Soon after Alexander the Great conquered Egypt he laid out a new city on the delta of the Nile. He named the city Alexandria after himself. Before long Alexandria was one of the most important and beautiful cities in the world. It was a great trading centre. In Alexandria, so an ancient saying went, you could get anything except snow.

Alexandria was also a centre of learning. Ptolemy I, who followed Alexander as the ruler of Egypt, founded a library there. This library became the most famous of ancient times. At one time it had about 700,000 books in it. These books were not like the books of today. Instead, they were roll books — long strips of papyrus rolled around rods. They were all written by hand, for printing had not yet been invented.

A great lighthouse helped to make Alexandria famous. It was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

During the centuries Alexandria became a part of one empire after another. Its great library was destroyed by the city's conquerors. Its famous lighthouse fell during an earthquake. Mud washed into Alexandria's harbour and almost ruined it. By the end of the 18th century the city had lost much of its importance.

Things changed early in the 1800s. The harbour was dredged and a canal was dug to the Nile. Alexandria became a great port again. It is a great port today — a city of over 1,500,000 people.

Sean Townes

Copyrighted material; do not reprint without permission.

 

View all articles by Sean Townes