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ALEXANDRIA

Pre-colonial city

PRESENTED BY
Rudo Nyatsanza
Blessing Mukome
Anesu Madavo
Kundai Chiraga
Bryan Faranando
Tatenda Chikadaya

1. Alexandria

Aerial View of modern Alexandria (Egypt)

Presentation outline
Historical, social, religious, economic and political

institutions of the ancient city of Alexandria.


Community structures within Alexandria.
Evidence and/or influence of various organizational
structures and institutions of society on Alexandria.

Location

Alexandria

History
Alexandria is a city and major seaport in

northern Egypt, in the Nile River delta, on a


ridge that separates Lake Maryo from the
Mediterranean Sea.
The city was founded in 332 BC by
Alexander the Great, king of Macedonia,
who planned it as one of the finest ports of
the ancient world.
Alexandria was Egypt's capital for nearly a
thousand years, until the Muslim conquest
of Egypt in AD 641, when a new capital was
founded at Fustat (Fustat was later
absorbed into Cairo).

2. Map and layout

Layout
Greek Alexandria was divided into three regions:
Brucheum - the Royal or Greek quarter, forming the most
magnificent portion of the city. In Roman times Brucheum
was enlarged by the addition of an official quarter, making
four regions in all. The city was laid out as a grid of
parallel streets, each of which had an attendant
subterranean canal;
The Jewish quarter - forming the northeast portion of the
city;
Rhakotis - The old city of Rhakotis that had been
absorbed into Alexandria. It was occupied chiefly by
Egyptians. (from Coptic Rakot "Alexandria").

3. Alexandria
The ancient city was about 6.4 km (about 4 mi) long, and

regularly built, with streets crossing at right angles and


colonnades adorning the principal streets.
Alexander's chief architect for the project was Dinocrates
The most magnificent quarter of the city, called the
Brucheium, was situated on the eastern harbor. Farther
west was the Serapeion, or temple of the Egyptian deity
Serapis; the Soma, or mausoleum of Alexander and the
Ptolemies; the Poseidonium, or temple of Poseidon, god
of the sea; the museum; the great theater; and the
emporium, or exchange.

Alexandria
Soon after the city was founded, the population,

consisting chiefly of Greeks, Jews, and Egyptians,


numbered 300,000 free citizens, exclusive of slaves and
foreigners.
Numerous palaces were built by the Ptolemies, the
Alexandrian Library and Museum were founded, and
influential schools of philosophy, rhetoric, and other
branches of ancient learning were established.
The city grew in less than a generation to be larger than
Carthage, and in a century, Alexandria had become the
largest city in the world and, for some centuries more,
was second only to Rome.

4. Monuments
Alexandria was known because of its Lighthouse of

Alexandria, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient


World; its library (the largest library in the ancient world);
and the Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa, one of the Seven
Wonders of the Middle Ages.

Monuments: Alexandria library

Monuments
<< An ancient Roman theater
in Alexandria

Roman Pompey's Pillar >>


Independent monument erected to
commemorate Diocletian's siege of
the city.
Note the sphinx adjacent to the pillar,
alluding to Egyptian architecture.

Cultural System
The culture of Alexandria is marked by the various

monumental buildings where the main activities were


carried out:
Libraries
Theaters
Museums
There is evidence of more than one form of culture, as
implied by the mixed architecture shown in the previous
slides.

5. Political System
The City was ruled by Ptolemies - Macedonian kings who

ruled Egypt.
Ptolemies fostered the development of the Alexandria
museum into the leading Hellenistic center of learning
(Library of Alexandria), but were careful to maintain the
distinction of its population's three largest ethnicities:
Greek, Jewish, and Egyptian.
However, as a result of the takeovers, the political system
of the city was changing from Ptolemies to Roman
emperors.

Economic System
Alexandria inherited the trading system of Tyre and

became the centre of the new commerce between Europe


and the Arabian and Indian East.
The city was designed to become a prominent sea port
within the Mediterranean region.

6. Religion
The city of Alexandria has three main religions based on

its three largest ethnicities: Greek, Jewish, and Egyptian.


Alexandria was not only a centre of Hellenism, but was
also home to the largest Jewish community in the world.
After Rome, Alexandria was considered the major seat of
Christianity in the world. The Pope of Alexandria was the
second among equals, second only to the bishop of
Rome, the capital of the Roman Empire until 430. The
Church of Alexandria had jurisdiction over the entire
continent of Africa.

References
Alexandria, Microsoft Encarta 2009. 1993-2008

Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.


Alexandria, http://www.ancientsites.com/aw/Places/

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