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being matters connected with Jews and religious questions. St. Mark is said to have preached the Gospel here. Meanwhile the prosperity of the town declined and the treasury became empty.

Alexandria was captured by Chosroes (A.D. 619), and by 'Amr ibn el-'Âşi, a general of 'Omar, A.D. 641. The decline of Alexandria went on steadily, until it became in the middle ages little more, comparatively, than a moderate sized seaport town, with a population of some thousands of people. In the present century a little of its prosperity was restored by Muhammad 'Ali, who in 1819 built the Mahmûdîyeh canal to bring fresh water to the town from the Rosetta arm of the Nile. Its population to-day is about 300,000, and includes large and wealthy colonies of Jews and Greeks.

The Christians were persecuted at Alexandria with great severity by Decius (A.D. 250), by Valerianus (A.D. 257), and by Diocletian (A.D. 304). For a large number of years the city was disturbed by the fierce discussions on religious dogmas between Arius and Athanasius, George of Cappadocia and Athanasius, the Anthropomorphists and their opponents, and Cyril and Nestorius. The Christian sects supported their views by violence, and the ordinary heathen population of the town rebelled whenever they could find a favourable opportunity.

The most important ancient buildings of Alexandria

were:

The Lighthouse or Pharos, one of the seven wonders of the world, was built by Sostratus of Cnidus, for Ptolemy Philadelphus, and is said to have been about 600 feet high. All traces of this wonderful building have now disappeared. The embankment or causeway called the HEPTASTADIUM * (from its length of seven stades), was made either by Ptolemy Philadelphus or his father Ptolemy Soter; it divided the

* The Heptastadium joined the ancient town and the Island of Pharos; a large part of the modern town is built upon it.

harbour into two parts. The eastern port is only used by native craft, on account of its sandy shoals; the western port is the Eunostos Harbour, which at present is protected by a breakwater about one mile and three-quarters along. The MUSEUM and Library of Alexandria were founded by Ptolemy I., and greatly enlarged by his son Ptolemy Philadelphus. When this latter king died it was said to contain 100,000 manuscripts. These were classified, arranged, and labelled by Callimachus; when it was burnt down in the time of Julius Cæsar, it is thought that more than 750,000 works were lost. Copies of works of importance were made at the expense of the State, and it is stated that every book which came into the city was seized and kept, and that a copy only of it was returned to the owner. Antony handed over to Cleopatra about 200,000 manuscripts (the Pergamenian Library), and these were made the foundation of a second library. Among the famous men who lived and studied in this library were Eratosthenes, Strabo, Hipparchus, Archimedes, and Euclid. The Serapeum was built by Ptolemy Soter, and was intended to hold the statue of a god from Sinope, which was called by the Egyptians Osiris-Apis,' or Serapis. It stood close by Rakoti to the east of Alexandria near 'Pompey's Pillar,' and is said to have been one of the most beautiful buildings in the world; it was filled with remarkable statues and other works of art. It was destroyed by the Christian fanatic Theophilus,* Patriarch of Alexandria, during the reign of Theodosius II. The LIBRARY of the Serapeum is said to have contained about 300,000 manuscripts, which were burnt by 'Amr ibn el-'Âși at the command of the Khalif 'Omar, A.D. 641; these were sufficiently numerous, it is said, to heat the public baths of Alexandria for six

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* 66 the perpetual enemy of peace and virtue; a bold, bad man, whose hands were alternately polluted with gold and with blood." (Gibbon, Decline, Chap. xxvii.)

months.*

The SÔMA formed a part of the Cæsareum, and contained the bodies of Alexander the Great and the Ptolemies, his successors. The Theatre, which faced the island of Antirhodus, the Sôma, and the Museum and Library, all stood in the royal buildings in the Bruchium quarter of the town, between Lochias and the Heptastadium. The stone sarcophagus (now in the British Museum, No. 10), which was thought to have belonged to Alexander the Great, was made for Nectanebus I., the first king of the XXXth

* "The spirit of Amrou ('Amr ibn el-'Âși) was more curious and liberal than that of his brethren, and in his leisure hours the Arabian chief was pleased with the conversation of John, the last disciple of Ammonius, and who derived the surname of Philoponus from his laborious studies of grammar and philosophy. Emboldened by this familiar intercourse, Philoponus presumed to solicit a gift, inestimable in his opinion, contemptible in that of the Barbarians: the royal library, which alone, among the spoils of Alexandria, had not been appropriated by the visit and the seal of the conqueror. Amrou was inclined to gratify the wish of the grammarian, but his rigid integrity refused to alienate the minutest object without the consent of the caliph; and the well-known answer of Omar was inspired by the ignorance of a fanatic. If these writings of the Greeks agree with the book of God, they are useless and need not be preserved: if they disagree, they are pernicious and ought to be destroyed.' The sentence was executed with blind obedience: the volumes of paper or parchment were distributed to the 4,000 baths of the city; and such was their incredible multitude that six months were barely sufficient for the consumption of this precious fuel.” (Gibbon, Decline and Fall, chap. li.) The chief authority for this statement is Bar-Hebraeus (born A.D. 1226, died at Marâghah in Âdhurbâigan, July 30th, 1286), and it has been repeated by several Arabic writers. Both Gibbon and Renaudot thought the story incredible, but there is no reason why it should be. Gibbon appears to have thought that the second Alexandrian library was pillaged or destroyed when Theophilus, Patriarch of Alexandria, destroyed the image of Serapis; there is, however, no proof that it was, and it seems more probable that it remained comparatively unhurt until the arrival of 'Amr ibn el-'Âși. See the additional notes in Gibbon, ed. Smith, Vol. III., p. 419, and Vol. VI., p. 338.

dynasty, B.C. 378. The PANEUM, or temple of Pan, is probably represented by the modern Kôm ed-Dîk. The JEWS' QUARTER lay between the sea and the street, to the east of Lochias. The NECROPOLIS was situated at the west of the city. The GYMNASIUM stood a little to the east of the Paneum, on the south side of the street which ends, on the east, in the Canopic Gate.

Pompey's Pillar was erected by Pompey, a Roman prefect, in honour of Diocletian, some little time after A.D. 302.* It is made of granite brought from Aswân; the shaft is about 70 feet, and the whole monument, including its pedestal, is rather more than 100 feet high. The fragments of the columns which lie around the base of this pillar are thought to have belonged to the Serapeum.

A few years ago there were to be seen in Alexandria the two famous granite obelisks called Cleopatra's Needles. They were brought from Heliopolis during the reign of the Roman Emperor Augustus, and set up before the Temple of Cæsar. Until quite lately one of them remained upright; the other had fallen. They are both made of Aswân granite; one measured 67 feet in height, the other 681⁄2 feet; the diameter of each is about 7 feet. The larger obelisk was given by Muḥammad 'Ali to the English early in this century, but it was not removed until 1877, when it was transported to England at the expense of Sir Erasmus Wilson, and it now stands on the Thames Embankment. The smaller obelisk was taken to New York a few years later. The inscriptions show that both were made during the reign of Thothmes III., about B.C. 1600, and that Rameses II., who lived about 250 years later, added lines of inscriptions recording his titles of honour and greatness.

* The Greek inscription recording this fact is published in Boeckh, Corpus Inscriptionum Græcarum, t. iii., p. 329, where it is also thus restored : Τὸν [όσ]ιώτατον Αὐτοκράτορα, τὸν πολιοῦχον ̓Αλεξανδρείας, Διοκλητιανὸν τὸν ἀνίκητον πο[μπήϊ]ος ἔπαρχος Αιγύπτου.

The Catacombs, which were built early in the fourth. century of our era, are on the coast near the harbour and on the coast near the new port.

The Walls of the city were built by Muḥammad ‘Ali, and appear to have been laid upon the foundation of ancient walls.

On the south side of Alexandria lies Lake Mareotis, which in ancient days was fed by canals running from the Nile. During the middle ages the lake nearly dried up, and the land which became available for building purposes in consequence was speedily covered with villages. In the year 1801, the English dug a canal across the neck of land between the lake and the sea, and flooded the whole district thus occupied. During the last few years an attempt has been made to pump the water out; it would seem with considerable success.

Between Alexandria and Cairo are the following important

towns :

I. DAMANHÛR* (Eg., 1948

Temȧien-Heru,

'Town of Horus,' the capital of the Mudîrîyeh of Beḥêreh. This was the Hermopolis Parva of the Romans.

II. KAFR EZ-ZAIYÂT, on the east side of the river, situated among beautiful and fertile fields.

III. TANȚA, the capital of Gharbîyeh, situated between the Rosetta and Damietta arms of the Nile. This town is celebrated for three Fairs, which are held here in January, April, and August, in honour of the Muhammedan saint Seyyid el-Bedawi, who was born at Fez about A.D. 1200, and who lived and died at Tanța. Each fair lasts eight days, and the greatest day in each fair is the Friday; the most important fair is that held in August.

IV. BENHA el-'Asal, 'Benha of the Honey,' the capital of

* It is called tungwp by the Copts.

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