18/10/2024
Nothing primitive about us this is genius!
According to Strabo,* "a large mirror was elevated on the summit of the temple of the sun at Heliopolis, to reflect into that temple the full splendour of its meridian beam, whilst another of still larger dimensions was placed on the Pharos at Alexandria, in such a manner as to reflect ships approaching Egypt at a great distance, and imperceptible to the eye. " 🤩
This description of the 'Pharos' meaning Lighthouse, at Alexandria,
comes from Arab traveller 'Abou el-Balawi el-Andaloussi, who visited Alexandria in 1166.
'The inner ramp, roofed with masonry at 7 shibr (189 cm, 6.2 ft), so as to allow two horsemen to pass at once. In clockwise rotation, the ramp held four storeys with eighteen, fourteen, and seventeen rooms on the second, third, and fourth floors, respectively.'
Nothing now remains of this epic feature from ancient history but I highly suspect the 'Ras El Tin Palace' now standing in the exact same spot, was built using its 'ingredients' 'Ras El Tin' (so named after the acres of fig trees which grow in its gardens) is the oldest royal Egyptian palace still in use.
A team of French archaeologists led by Jean-Yves Empereur re-discovered the physical remains of the lighthouse in late 1994 on the floor of Alexandria's Eastern Harbour. He worked with cinematographer Asma el-Bakri who used a 35 mm camera to take the first underwater pictures of the scattered remains of collapsed columns and statues. Empereur's most significant findings consisted of blocks of granite 49–60 tonnes in mass often broken into multiple pieces, 30 sphinxes, 5 obelisks and columns with carvings dating back to Ramses II (1279–1213 BC).
