Thursday, December 24, 2020

Alexandria

Alexandria is a city in Egypt that is northwest of Cairo, along the Mediterranean coast. The city is not as big as Cairo, but is much older. Alexandria is today Egypt's major port, but is not on the Suez Canal. It was founded by Alexander, the Greek conqueror, in 331 B.C., and was the capital of Egypt for nearly a thousand years, and one of the greatest cities of the ancient world. Alexander never returned to Egypt after founding the city. In a way Alexandria took the place of the ancient port of Tyre, on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, which Alexander had conquered and destroyed.

Alexandria has been the natural window on the world for Egypt, and has been an important city to the world ever since it was founded. It was one of the early centers of Christianity. In the Hellenistic era, which followed it's founding, Alexandria probably surpassed even Athens as a center of Greek civilization. It was not an entirely new city, but absorbed the Egyptian town of Rhakotis, which was already in the location. this town became the "Egyptian Quarter" of the city when it attracted migrants from all over. Unlike Cairo, there are no pyramids in Alexandria.

The city of Alexandria changed the dynamic of Egypt, making it less a part of Africa and more Mediterranean. Moslems would later move the cultural center back to the south, by founding Cairo more than a thousand years later, but not as far south as it had been in ancient Egypt.

After the breakup of Alexander's vast empire into several pieces, a general named Ptolemy founded a dynasty that would last for about three hundred years, and ruled Egypt from Alexandria. The Ptolemies claimed to be Egyptian pharaohs, but continued speaking Greek. The last queen, the legendary Cleopatra VII, claimed to be a reincarnation of the Egyptian god Isis. She was born and died in Alexandria.

Alexandria was a great intellectual center and was known for it's outstanding library. The location of the library isn't exactly known today. The city had a thriving Jewish community during the Hellenistic era. As their children began to forget how to speak Hebrew, the community had the Jewish scriptures translated into Greek. The translation was known as the Septuagint, because seventy scholars worked on it, and would become the basis for the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.

Alexandria was laid out around two main streets that met near Alexander's tomb. He died in Babylon, but was finally buried by Ptolemy in Alexandria. However, the location of the tomb is now not known. Some areas sank into the water, due to earthquake activity, and quite a bit of underwater archeology has taken place there.

The island of Pharos was joined to the mainland. There was a great lighthouse in Alexandria, that was one of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World. It was about 137 meters high, but was damaged in earthquakes and the remaining stones were used to build the Citadel of Qaitbay on the site. This is what the lighthouse is believed to have looked like.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lighthouse_of_Alexandria#/media/File:PHAROS2006.jpg

This is Pompey's Pillar, which has stood in Alexandria since Roman times, although it was built much later than the time of Pompey. It is in the form of an ancient Egyptian obelisk, but is in the style of a column.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompey%27s_Pillar_(column)#/media/File:Alex_Sawary.jpg

There are vast underground catacombs in Alexandria, dating from the Middle Ages, which were accidentally discovered in the Twentieth Century.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catacombs_of_Kom_El_Shoqafa#/media/File:113KOM_EL_SHOQAFA_CATACOMBS.jpg

After the times of the Ptolemies and then the Romans, Alexandria was ruled, over it's long history, by the usual parade of conquerors in this part of the world, the Sassanids, the Byzantines, the Fatimid Caliphate, the Mamluks, and then the Ottomans. Rosetta was a nearby medieval city, somewhat of a rival to Alexandria, that was a commercial center during Mamluk and Ottoman rule.

The Qaitbay Citadel was founded in 1477, by the Mamluks on the site of the former lighthouse, and some of the remaining stones of the lighthouse were used in construction of the Citadel. It was later restored by the Muhammad Ali Pasha Dynasty, which began when an Albanian Ottoman officer named Muhammad Ali established independent rule of Egypt, that was recognized by the Ottomans.

Here are some views of the Citadel of Qaitbay, and the surrounding area. The island, later joined to the mainland, on which first the lighthouse and then the Citadel of Qaitbay was built, is very reminiscent of the offshore island on which Tyre had been built, and which Alexander reached and conquered by filling in with rubble. this citadel in Alexandria is, of course, reminiscent of the citadel in Cairo, where the main structure is the Mosque of Muhammad Ali Pasha.

There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >. After clicking the up arrow you can then hide previews of successive scenes, if you wish.

https://www.google.com/maps/@31.2137144,29.8856402,3a,75y,350.93h,93.1t,-5.4r/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s39oiLytxkk6L92GY8XBpIw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D39oiLytxkk6L92GY8XBpIw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D76.00648%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Here is an area in Alexandria with ancient ruins, from the Greek and Roman era, but not going back to ancient Egypt.

https://www.google.com/maps/@31.1971224,29.9036879,3a,75y,181h,88t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipM8gkgV8TxopGNll1o8NUtVPdlUTJ_XUQzPq2Vx!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipM8gkgV8TxopGNll1o8NUtVPdlUTJ_XUQzPq2Vx%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-2.9338646-ya333.1-ro-0-fo100!7i5146!8i2572

This is the central area of Alexandria.

https://www.google.com/maps/@31.2007319,29.9095781,3a,75y,277h,83t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipO0OjG1pu5b0AiulHFpajcecSvk3JoaFyHk6bZe!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipO0OjG1pu5b0AiulHFpajcecSvk3JoaFyHk6bZe%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-7-ya27.499979-ro-0-fo100!7i6000!8i3000

Here are some scenes east of downtown in the city.

https://www.google.com/maps/@31.2072121,29.9226943,3a,75y,220h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMCJCkD8N-tT9CMeQpNM8RIffhV2jVhIcyILo4!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMCJCkD8N-tT9CMeQpNM8RIffhV2jVhIcyILo4%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi1.079058-ya67.01746-ro2.6109712-fo100!7i5760!8i2880

This is around the Green Plaza Mall.

https://www.google.com/maps/@31.206592,29.965447,3a,75y,81.06h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-LpD_QzKtxPc%2FVXoPclRm8xI%2FAAAAAAAAHLo%2Fbl4S1UVUvi0hRY5vgEPYuSkKQX9MmmBOACJkC!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh6.googleusercontent.com%2F-LpD_QzKtxPc%2FVXoPclRm8xI%2FAAAAAAAAHLo%2Fbl4S1UVUvi0hRY5vgEPYuSkKQX9MmmBOACJkC%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi0-ya80.85692-ro0-fo100%2F!7i13700!8i6850

The Ottomans ruled Egypt from 1517-1798. Napoleon then ruled Egypt, which was what brought ancient Egypt into the world's consciousness, many artifacts to the Louvre and, one of the obelisks known as "Cleopatra's Needles", although they far pre-dated her time, and were not from the Alexandria area, to where it remains today in the center of Place Concorde in Paris.

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3879/3734/1600/dc_250926.jpg

Another of the three "Cleopatra's Needles" is on the side of the Thames River, in London, the other is in New York's Central Park.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleopatra%27s_Needle#/media/File:Cleopatra.needle.arp.400pix.jpg

Alexandria was really revived, and moved back as being more prominent than Rosetta, by the Muhammad Ali Dynasty's construction of the Mahmoudiyah Canal. from the Nile River to Alexandria.

Has anyone ever noticed a historical pattern in Egypt? Alexander conquered Egypt, in 332 B.C., and one of his generals, Ptolemy Soter, established a ruling dynasty after the death of Alexander. The Ottomans conquered Egypt in 1517, and an Ottoman general, Muhammad Ali, established a ruling dynasty after Ottoman rule had temporarily been interrupted by Napoleon? These two events, more than 2100 years apart, follow exactly the same historical pattern. In fact, the length of time that the Muhammad Ali Dynasty ruled Egypt in modern times is just about identical to the length of time that the Hyksos ruled Egypt in ancient times.

There are a number of palaces today in Alexandria. The Montaza Palace was built in 1892. Anwar Sadat, former president of Egypt who was assassinated in 1981 for trying to make peace with Israel, lived there.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montaza_Palace#/media/File:Side_view_of_the_montaza_palace_..JPG

The Ras El Tin Palace was the Royal Palace of the Muhammad Ali Dynasty, built in 1847. King Farouk, the last of the dynasty, signed the abdication here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ras_El_Tin_Palace#/media/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_102-12200,_Alexandria,_Ras-El-Tine-Palast.jpg

The following scenes are in the area where there are two palaces.

https://www.google.com/maps/@31.2874379,30.0204996,3a,75y,314h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-mURgaQp-nyA%2FV2BHdYtO-LI%2FAAAAAAAABgw%2Fv9lDivPsDF8BdYubMIxKRg_LWEWGMRWuwCJkC!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh4.googleusercontent.com%2F-mURgaQp-nyA%2FV2BHdYtO-LI%2FAAAAAAAABgw%2Fv9lDivPsDF8BdYubMIxKRg_LWEWGMRWuwCJkC%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-2.9999962-ya317.5-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i10240!8i5120

Gamal Nasser, an army officer who overthrew and replaced King Farouk in 1952, was reenacting the expulsion of the Hyksos from ancient Egypt. The Muhammad Ali Dynasty was a foreign, Ottoman, dynasty that ruled Egypt until expelled in a way that was like a mirror of the Hyksos. Many European ex-pats enjoyed living in Alexandria, which is just across the Mediterranean from Europe. Rudolf Hess, who would become the Nazi third in command, was actually born in Alexandria. But that changed when Nasser's nationalization policies were announced.

Alexandria is also known for, of course, the beach. It was so reminiscent of Miami Beach that a section of beach has been named after it.

https://www.google.com/maps/@31.2699122,29.9895762,3a,75y,60h,110t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOq3I0ZyFcwfPCMlHBPzDHlyq14MtO1_06-qSE!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOq3I0ZyFcwfPCMlHBPzDHlyq14MtO1_06-qSE%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-16.930164-ya332.7301-ro-4.5365505-fo100!7i5760!8i2880 

This is some more of the city near the beach.

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