AL'EXAN'DRIA (Ar. Is•anderich). A city founded by Alexander the Great, in the win ter of 332 B.C., on the site of an Egyptian town. P,hacotis (Map: Africa, G I). It. was situated at the Canopic mouth of the Nile, on the low ridge separating Lake Mareotis from the Mediterranean, and was laid out by the architect Dinoerates of Rhodes in the form of a parallelo gram, with two main streets, crossing at right angles, though somewhat to the north and east of the centre lines. The other streets were also at right angles with one another, and the arrangement seems to have remained undisturbed for a long period, although the level of the city was raised and new streets laid out above the old ones. The city had a fine double harbor, formed by building a mole (the lleptastadion), seven furlongs in length, to the island of Pharos, on the northeast end of which was a lighthouse, regarded as one of the wonders of the world. (See PHAROS.) The small harbor, on the west, was open, but the large harbor was entered only by a narrow passage between the Pharos and a mole built. out from the promon tory Lochias on the east of the city. The city grew rapidly, and became one of the chief centres of the trade between the east and the west. while the generous policy of the Ptolemies, who made it their capital, attracted a large foreign popula tion.
Egyptians. Greeks, and Jews were the chief elements, each gathering in a special quarter of the city. On Lochias was the royal palace, and the neighborino. part of the city was filled with magnificent buildings, including the mu seum and the famous library (see ALEXANDRI AN LIBRARY) , the monument of Alexander, the graves of the Ptolemies, the temple of Poseidon, and the Casareum—after•ard a church, and once marked by the two obelisks known as Cleopatra's Needles, of which one was transported to the Thames Embankment in Lon don in 1878, and the other to Central Park, New York, in 1881. These obelisks were originally erected by Thothmes Ill., and were brought. to Alexandria by the Near here was the great emporium, and somewhat to the south lay the Bruchion (i3p15,itov), a residence quarter. The great temple of Sera pis lay in the southwest, or Egyptian quarter, where now stands a solitary the so-called Pompey's Pillar, a mono lith of red granite 73 feet high, erected in 31)• A.D. by the Roman eparch, Pompeius, in honor of Dio cletian. Earthquakes and floods have ehanged the surface of the ground, and but few remains are now visible, though excavations conducted for Napoleon Ill. in 1806 by Mahmond Bey re vealed a number of paved streets, and those of 1898-99 by Dr. Knack have thrown much light upon the successive periods of building in the city. The original foundations of the time of Alexander rest on the natural rock, and are about 14% feet below the paved streets, which seem to belong to an extensive rebuilding of the city by Antoninus Pius, and are now covered with the earth on which the modern city stands. The pol icy of Ptolemy Philadelphus and his immediate successors drew not only traders but learned men to the city, and Alexandria became the cen tee of Greek intellectual life. during the third and second centuries B.C. (See ALEXANDRIAN AGE.) The city also developed a very charac teristic type of art, which vied with that of Per gamus, and seems to have had great influence on the west. Alexandrian influence is marked at Pompeii and in Provence. Consult Malunoud Bey, Ih'moire situ- l'Antique:lit iandric (Copen hagen, 1872).
In 30 B.C. Egypt passed into the hands of the Romans under Octavins. Under lloman rule Al exandria lost much of its former preeminence as the capital of the Hellenist be world: and though for many centuries it continued to be one of the greatest cities of the Empire, its decline from the magnificent prosperity it had enjoyed under the Ptolemies was rapid after the first century of the Christian era. The Jewish inhab itants of Alexandria joined in the great national revolt of 116 A.D., and in the desperate struggle
which ensued the Jewish population was anni hilated and a large part of the city was de stroyed. The excesses of the Alexandrian mob, famous throughout the empire fur its fickleness and its violence, plunged the city into misfortune twice during the third century. In 215 the se ditious conduit, of the populace led to a general massacre of the inhabitants at the order of the Emperor Cara•alla. Forty-five years later civil war broke out the different quarters of the city, lasting for twelve years and resulting in the destruction of the Bruchion, the richest district of Alexandria, with its ancient palaces, temples, and public buildings. With the rise of Alexandria as one of the great Christian cap itals of the empire, religious tumult took the place, in large measure, of political dissension, and paganism and Christianity fought out their battle in many bloody riots. The triumph of the new faith was signalized in 389 by the destruction of the Serapion, the last refuge of the pagan belief, but religious peace was by no means secured. Between •13 and •15 the patri arch Cyril led mobs of monks against the heretics and .Jews, and one of these militant bands tore to pieces the beautiful pagan priestess, Hypatia (q.v.). In 616 Alexandria was taken by Chos roes, King of Persia. In December, 641, it fell into the hands of Arnim the Mohammedan con queror of Egypt. The story of the destruction of the famous library at the command of the Caliph Omar is diseredited. With the Arabian conquest a period of swift decay set in. The commerce of the city was almost entirely divert ed to other cities, the last. remnants of its pros: perity being destroyed by the discovery of the all-water route to India. Toward the end of the eighteenth century its population was prob ably less than 7000. On .July 2, 1798. .Alexan dria was taken by the French. who held it until August 31, 1801. In the nineteenth century the city entered upon a new era of prosperity under the wise rule of Mehemet Ali. During the dis turbances in connection with the rebellion of Arabi Pasha (q.v.). Alexandria was bombarded by the English fleet under Admiral Seymour, July 11-12, 1882.
Modern Alexandria is divided into two parts. The peninsula between the eastern and western harbors is inhabited chiefly by Mohammedans. It has crooked and narrow streets, a large num ber of mosques, and with the exception of the palaces of the wealthy Turks, few buildings wor thy of notice. The European quarter is situ ated on the mainland south of the eastern har bor. It is well built, and has many of the improvements essential to a modern city. The centre of the European city is the Mehemet. All Square, containing the statue of Mehemet Ali and surrounded by the official buildings and the finest residences of the Europeans. There are three theatres, a number of churches of different denominations, and the museum of Grfeco-Roman antiquities. Alexandria has two harbors. The eastern is accessible only for vessels of very light draught, and is used mostly by fishing vessels. The western harbor is the chief shipping centre, and is visited annually by over 2800 vessels, with a total tonnage of about 2,500.000. There is, besides, the outer harbor, protected by a mole nearly two miles long. Alexandria is at present one of the chief commercial ports on the Mediterranean and the principal port of Egypt. The chief articles of export are grain, cotton, beans, sugar. and rice. With Cairo, Alexandria is connected by rail since 1855 and by the alahmudieh Canal. Along the latter are situated the summer residences of the Euro peans. It is also connected by cable lines with Malta, Cyprus, Crete, and Port Said. The pop ulation was 320,000 in 1897. It consists chiefly of Mohammedans, with about 50,000 Europeans, mostly Greeks and Italians. Consult: Sharpe, Alexandrian Chronology (London, 1857) ; Kings ley, Historical Lectures and Essays (New York, 1889 ) . See EGYPT.