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# Alexandria

## Overview
Alexandria was founded by Alexander the Great in 331 BCE on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt. @t[=331 BCE] It became the intellectual capital of the Hellenistic world, home to the Great Library and the Pharos Lighthouse, and served as the capital of Ptolemaic Egypt from 305 to 30 BCE. @t[305 BCE..30 BCE]

## Key Facts
- Location: Mediterranean coast of Egypt, western Nile Delta [^1]
- Founded: 331 BCE by Alexander the Great @t[=331 BCE] [^1]
- Capital of: Ptolemaic Egypt (305–30 BCE) @t[305 BCE..30 BCE] [^1]
- Peak population: ~500,000–1,000,000 (among the largest cities in the ancient world) [^1]

## Major Features
- Great Library of Alexandria: Largest library of the ancient world, ~400,000–700,000 scrolls @t[305 BCE..30 BCE] [^1]
- Mouseion (Museum): Research institution attached to the Library, founded under Ptolemy I @t[~295 BCE] [^1]
- Pharos Lighthouse: One of the Seven Wonders, ~100–130 m tall, built ~280 BCE @t[~280 BCE] [^2]
- Serapeum: Temple of Serapis, housed a branch of the Library's collection [^1]

## Intellectual Legacy
Scholars active in Alexandria during the Ptolemaic and Roman periods:

- Euclid: *Elements* of geometry, active ~300 BCE @t[~300 BCE] [^3]
- Eratosthenes (~276–195 BCE): Calculated Earth's circumference; served as head of the Library ~240–195 BCE @t[~276 BCE..~195 BCE] [^3]
- Aristarchus of Samos (~310–230 BCE): Proposed heliocentric model @t[~310 BCE..~230 BCE] [^3]
- Ptolemy (Claudius, ~100–170 CE): *Almagest* (astronomy), *Geography* @t[~100..~170] [^3]
- Septuagint: Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, produced in Alexandria under Ptolemy II (~285–246 BCE) @t[~285 BCE..~246 BCE] [^3]

## Decline and Later History
- 48 BCE: Julius Caesar's forces accidentally burned a warehouse containing books near the harbor, sometimes conflated with the Library itself @t[=48 BCE] [^4]
- 30 BCE: Roman conquest; Alexandria became capital of the Roman province of Egypt @t[=30 BCE] [^1]
- 391 CE: Bishop Theophilus ordered destruction of the Serapeum, which housed a branch collection @t[=391] [^4]
- 641/642 CE: Arab conquest of Egypt under Amr ibn al-As ended the Greco-Roman period @t[=641] [^4]
- The Library's decline was gradual, spanning centuries of reduced funding and civil unrest — no single catastrophic fire destroyed it [^4]

## Recent Archaeology
Ongoing underwater excavations in Abu Qir Bay (near Alexandria) have recovered statues, coins, pottery, and architectural fragments from the submerged Ptolemaic-era cities of Canopus and Heracleion, which sank due to earthquakes and rising sea levels in the 2nd century CE. [^5]

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[^1]: Casson, L. *Libraries in the Ancient World* (Yale, 2001)
[^2]: McKenzie, J. *The Architecture of Alexandria and Egypt* (Yale, 2007)
[^3]: Netz, R. & Noel, W. *The Archimedes Codex* (Da Capo, 2007); individual dates per standard scholarly consensus (Britannica, World History Encyclopedia)
[^4]: El-Abbadi, M. *Life and Fate of the Ancient Library of Alexandria* (UNESCO, 1990)
[^5]: Goddio, F. & Fabre, D. *Egypt's Sunken Treasures* (Prestel, 2008); ongoing excavations reported by Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (2025)