"Alex"

Cue (NZERS), Issue 33, 15 October 1945, Page 36

"Alex"

TTfHEN the sights and attractions of Yr Cairo begin to pall most New Zealand soldiers seek a short leave in Alexandriaalways known to them as ”Alcx”, Compared with other places in Egypt, Alexandria is neat and clean.It has many smart shops, excellent cafes and restaurants and some good service institutions. Alexandria’s origin was Grecian. Its architectural appearance today is Italian. Founded in 332 B.C. by Alexander the Great, it has contributed many passages to history but little trace of history remains. Ptolemy, Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, Augustus, and Caracalla figured there when it was the second city in the world. But no one tries to show visitors where Cleopatra died. No one appears to care that Venetian merchants carried the bones of St. Mark away from the city. The present inhabitants cherish no memories of the past. Their ruling interest lies in trade and commerce. Alexandria, the modern commercial city, stands oh the site of the ancient one but has preserved few signs of its former greatness. • When Alexander decided to found his new city, there was already a small fishing and pirate village called Rhacotis on the site. Alexander saw that within the shelter of the island’ of Pharos he could construct a good harbour which would be of great use as a naval base for his designs on Persia. He commissioned Democrates to plan

a town on the mainland to be the principal Greek centre in Egypt and a link between 'Macedonia and the Nile valley. Although Alexander died before it was completed the city grew rapidly and within a century had become the greatest centre of population on the North African coast. Not only was it a great Greek city; it was also the largest Jewish centre in the world. It was there that the Septuagint, the translation of the Old Testament into Greek, was written. The early Ptolemies fostered the city and it retained its own senate until Roman times. It was formally bequeathed to the Romans in 80 B*C. by Ptolemy Alexander. Following Cleopatra’s intrigues with both Julius Caesar and Antony, a prefect was placed over Alexandria by Octavian* In the Augustan age its free population was estimated to be 300,000 in addition to a large number of slaves. Alexandria became the centre, of Christianity and in spite of a terrible massacre

inflicted by the Emperor Caracalla the city continued to prosper. , '’■' ■ 1 t When, in the third century, the peace of the Roman Empire weakened and native influence began to assert itself in the Nile valley, Alexandria declined in importance and splendour. The Persian king, Chosroes, captured the city in 616 and twenty-four years later it fell to the Arabs. With the building of Cairo in 969 and the discovery of the Cape Route to the East in 1489, Alexandria almost faded from history, and in 1798, when Napoleon brought it into prominence again, the canal which supplied water from the Nile was blocked’ and the population had dwindled to about 4,000 people. Within the next twenty years, Alexandria commenced to increase in importance again. It became the starting point of the overland route to India and acquired a European character which has been preserved to the present day. Negotiations between Mehemet Ali and the powers were conducted there and it was the base for Egyptian naval excursions to Crete, the Morea and Syria. It can be fairly said that the new city of Alexandria is the work of Mehemet Ali. He developed new port facilities (still inadequate) and put in hand the construction of the Mahudiya Canal which joins the port with the Nile. The railway between Alexandria and Cairo- was opened in 1856. Alexandria’s new progress suffered a check in 1882 when riots broke out in the city following the bombardment of the forts by British naval vessels under the command of Admiral Seymour. Some quarters of the city were laid in ruins and the industrial and commercial system collapsed but after the British occupation of the whole country recovery was rapid. Alexandria now has a population of about 600,060 and over eighty per cent, of the total imports and exports of Egypt pass through the port.

The town is laid out on a T-shaped strip separating the Mediterranean from Lake Mareotis. Its ancient founder joined the island of Pharos to the mainland by a pier which time has sanded up to form a narrow strip of —the stem of the T. Thus it is that Alexandria now has two ports. The Western harbour has (been dredged and protected by breakwaters, and is a busy commercial port like Genoa. Its quays will accommodate ships drawing up to twenty-eight feet and there is a large graving dock. This harbour was a key supply centre and naval base during the war and was subjected to intensive air raids, the scars of which are still visible. The

eastern harbour is shallow and more exposed and is used' mainly by fishing vessels, although a breakwater was constructed in 1916.

Mehemet Ali built modern Alexandria on a spacious scale and the large square which bears his name is a handsome centre for the city. The squareoften referred to as the Grand Square — lined with handsome trees and in the middle is an equestrian statue of Mehemet Ali. The main shopping area is on Rue iSherif Pasha which leads off the south end of the square. The Rue Tewfik Pasha leads to the boulevard or Rue ’ de Rosette. In it is the municipal palace containing the public library. In a street running south from the boulevard to the railway station is the mosque of Nebi Daniel containing the tombs of Said Pasha and other members of the Khedival family. A splendid marine drive connects the city with the fashionable beach at Stanley Bay. During the months when the weather is hottest in Cairo there is usually a cool . wind at Alexandria and ; the wealthier residents of the capital spend a period there each year. There is little for antiquarians to see in Alexandria apart from • the Museum and the neighbourhood of Pompey’s Pillar, which incidentally has nothing to do with Pompey but was put up in the third century by an unimportant individual of the same name, in honour of the Emperor Diocletian. The latter’s main claim to fame was that during his overlordship of the city he arranged the (leath of all his enemies among the (population. Pompey’s (or Diocletian’s) Pillar is a splendid sight when seen against the setting sun. It is of polished red granite, about one hundred feet high,. thirty feet round at the base and fifteen feet at the top. It stands on the highest point in Alexandria. Almost “under the Pillar lies the Serapeum. What remains of it is mostly catacombs. It was here that

the famous basalt Apis bull of Emperor Hadrian was found the women’s catacomb. In the days when books were the glory of Alexandria and the world acknowledged the city as one of the great centres of . culture the Serapeum housed an extensive library. The Alexandria Museum has few ancient Egyptian exhibits but contains an interesting collection of Grecian and Roman antiquities and Ptolemaic coins, found during excavations. The ruins of Kait Bey’s fort hold interest only because it was the site of the great lighthouse of the Ptolemies, the (Pharos of Alexandria, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It was

of pure white marble, four-tiered ami 500 feet in height. The base was square, the second tier octagonal, the third circular, and at the top was the lantern covered by a dome on which stood a statue of Poseidon. It stood for nearly 1,500 years and then, it is said, simply slipped from the rocks into the sea. Some authorities are of the opinion that it was destroyed by an earthquake. A few squared blocks are all that can be seen today.