Alexandria lighthouse. It performed several functions at once: it allowed ships to approach the harbor without any problems, and the observation post, located at the top of the unique structure, made it possible to follow the water spaces and notice the enemy in time.
Locals claimed that the light of the Alexandria lighthouse burned enemy ships even before they approached the coast, and if they managed to approach the coast, the statue of Poseidon, located on the dome of an amazing design, emitted a shrill warning cry.
Lighthouse of Alexandria: a short description for the report
The height of the old lighthouse was 140 meters - much higher than the surrounding buildings. In ancient times, buildings did not exceed three floors, and against their background, the Pharos lighthouse seemed huge. Moreover, at the time of the completion of construction, it turned out to be the tallest building of the ancient world and was such for an extremely long time.
The Lighthouse of Alexandria was built on the east coast of the small island of Pharos, located near Alexandria, the main seaport of Egypt, built by Alexander the Great in 332 BC. It is also known in history as the Pharos lighthouse.
It is one of the most famous wonders of the ancient world, along with the Colossus of Rhodes, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the gate of the goddess Ishtar.
The great commander chose the place for the construction of the city very carefully: he originally planned to build a port in this region, which would be an important trade center.
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It was extremely important that the Alexandria lighthouse was located at the intersection of both water and land routes of the three parts of the world - Africa, Europe and Asia. For the same reason, at least two harbors had to be built here: one for ships arriving from the Mediterranean Sea, and the other for those who sailed along the Nile.
Therefore Alexandria was not built in the Nile delta, but a little to the side, twenty miles to the south. When choosing a place for the city, Alexander took into account the location of future harbors, while he paid special attention to their strengthening and protection: it was very important to do everything so that the waters of the Nile did not clog them with sand and silt (especially for this, a dam was subsequently built connecting the continent with an island).
After the death of Alexander the Great (who, according to legend, was born on the day of the destruction of the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus), the city fell under the rule of Ptolemy I Soter - and as a result of skillful management it turned into a successful and prosperous port city, and the construction of one of the seven wonders of the world significantly increased its wealth …
Lighthouse of Alexandria on the island of Pharos: purpose
The Alexandria lighthouse made it possible for ships to sail into the port without any problems, successfully avoiding pitfalls, shoals and other obstacles of the bay. Thanks to this, after the construction of one of the seven wonders, the volume of trade of light increased dramatically.
The lighthouse also served as an additional reference point for sailors: the landscape of the Egyptian coast is quite diverse - mostly only lowlands and plains. Therefore, the signal lights in front of the entrance to the harbor were very useful.
A lower structure would have successfully coped with this role, so the engineers assigned another important function to the Alexandria lighthouse - the role of an observation post: the enemies usually attacked from the sea, since the country was well defended by the desert from the land side.
It was also necessary to establish such an observation post at the lighthouse because there were no natural hills near the city where this could be done.
Construction of the Alexandria lighthouse
Such a large-scale construction required huge resources. Moreover, not only financial and labor, but also intellectual. Ptolemy I solved this problem rather quickly. It was at that time that he conquered Syria, enslaved the Jews and took them to Egypt. Later he used some of them to build a lighthouse.
It was at this time (in 299 BC) that he entered into a truce with Demetrius Poliorketus, ruler of Macedonia (his father was Antigonus, the worst enemy of Ptolemy, who died in 301 BC).
Thus, a truce, a huge amount of labor and other favorable circumstances gave him the opportunity to start building a grandiose wonder of the world. Although the exact date for the start of construction work has not yet been determined, researchers are convinced that it happened sometime between 285/299. BC e.
The presence of a dam, built earlier and connecting the island with the continent, greatly facilitated the task.
The construction of the Alexandria lighthouse was entrusted to the master Sostratus of Cnidia. Ptolemy wished that only his name be inscribed on the building, indicating that it was he who created this magnificent wonder of the world.
But Sostratus was so proud of his work that he first engraved his name in stone. And then he put a very thick layer of plaster on it, on which he wrote the name of the Egyptian ruler. Over time, the plaster crumbled, and the world saw the signature of the architect.
What the Pharos lighthouse looked like
Exact information about how exactly one of the seven wonders of the world looked like has not been preserved, but some data is still available:
Pharos lighthouse
- on all sides it was surrounded by thick fortress walls, and in case of a siege, supplies of water and food were stored in its dungeons;
- The height of the ancient skyscraper ranged from 120 to 180 meters;
- The lighthouse was built in the form of a tower and had three floors;
- The walls of the ancient structure were lined with marble blocks and fastened with mortar with a small addition of lead.
- The foundation of the structure was almost square - 1.8 x 1.9 m, and granite or limestone was used as building material;
- The first floor of the Alexandria lighthouse had a height of about 60 m, while the length of the sides was about 30 m. Outwardly, it resembled a fortress or castle with towers installed at the corners. The roof of the first tier was flat, decorated with statues of Triton and served as the basis for the next floor. Here were located living quarters and utility rooms in which soldiers and workers lived, as well as various inventory was kept.
- The height of the second floor was 40 meters, it had an octagonal shape and was faced with marble slabs;
- The third tier had a cylindrical structure, decorated with statues acting as weather vane. Eight columns were installed here that supported the dome;
- On the dome, facing the sea, stood a bronze (according to other versions - gold) statue of Poseidon, whose height exceeded seven meters;
- Under Poseidon there was a platform on which a signal light burned, indicating the way to the harbor at night, while during the day its functions were performed by a huge column of smoke;
So that the fire could be seen from a great distance, a whole system of polished metal mirrors was installed near it, reflecting and amplifying the light of the fire. He, according to contemporaries, was visible even at a distance of 60 km;
There are several versions of how the fuel was lifted to the top of the lighthouse. The adherents of the first theory believe that a shaft was located between the second and third tiers, where a lifting mechanism was installed, with the help of which fuel for the fire was raised up.
As for the second, it implies that the site, on which the signal light was burning, could be accessed by a spiral staircase along the walls of the structure, and this staircase was so flat that loaded donkeys carrying fuel to the top of the lighthouse could easily climb up the building. …
Lighthouse of Alexandria: wreck
The Alexandria lighthouse has served since 283 BC. until the 15th century, when a fortress was erected instead. Thus, he survived more than one dynasty of Egyptian rulers, saw Roman legionaries. This did not particularly affect his fate: no matter who ruled Alexandria, everyone took care that the unique structure would stand as long as possible. They restored the parts of the building that had been destroyed due to frequent earthquakes, renovated the facade, which was negatively affected by wind and salty sea water.
Time has done its job: the lighthouse stopped working in 365, when one of the strongest earthquakes in the Mediterranean caused a tsunami that flooded part of the city, and the death toll of Egyptians, according to chroniclers, exceeded 50 thousand inhabitants.
After this event, the lighthouse significantly decreased in size, but it stood for quite a long time - until the XIV century, until the next strongest earthquake wiped it off the face of the earth (a hundred years later, the Sultan Kait-bey built a fortress on its foundation, which can be seen and these days). After that, the pyramids in Giza remained the only ancient wonder of the world that has survived to this day.
In the mid-90s. The remains of the Alexandria lighthouse were discovered at the bottom of the bay using a satellite, and after a while, scientists, using computer modeling, were able to more or less restore the image of the unique structure.