Alexandria City

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Alexandria city
Location 31.1 N - 29.6 E
Along the coast of the Mediterranean sea in north Egypt
Nome3rd nome of Lower Egypt West - the 3rd nome of Lower Egypt
Local deitySerapis
Ancient nameThe village of Rhakotis
Historical Development 1- Alexandria was built by the Greek architect Dinocrates (332-331 BC), at the orders of Alexander the Great
2- The city flourished as the the greatest center of Hellenistic civilization, a prominent cultural and economic metropolis.
3- Alexandria formally became part of the Roman Empire in 30 B.C. It was the greatest of the Roman provincial capitals, with a population of about 300,000 inhabitants.
4- In A.D. 391, Theodosius I had pagan temples and other structures razed.
5- In the later centuries of Roman rule and under the Byzantine Empire, Alexandria rivaled Rome and Constantinople as a center of Christian learning, and became the seat of a patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church
6- When the Arabs took Alexandria in 642, its prosperity had withered, largely because of a decline in shipping.
7- In 969 the capital of Egypt was moved to Cairo, and Alexandria's decline continued, accelerating in the 14th century, when the canal to the Nile silted up.
Monuments a) Bibliotheca Alexandrina -The celebrated royal library contained a collection of 700,000 rolls.
b) The Pharos Lighthouse - The tallest building on Earth, ensured a safe return to harbor for sailors

Page last updated: 15 Feb 2008
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