Bright Lights, Big City

At first glance, “Alexandria Rediscovered” may seem to be just another large, expensive book that looks as if it ought to sit on your coffee table to demonstrate that you have an interest in archeology or have visited the Egyptian city of Alexandria. But I assure you: It is not a coffeetable book.

It is a revelation filled with fascinating insights into an ancient civilization, whether you know Nineveh from Tyre and even if the only thing you remember about Alexandria is that Lawrence Durrell wrote four books about it. Jean-Yves Empereur is the director of France’s National Center for Scientific Research and director of the Center for Alexandrian Studies. He has been engaged in archeological work in Alexandria for 25 years. His experiences and skill have qualified him to write this amazing book, in which on almost every page there is a statement that is astonishing or a photograph that takes your breath away.

Let’s see. . . . What do we know about Alexandria? It is in Egypt, of course, at the Nile delta. (In case you haven’t got your atlas open, that puts it in the Eastern Mediterranean.) It was named of course for Alexander the Great. Did he build the city and name it for himself? Yes, he did. When? Around 332 BC. And wasn’t there something about a lighthouse? Well, yes, and it wasn’t merely a lighthouse but the Pharos of Alexandria, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Its construction began in 295 BC and was completed a dozen years later. It is said to have been more than 1,000 feet high and may have been illuminated by fires at the base that were reflected out to sea by mirrors at the top. It served to light the way to Alexandria until the 14th century, when it was destroyed by successive earthquakes. (Of the Seven Wonders, only the Great Pyramid at Giza, the oldest of them all, survives.) The Pharos was built on a huge artificial breakwater that defined and protected the east harbor of Alexandria. Along with massive architectural elements, huge statues and even other obelisks, it collapsed into the sea. It was not until late in this century that these fractured treasures were discovered and not until 1994 that Empereur began his investigations. I would like to tell you all about the lighthouse and the underwater archeological research devoted to it, but it’s better to read Empereur’s account.

The city of Alexandria is now a crowded metropolis of some 3 million people and Egypt’s leading seaport. After Alexander founded it, however, it served as the capital of the Egyptian rulers and became the largest city of the Mediterranean basin and the home of two of the most celebrated libraries in antiquity. Julius Caesar briefly occupied the city in 47 BC, after the suicide of Antony and Cleopatra, and by 30 BC it was the greatest of the Roman provincial capitals. When Ptolemy I desired to create a harmonious relationship between the native Egyptians and the Greeks, he was encouraged to come to Alexandria; he invented a religion based upon the god Serapis and built a temple in Alexandria known as the Serapeion. The temple is long gone, but towering high above its remains is the so-called “Pompey’s Pillar,” a 98-foot-tall column crowned by a large floral capital. The column--which still stands--was originally topped by a carved stone statue of Diocletian, now gone. During the 19th century, it was considered a sport to climb the column, accomplished by attaching a rope ladder to a kite and flying it to the top.

Another temple, the Caesareum, was started by Cleopatra and completed by Octavian, who dedicated it to himself. He took to Alexandria four obelisks that had been erected 14 centuries earlier by Pharaoh Thutmosis III at Heliopolis (a city, now in ruins, south of Cairo) and raised them at the temple. The temple is gone, but the obelisks still exist: One is in Istanbul; another is in St. Peter’s Square in Rome; and the two known as “Cleopatra’s Needles” are in London (at the Victoria Embankment on the north side of the Thames) and in New York’s Central Park.

I have never seen a book that is so beautifully produced and contains such a wealth of remarkable material. The photographs by Stephane Compoint alone are worth the price, especially the shots of underwater archeologists at work. For lack of space, I have not touched on the massive stone statues raised from the bottom of the Mediterranean, the cisterns, the catacombs, the wall paintings and the necropolis.

Empereur ends “Alexandria Rediscovered” with a chapter entitled “Regrets and Hopes.” He regrets that he has not been able to examine the submerged wrecks of Greek and Roman ships that sank off Alexandria. He regrets the “wearisome” obstructions raised by the Egyptian government and the hostility of developers who would trample and bury the archeological riches of the city. He hopes that he and his team will be allowed to continue their work. I myself regret that not everyone can see this lovely and intriguing book, but I hope that I have managed to communicate something of its extraordinary nature.