Alexandria

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This article is about the city in Egypt. For other uses, see Alexandria
(disambiguation).
Alexandria
??????????
Metropolis
AlexStanleyBridge.jpg
Alexandriaa.jpg Alexandria, Alexandria Governorate, Egypt - panoramio - youssef
alam (15).jpg
Alex 17.jpg BA night water.jpg Alexandria - Egypt.jpg
Clockwise from top
Stanley Bridge, Montaza Palace, the Corniche, Bibliotheca Alexandrina, El-Mursi
Abul Abbas Mosque, Qaitbay citadel
Flag of Alexandria
Flag Coat of arms of Alexandria
Coat of arms
Nickname(s) Mediterranean's Bride, Pearl of the Mediterranean
Alexandria is located in Egypt AlexandriaAlexandriaLocation in Egypt
Coordinates 3112'N 2955'ECoordinates 3112'N 2955'E
Country Egypt
Governorate Alexandria
Founded 331 BC
Founded by Alexander the Great
Government
Governor Reda Farahat[1]
Area[dubious discuss]
Total 2,679 km2 (1,034 sq mi)
Elevation 5 m (16 ft)
Population (27112016[2])[dubious discuss]
Total 4,984,387
Density 1,900km2 (4,800sq mi)
Time zone EET (UTC+2)
Postal code 21500
Area code(s) (+20) 3
Website Official website

Skyline from Montaza.

Alexandria (?l?g'zndri? or ?l?g'z??ndri?;[3] Arabic ?????????? al-Iskandariyyah;
Egyptian Arabic ?????????? Eskendereya; Coptic ??????????, ?????? Alexandria,
Rakot?) is the second largest city and a major economic centre in Egypt, extending
about 32 km (20 mi) along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central
part of the country. Its low elevation on the Nile delta makes it highly vulnerable
to rising sea levels. Alexandria is an important industrial center because of its
natural gas and oil pipelines from Suez. Alexandria is also an important tourist
destination.

Alexandria was founded around a small, ancient Egyptian town c. 331 BC by Alexander
the Great. It became an important center of the Hellenistic civilization and
remained the capital of Hellenistic and Roman and Byzantine Egypt for almost 1000
years until the Muslim conquest of Egypt in AD 641, when a new capital was founded
at Fustat (later absorbed into Cairo). Hellenistic Alexandria was best known for
the Lighthouse of Alexandria (Pharos), one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient
World; its Great Library (the largest in the ancient world; now replaced by a
modern one); and the Necropolis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages.
Alexandria was the second most powerful city of the ancient world after Rome.
Ongoing maritime archaeology in the harbor of Alexandria, which began in 1994, is
revealing details of Alexandria both before the arrival of Alexander, when a city
named Rhacotis existed there, and during the Ptolemaic dynasty.
From the late 18th century, Alexandria became a major center of the international
shipping industry and one of the most important trading centers in the world, both
because it profited from the easy overland connection between the Mediterranean Sea
and the Red Sea, and the lucrative trade in Egyptian cotton.

Contents [hide]
1 History
1.1 Ancient era
1.2 Muhammad's era
1.3 Islamic era
1.4 Timeline
2 Layout of the ancient city
3 Geography
3.1 Climate
4 Historical sites and landmarks
4.1 Temple of Taposiris Magna
5 Religion
5.1 Islam
5.2 Christianity
5.3 Judaism
6 Education
6.1 Colleges and universities
6.2 Schools
7 Transport
7.1 Airports
7.2 Highways
7.3 Rail
7.4 Trams
7.5 Taxis and minibuses
7.6 Port
8 Culture
8.1 Libraries
8.2 Museums
8.3 Sports
8.4 Theaters
8.5 Tourism
9 International relations
9.1 Twin townsSister cities
10 See also
11 References
12 Further reading
13 External links
History[edit]
Main articles History of Alexandria and Timeline of Alexandria
Ancient era[edit]
r
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a A35 t

niwt
, or
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a qd d
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niwt
raqd(y).t (Alexandria)
in hieroglyphs
Alexander The Great
Alexandria is believed to have been founded by Alexander the Great in April 331 BC
as ??e???d?e?a (Alexandria). Alexander's chief architect for the project was
Dinocrates. Alexandria was intended to supersede Naucratis as a Hellenistic center
in Egypt, and to be the link between Greece and the rich Nile valley. However, more
recent radiocarbon dating of seashell fragments and lead contamination predate this
claim by two millennia [4]

Alexandria was the intellectual and cultural center of the ancient world for some
time. The city and its museum attracted many of the greatest scholars, including
Greeks, Jews and Syrians. The city was later plundered and lost its significance.
[5]

Just east of Alexandria (where Abu Qir Bay is now), there was in ancient times
marshland and several islands. As early as the 7th century BC, there existed
important port cities of Canopus and Heracleion. The latter was recently
rediscovered under water.

An Egyptian city, Rhakotis, already existed on the shore and later gave its name to
Alexandria in the Egyptian language (Egyptian Ra?-?a?it, written r?-??y.t, 'That
which is built up'). It continued to exist as the Egyptian quarter of the city. A
few months after the foundation, Alexander left Egypt and never returned to his
city. After Alexander's departure, his viceroy, Cleomenes, continued the expansion.
Following a struggle with the other successors of Alexander, his general Ptolemy
Lagides succeeded in bringing Alexander's body to Alexandria, though it was
eventually lost after being separated from its burial site there.[6]

Although Cleomenes was mainly in charge of overseeing Alexandria's continuous

development, the Heptastadion and the mainland quarters seem to have been primarily
Ptolemaic work. Inheriting the trade of ruined Tyre and becoming the center of the
new commerce between Europe and the Arabian and Indian East, the city grew in less
than a generation to be larger than Carthage. In a century, Alexandria had become
the largest city in the world and, for some centuries more, was second only to
Rome. It became Egypt's main Greek city, with Greek people from diverse
backgrounds.[7]

Alexandria was not only a center of Hellenism, but was also home to the largest
urban Jewish community in the world. The Septuagint, a Greek version of the Tanakh,
was produced there. The early Ptolemies kept it in order and fostered the
development of its 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.[8]

In AD 115, large parts of Alexandria were destroyed during the Kitos War, which
gave Hadrian and his architect, Decriannus, an opportunity to rebuild it. In 215,
the emperor Caracalla visited the city and, because of some insulting satires that
the inhabitants had directed at him, abruptly commanded his troops to put to death
all youths capable of bearing arms. On 21 July 365, Alexandria was devastated by a
tsunami (365 Crete earthquake),[9] an event annually commemorated years later as a
day of horror.[10]

Alexandria bombardment by British naval forces

Muhammad's era[edit]
Main article List of expeditions of Muhammad

Entry of General Bonaparte into Alexandria, oil on canvas, 365 cm 500 cm (144 in
197 in), ca. 1800, Versailles
The Islamic prophet, Muhammad's first interaction with the people of Egypt occurred
in 628, during the Expedition of Zaid ibn Haritha (Hisma). He sent Hatib bin Abi
Baltaeh with a letter to the king of Egypt (in reality Emperor Heraclius) and
Alexandria called Muqawqis[11][12] In the letter Muhammad said I invite you to
accept Islam, Allah the sublime, shall reward you doubly. But if you refuse to do
so, you will bear the burden of the transgression of all the Copts. During this
expedition one of Muhammad's envoys Dihyah bin Khalifa Kalbi was attacked, Muhammad
sent Zayd ibn Haritha to help him. Dihya approached the Banu Dubayb (a tribe which
converted to Islam and had good relations with Muslims) for help. When the news
reached Muhammad, he immediately dispatched Zayd ibn Haritha with 500 men to
battle. The Muslim army fought with Banu Judham, killed several of them (inflicting
heavy casualties), including their chief, Al-Hunayd ibn Arid and his son, and
captured 1000 camels, 5000 of their cattle and 100 women and boys. The new chief of
the Banu Judham who had embraced Islam appealed to Muhammad to release his fellow
tribesmen, and Muhammad released them.