Casting new light on an Ancient Wonder of the World

It was a beacon of hope. A landmark to knowledge. A monument to human ingenuity*. Now the secrets of one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World*, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, are being brought to the surface.

Egypt was a powerhouse of the known world’s economy.

Its grain fed the distant metropolises of Rome and Constantinople* and its gold filled the coffers* of their empires.

This prosperity made the port city of Alexandria one of the busiest and most important in the classical world.

The ships and cargoes that passed through its piers were immensely valuable and politically sensitive.

Keeping them safe kept Egypt safe, so the nation that built the Great Pyramid more than 2000 years earlier embarked on another enormous engineering project: The Pharos (Lighthouse).

It was completed in the 3rd Century BC and stood 100m tall and lit the way for commerce for more than 1600 years.

But a series of earthquakes, one in 956AD and again in 1303, damaged the famous structure. Then, in 1323, another quake sent the massive edifice* tumbling into the sea.

The beloved beacon was never forgotten but much of its history has passed into myth?

What did it look like? How was it built? How was its prominent flame fuelled?

Today, Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities* is determined to answer these questions and others.

To date, the PHAROS project has recovered 22 granite and limestone blocks from the harbour floor, along with fragments of enormous doorways, paving stones and ornamental embellishments*.

REBUILDING THE PAST
Jewish historian Josephus wrote during the first century AD that the Pharos “affords the sight of a fire to such as sail within three hundred furlongs* of it, that ships may cast anchor a great way off in the night time, by reason of the difficulty of sailing nearer.”

So far, such ancient descriptions ring true.

The lighthouse was described as a multi-tiered structure with a walled fort enclosing a broad square base, tapering to an octagonal midsection and cylindrical beacon on top.

The flame (we still don’t know if it was fuelled by wood or oil) was reflected off polished bronze or copper and could be seen up to 50km away.

The recovery of the monumental stone blocks is just the most recent development in more than a century of research.

Its location was confirmed in 1916: the imposing Citadel* of Qaitbay had been built overlooking Alexandria in 1477 using some of its structural stone.

In 1994, divers filmed the surrounding seabed, revealing a vast debris* plain of statues, columns and stone blocks.

The new effort seeks to identify the lighthouse’s components, map each piece with 3D photogrammetry*, then digitally reconstruct the structure like a giant jigsaw puzzle.

More than 5000 blocks have been scanned over the past decade.

The French-led team of researchers recently recovered the 22 stone blocks, some weighing up to 80 tonnes, for engineering analysis.

These blocks are being compared to original images of the lighthouse, found on coins and mosaics and to the vivid descriptions by ancient travellers.

The goal is to reverse-engineer the structure to determine how it was built and how successive earthquakes and tsunamis brought it down.

ILLUMINATING HISTORY
The harbour city was founded by the Macedonian king Alexander the Great, who added Egypt to his list of conquests in 332BC. It quickly became the Hellenistic* capital of the self-declared Greek Pharaoh Ptolemy I Soter, one of Alexander’s generals.

The Lighthouse was built later, under the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus.

The circular port has proven to be a treasure trove for archaeologists*. Temples, suburbs, ships and statues have all sunk into its waters over the centuries.

The religious and festival district of Canopus last year surrendered a glittering quartz sphinx bearing inscriptions by Pharaoh Ramses II and a stark white marble statue of a Roman nobleman. Temple columns and fragments of bronze adornments were also recovered.

Other finds include an ancient oligarch’s* luxury “yacht”.

The results of a survey of this wreck were released in December.

Some timbers from the 2000-year-old wreck survived and the 35m by 7m ship they revealed matched descriptions of Egyptian pleasure barges used to fete* nobles, military commanders and entrepreneurs* in the glittering harbour under the lighthouse’s powerful flame.

There they would “dance without restraint”. Or, at least, that’s what the Greek historian Strabo heard, back in the day.

The boat was built specifically to cope with partygoers dancing about its deck. It had a flat, broad hull to reduce how much it rocked. But that also limited it to cruising the harbour’s calm waters.

Archaeologists concluded that an earthquake also brought about the party boat’s end. It was likely swamped by waves about 50AD, when the nearby Temple of Isis collapsed.

POLL

GLOSSARY

• ingenuity: the skill of thinking, performing, or using things in new ways, especially to solve problems
• Seven Wonders of the Ancient World: seven structures were deemed hallowed examples of the contributions of ancient Mediterranean and Middle Eastern civilisations
• Constantinople: the former name for Istanbul, a city that was the capital of Türkiye until 1923
• antiquities: objects, relics and buildings from ancient times
• edifice: a large building, especially an impressive one a large
• furlongs: A furlong is a unit of length that is equal to 201.2m
• Citadel: a castle that is part of a city, where people can shelter from danger if the city is attacked
• debris: pieces from something that has been destroyed or pieces of rubbish or unwanted material that are spread around
• archaeologists: someone who studies the buildings, graves, tools, and other objects of people who lived in the past
• photogrammetry: the process of making measurements from photographs, used especially in the construction of maps from aerial photographs and also in military intelligence, medical and industrial research
• coffers: a chest, especially for storing valuables, also refers more generally to a store of money
• Hellenistic: of or relating to the history, art, etc. of Ancient Greece and other countries of the Eastern Mediterranean, especially during the 4th to the 1st century BC
• oligarch: member of the aristocracy or ruling class, someone extremely rich and powerful
• fete: to pay high honour to someone
• entrepreneurs: people who attempt to make a profit by starting a company or by operating alone in the business world, especially. when it involves taking risks

EXTRA READING

Mystery of ancient tomb solved

King Tut items in grand new home

Tech unwraps mummified mystery

QUICK QUIZ

1. What years were the earthquakes that sealed the fate of the lighthouse?
2. How many blocks has the French research team recovered so far?
3. Who founded Alexandria?
4. Under whose reign was the lighthouse built?
5. What were Egyptian pleasure barges used for?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Which ones scramble your brain?
What do you think is the most important piece of evidence that we have about the lighthouse? Write a paragraph explaining why you chose it.

Time: allowed at least 20 minutes for this activity
Curriculum Links: English, History

2. Extension
What specific evidence do you think archaeologists would need to find to decide how the lighthouse flame was fuelled? List at least three items or types of items that would need to be found. Next to each item, write sentences explaining what it could reveal.

Time: allow at least 25 minutes for this activity
Curriculum Links: English, History

VCOP ACTIVITY
Adjectives
An adjective is a describing word. They are often found describing a noun. Start by looking at the words before the nouns.

Search for all the adjectives you can find in the article.

Did you find any repeat adjectives or are they all different?

Extension:
Pick three of your favourite adjectives from the text and put them in your own sentences to show other ways to use them.

Have you used any in your writing?