Alexandria

Alexander the Great conquered Egypt in 332 BC and immediately set about founding a great new city named in his honor - Alexandria - at the mouth of the River Nile in 332BC. The coastal city was designed to handle Mediterranean shipping between Greece, which was the center of Alexander's empire, and his new Egyptian province.

The world's first state-funded scientific institution was founded in 330 BC in Alexandria by Ptolemy I. It comprised a library, teaching facilities, and a museum. The Library, which was further expanded by Ptolemy II was once the largest library in the world. At one time it contained up to 700,000 scrolls but parts of the collection, were destroyed by fire and in 642 AD the remainder were destroyed by Arab invaders.

Soon after the city was founded, the population, consisting chiefly of Greeks, Jews, and Egyptians, numbered 300,000 free citizens, exclusive of slaves and strangers.

In 305 BC, Ptolemy declared himself Pharaoh as Ptolemy I Soter ("Savior") and moved his capital to Alexandria.

A lighthouse, which was a tower built between 280 and 247 BC on the island of Pharos at Alexandria was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. With a height variously estimated at somewhere in-between 393 and 450 ft, it was for many centuries among the tallest man made structures on Earth.

The ancient city was about 6.4 km (about 4 mi) long, and regularly built, with streets crossing at right angles and colonnades adorning the principal streets.

By Philg883

The first college of technology was founded in Alexandria in 105 BC.

The Battle of Alexandria was fought on July 31, 30 BC between the forces of Octavian (later known as Augustus) and Mark Antony during the Final War of the Roman Republic. Though Antony managed to narrowly defeat the Roman forces, he was plagued by desertions and the following day. Octavian launched a second, ultimately successful, invasion of Egypt. He entered Alexandria on August 1, 30 bringing it under the control of the Roman Republic. Antony committed suicide following the desertion of his fleet, as did Egypt's last Pharaoh, Cleopatra nine days after the battle.

The North East quarter of Alexandria was occupied by the Jews. In Alexandria the Jews came into contact with Greek learning, which profoundly influenced the later religious thought of the world; here the Greek translation of the Old Testament, called the Septuagint, was made before 10 AD. Later philosophers attempted to fuse the doctrines of Christianity with the ideals of Greek philosophy.

In 215 the Roman emperor Caracalla ordered a massacre of the prominent citizens of Alexandria. Caracalla, who had succeeded his father, Septimius Severus, to the throne, was deeply offended by a satirical play performed in Alexandria that mocked his legitimacy. The play, which was likely performed during the festival of Anthesteria, made fun of Caracalla's physical appearance, his mother's Syrian origins, and his usurpation of his brother Geta's power.

Incensed by the insult, Caracalla sent his troops to Alexandria. The city was subjected to a brutal siege, and when it finally fell, Caracalla ordered a massacre of the city's inhabitants. Many prominent citizens, including scholars, philosophers, and artists, were killed. The city's libraries and temples were also plundered.

The destruction of Alexandria was a major cultural loss for the Roman Empire. The city had been a center of learning and commerce for centuries, and its destruction had a devastating impact on the intellectual and economic life of the empire.

A tsunami devastated Alexandria on July 21, 365 AD. The tsunami was caused by the Crete earthquake estimated to be 8.0 on the Richter scale. Five thousand people perished in Alexandria, and 45,000 more died outside the city.

Side view of The Temple of Taposiris Magna. By Aymantarek24 -  Wikipedia

The Muslims, under the general Amr ibn-al-As (c. 594–663), besieged, captured, and almost destroyed Alexandria in 641. A new Egyptian capital was founded at Fustat (later absorbed into Cairo).

Under Muslim rule the city declined, particularly after the rise of Cairo after about 968 and the opening of the sea route to India in the 15th century.

The modern city of Alexandria is situated mainly on a peninsula about the mole, reaching to and including the island of Pharos, and on the portion of the mainland immediately South of the East harbor.

The current library at Alexandria has a recorded memory of the all the web pages on every website on the Internet since it started in 1996.

With a population of 5.2 million (2018), Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt and the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast.