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Alexandria, the City of All Paradoxes

A Crossroads of Civilizations

Founded by Alexander the Great in 331 BC, Alexandria embodies a unique blend of cultures that have shaped its history and urban landscape. This Egyptian city, where Greek, Roman, and Egyptian heritages intersect, perfectly illustrates the concept of historical and cultural paradoxes. Established by a Greek dynasty that embraced Pharaonic traditions, Alexandria distinguished itself not only as a center of power but also as a beacon of knowledge and culture in antiquity.

A City of Lost Monuments

Few cities in the world can boast of having been the site of globally recognized wonders only to lose almost all traces of them. The Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world, and the famed Library of Alexandria, which gathered the knowledge of the ancient world, are today merely legends recorded in history books, with no concrete remnants to testify to their past splendor. This ephemeral nature of the monuments illustrates one of the great paradoxes of the city: despite its historical richness, few of its ancient treasures survive today.

Misleading Names

One of the most striking examples of Alexandria's paradoxical history is Pompey's Pillar. Erected to honor Diocletian, this nearly 90-foot tall granite column has, in fact, no direct connection to the Roman general Pompey. Similarly, the Serapeum of Alexandria, originally a temple dedicated to the god Serapis—a blend of Egyptian and Hellenistic deities—reflects the city’s ability to create new cultural entities while drawing on ancient traditions.

A Cultural and Religious Mosaic

Modern Alexandria continues to reflect this cultural mosaic. The Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa, a Roman funeral complex, showcase a blend of Egyptian, Greek, and Roman artistic motifs, symbolizing the coexistence of various influences that have swept through the city. The Citadel of Qaitbay, built in the 15th century on the supposed site of the Lighthouse of Alexandria, is another example of the historical periods' overlay that characterizes the urban landscape.

Alexandria Today

Today, Alexandria presents itself as a vibrant city, rich with its past but looking towards the future. The juxtaposition of modern urban areas with historical sites creates a unique environment where the past and present coexist. Visitors to Alexandria are invited to explore these sites, to imagine the past splendor, and to reflect on how cultures overlap and evolve.

Conclusion

Thus, Alexandria remains a fascinating place, testifying to human capacity to create, destroy, and remember. This city, where history is read in superimposed layers of successive civilizations, continues to captivate historians, archaeologists, and tourists. The paradox of Alexandria, with its lost monuments and rich history full of twists, makes it not only a valuable subject of study but also a prime destination for those seeking to understand the complexity of human history.

about the place, Alexandria

Alexandria, located on Egypt's Mediterranean coast, is the country's second-largest city. Founded in 331 BCE by Alexander the Great, it quickly became a major center of culture and learning in the ancient world. Famous for its Great Library, once the largest in the world, and its Lighthouse, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, Alexandria was a hub of commerce and intellect. Although many of its ancient monuments have disappeared, the city still holds a rich heritage with landmarks such as Pompey's Pillar and the Catacombs of Kom el-Shoqafa. Today, Alexandria remains a meeting point between ancient history and modernity, with a cosmopolitan atmosphere and vibrant maritime culture.

Spoken comments in the film: 

Alexandria is arguably the most paradoxical city in human history, a city where a rich cultural past starkly contrasts with what has survived to our time. At the heart of this historic city stands Pompey's Column, not as a marker of the emperor's tomb as the Crusaders en route to Jerusalem once believed, but commemorating the suppression of a revolt against Roman authority, then led by Diocletian. This column has long been the only monument evoking the rich history of the city at this location. It was not until 1945 that the discovery of the first remains revealed the presence of one of the most prestigious temples of the era when the Greeks of the Ptolemaic dynasty wielded pharaonic power in Egypt, the Serapeum dedicated to the syncretic god Serapis, a fusion of the Apis bull and Greek deities. This temple was connected by a secret passage to a vast network of knowledge, embodied by the legendary Library of Alexandria, of which nothing remains today, likely a victim of successive earthquakes that led to its destruction, sharing the fate of that ancient world wonder, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, described by Herodotus.

Pompey's Column, standing 27 meters tall, is carved from red granite from Aswan and was erected around 297 in honor of Emperor Diocletian. At its base lies a cartouche of Ramses II, likely reused from an earlier monument. This intriguing detail links Pharaonic Egypt to Roman grandeur, bearing witness to the site’s rich history.

The Serapeum, once a majestic temple and a symbol of religious tolerance, struggles to attract the attention of visitors, overshadowed by the Pompey's Pillar erected above it, despite the sphinxes that flank it.

This staircase, which seems to lead to a basement, is actually a nilometer—an architectural device used to measure the Nile's water levels through a one-kilometer channel connecting it to the river. The accurate measurement of the river's height was crucial as it directly influenced the taxes levied on the Egyptians. Located within the Serapeum, the nilometer underscores the temple's role in tax collection, highlighting the Greco-Egyptian syncretism characteristic of the Ptolemaic era.

This fort, known as the Qaitbay Citadel, was built in the late 15th century on the exact site where the famous Lighthouse of Alexandria once stood, destroyed by a series of earthquakes between 956 and 1323. The citadel was partially constructed using stones from the old lighthouse. Significant remnants of this ancient world wonder remain underwater. Perhaps one day, an underwater museum will allow these preserved ruins to be viewed in their natural environment.

The Library of Alexandria, once the largest in the world, has left no trace, neither of its buildings nor its collections. A construction project to create a grand library, continuing the ambition of the one gradually destroyed between the siege of the city by Julius Caesar and Theodosius' edict in 391 AD, culminated in 2002 with this modern version of the ancient temple of knowledge.

It was here, around 1900, that a donkey fell into a well. This incident led to the rediscovery of one of Alexandria's marvels, the catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa. Originally designed as a private tomb for a wealthy family from Alexandria, at a time when the city was a cultural crossroads blending Egyptian, Greek, and Roman influences, the site gradually expanded into a vast underground necropolis. It would go on to be used for nearly three centuries at the beginning of our era.

The Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa are one of the most remarkable examples of underground funerary architecture from the Greco-Roman period in Egypt, distinguished particularly by their unique architectural design centered around a large well. This well, the central element of the complex, was used to lower the deceased into the depths of the earth, thus facilitating their transport to their final resting place. This method not only allowed for a respectful funeral ritual but also effective preservation of the bodies in the multiple chambers and galleries that extend around the central well. These subterranean structures, carved into the rock, reflect a blend of Egyptian, Greek, and Roman influences, illustrating the cultural integration of the city of Alexandria in antiquity.