ALEXANDRIA, called by the Turks Scanderia, city- of Lower Egypt, situated on the Niediterranean, ire N. Lat. 31° 13' 5". and E. Long. 55' 45".
This city, though now of but little consequence, was once one of the most flourishing and celebrated of the world, the populous metropolis of the kings of Egypt, and long the grand seat of commerce and of wealth. It was founded by Alexander the Great, who gave it his own name, about 333 years before Christ, and is now the only remaining monument of the widely extended con quests of that great and renowned NV:11'1'10r. The long and severe check which he met with before the city of Tyre, in the career of his victories would no doubt con vince him of the vast resources of a maritime power, and of the immense importance of commerce ; and it was this which is supposed to have induced him, after the subjection of Egypt, to avail himself of the favour able commercial situation of that country, and to lay the foundation of that city, which, from its vicinity to the Mediterranean Sca and the Arabian Gulf, has, amidst all the successive revolutions of Egypt, from the time of the Ptolemies till the discovery of the navigation by the Cape of Good Hope, commanded the trade of both the east and the west. From that period, however, which begins a new era in the history of commerce, the trade of India has flowed in other channels; and the streams of its former wealth being dried up, Alexan dria has gradually decayed, and is now deserving of no tice only on account of its past greatness and celebrity. Alexander himself drew the plan of the new city ; and as there were no instruments at hand proper for the purpose, he traced out the course of the walls, by scat tering meal along the ground ; a circumstance which his soothsayer interpreted as a presage of future abundance. The execution of the plan was intrusted to Denocrates, the celebrated architect, who rebuilt the temple of Diana at Ephesus, whilst Alexander advanced to survey the wonders of Upper Egypt. Upon his re turn about a year afterwards, the city was nearly finish ed ; and having peopled it with inhabitants from the neighbouring towns, he pursued the course of his con quests.
Ancient Alexandria stood about 12 miles from the Canopic branch of the Nile, with which it was united by a canal. The lake Marcotis bathed its walls on the south, and the on the north. It was divided into straight parallel streets, cutting one another at right angles. One great street, 2000 feet wide, ran through the whole length of the city, beginning at the gate of the Sea, and terminating at the gate of Canopus. It was intersected by another of the same breadth, which formed a square at their junction half a league in circumference. From the centre of this great place, the two gates were to be seen at once, and vessels ar riving under full sail from both the north and the south. In these two principal streets, the noblest in the universe, stood their most magnificent palaces, temples, and pub lic buildings, in which the eye was never tired with admiring the marble, the porphyry, and the obelisks, which were destined at some future day to embellish the metropolis of the world. The chief glory of Alex andria was its harbour. It was a deep and secure bay in the Mediterranean, formed by the shore on the one side, and the island of Pharos on the other, and where numerous fleets might lie in complete safety. From the island of Pharos, a moat of a mile in length, stretched to the continent, and divided the great harbour into two. l'hat which was to the northward was called the Great Port ; the other, Eunortos, or the Safe Return. With out the walls of Alexandria, and stretching along the ,bores of the Mediterranean, near to the promontory of Lectreos was situated the palace and gardens of the Ptolemies. They contained within their enclosure the museum, an asylum for learned men, groves and build ings worthy of royal majesty, and a temple where the 'Iody of Alexander was deposited in a golden coffin. It w ere endless to enumerate the many palaces, temples, theatres, and other buildings with which Alexandria and its suburbs were adorned.