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Heptastadion
The Heptastadion (Greek: Ὲπταστάδιον) was a giant causeway, often referred to as a mole or a dyke built by the people of Alexandria, Egypt in the 3rd century BC during the Ptolemaic period. The Heptastadion was created to link Pharos Island to the mainland coast and given a name based on its length (Heptastadion is Greek for "seven stadia"— ''hepta'' meaning seven, and a '' stadion'' being a Greek unit of length measuring approximately ). Overall it was more than three-quarters of a mile long. History Alexander the Great founded the city of Alexandria in April 331 BC on the site of the small fishing village of Rhacotis as the marine base for his fleet. The city was built on a narrow limestone ridge opposite to Pharos Island where the Pharos lighthouse would later stand. Forces under Alexander's command cleared the sand and silt deposits which made the port unnavigable, and Alexander's engineer Dinocrates linked the port of Alexandria and the island of Pharos wi ...
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Mole (architecture)
A mole is a massive structure, usually of stone, used as a pier, breakwater, or a causeway separating two bodies of water. A mole may have a wooden structure built on top of it that resembles a wooden pier. The defining feature of a mole, however, is that water cannot freely flow underneath it, unlike a true pier. The oldest known mole is at Wadi al-Jarf, an ancient Egyptian harbor complex on the Red Sea, constructed . The word comes from Middle French ''mole'', ultimately from Latin ''mōlēs'', meaning a large mass, especially of rock; it has the same root as molecule and mole, the chemical unit of measurement. Heptastadion Notable in antiquity was the Heptastadion, a giant mole built in the 3rd century BC in the city of Alexandria, Egypt to join the city to ''Pharos Island'' where the Pharos lighthouse stood. The causeway formed a barrier separating Alexandria's oceanfront into two distinct harbours, an arrangement which had the advantage of protecting the harbours fro ...
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Alexandria
Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile Delta, Nile River delta. Founded in 331 BC by Alexander the Great, Alexandria grew rapidly and became a major centre of Hellenic civilisation, eventually replacing Memphis, Egypt, Memphis, in present-day Greater Cairo, as Egypt's capital. Called the "Bride of the Mediterranean" and "Pearl of the Mediterranean Coast" internationally, Alexandria is a popular tourist destination and an important industrial centre due to its natural gas and petroleum, oil pipeline transport, pipelines from Suez. The city extends about along the northern coast of Egypt and is the largest city on the Mediterranean, the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second-largest in Egypt (after Cairo), the List of largest cities in the Arab world, fourth- ...
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History Of Alexandria
The history of Alexandria dates back to the city's founding, by Alexander the Great, in 331 BC. Yet, before that, there were large port cities just east of Alexandria, at the western edge of what is now Abu Qir Bay. The Canopic (westernmost) branch of the Nile Delta still existed at that time, and was widely used for shipping. After its foundation, Alexandria became the seat of the Ptolemaic Kingdom, and quickly grew to be one of the greatest cities of the Hellenistic world. Only Rome, which gained control of Egypt in 30 BC, eclipsed Alexandria in size and wealth. The city fell to the Arabs in AD 641, and a new capital of Egypt, Fustat, was founded on the Nile. After Alexandria's status as the country's capital ended, it fell into a long decline, which by the late Ottoman period, had seen it reduced to little more than a small fishing village. The French army under Napoleon captured the city in 1798 and the British soon captured it from the French, retaining Alexandria ...
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Lighthouse Of Alexandria
The Lighthouse of Alexandria, sometimes called the Pharos of Alexandria, was a lighthouse built by the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, during the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (280–247 BC). It has been estimated to have been at least in overall height. One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, for many centuries it was one of the tallest man-made structures in the world. The lighthouse was severely damaged by three earthquakes between 956 and 1303 AD and became an abandoned ruin. It was the third-longest surviving ancient wonder, after the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus and the extant Great Pyramid of Giza, surviving in part until 1480, when the last of its remnant stones were used to build the Citadel of Qaitbay on the site. In 1994, a team of French archaeologists dived in the water of Alexandria's Eastern Harbour and discovered some remains of the lighthouse on the sea floor. In 2016, the Ministry of State of Antiquities in Egypt had plans to turn submerged ruins ...
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Caesar's Civil War
Caesar's civil war (49–45 BC) was a civil war during the late Roman Republic between two factions led by Julius Caesar and Pompey. The main cause of the war was political tensions relating to Caesar's place in the Republic on his expected return to Rome on the expiration of his Lex Vatinia, governorship in Roman Gaul, Gaul. Before the war, Caesar had led an Gallic Wars, invasion of Gaul for almost ten years. A build-up of tensions starting in late 50 BC, with both Caesar and Pompey refusing to back down, led to the outbreak of civil war. Pompey and his allies induced the Roman Senate, Senate to demand Caesar give up his provinces and armies in the opening days of 49 BC. Caesar refused and instead Crossing the Rubicon, marched on Rome. The war was fought in Italy, Illyria, Greece in the Roman era, Greece, Ptolemaic Egypt, Egypt, Africa (Roman province), Africa, and Hispania. The decisive events occurred in Greece in 48 BC: Pompey defeated Caesar at the Battle of ...
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Ptolemy II Philadelphus
Ptolemy II Philadelphus (, ''Ptolemaîos Philádelphos'', "Ptolemy, sibling-lover"; 309 – 28 January 246 BC) was the pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt from 284 to 246 BC. He was the son of Ptolemy I, the Macedonian Greek general of Alexander the Great who founded the Ptolemaic Kingdom after the death of Alexander, and Queen Berenice I, originally from Macedon. During Ptolemy II's reign, the material and literary splendour of the Alexandrian court was at its height. He promoted the Museum and Library of Alexandria. In addition to Egypt, Ptolemy's empire encompassed much of the Aegean and Levant. He pursued an aggressive and expansionist foreign policy with mixed success. From 275 to 271 BC, he led the Ptolemaic Kingdom against the rival Seleucid Empire in the First Syrian War and extended Ptolemaic power into Cilicia and Caria, but lost control of Cyrenaica after the defection of his half-brother Magas. In the Chremonidean War (–261 BC), Ptolemy confronted Antigonid Maced ...
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Ptolemaic Alexandria
Ptolemaic is the adjective formed from the name Ptolemy, and may refer to: Pertaining to the Ptolemaic dynasty *Ptolemaic dynasty, the Macedonian Greek dynasty that ruled Egypt founded in 305 BC by Ptolemy I Soter *Ptolemaic Kingdom Pertaining to a certain ancient writer *Relating to Ptolemy, 2nd-century AD geographer and astronomer/astrologer *Ptolemaic system, a geocentric model of the universe developed in detail by the astronomer Claudius Ptolemaeus See also * Ptolemy (name) Ptolemy (, ''Ptolemaios'') is a male given name, derived from Ancient Greek and meaning 'warlike'. It is formed from the Epic Greek πτόλεμος ''ptolemos'' meaning 'war'. The name was used throughout the Greek world, but was particularly p ...
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Alexandria Port
The Port of Alexandria is located on the northern coast of Egypt, to the West of the Nile Delta. In antiquity Alexandria was built between the Mediterranean Sea and Mariut Lake. The latter was connected to the River Nile via canals, allowing goods at the Port to travel to and from the country's interior. Alexandria is now considered the second most important city in Egypt and the Port of Alexandria is the main port in the country. It consists of two harbours (East and West) separated by a T-shaped peninsula. The East harbour is shallow and is not navigable by large vessels. The West harbour is used for commercial shipping. The harbour is formed by two converging breakwaters. History Ancient times Alexandria Port is one of the oldest ports in the world. The earliest port facilities were built in 1900 BC in the then-village of Rhakotis, to service coastal shipping and supply the island of Pharos (now part of the "Ras al-Tin" quarter). Over the centuries sand and silt d ...
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Causeways
A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet Track in the Somerset Levels, England, which dates from the Neolithic age. Timber causeways may also be described as both boardwalks and bridges. Etymology When first used, the word ''causeway'' appeared in a form such as "causey way", making clear its derivation from the earlier form "causey". This word seems to have come from the same source by two different routes. It derives ultimately, from the Latin for heel, , and most likely comes from the trampling technique to consolidate earthworks. Originally, the construction of a causeway used earth that had been trodden upon to compact and harden it as much as possible, one layer at a time, often by slaves or flocks of sheep. Today, this work is done by machines. The same technique woul ...
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Buildings And Structures Completed In The 3rd Century BC
A building or edifice is an enclosed Structure#Load-bearing, structure with a roof, walls and window, windows, usually standing permanently in one place, such as a house or factory. Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and functions, and have been adapted throughout history for numerous factors, from building materials available, to weather conditions, land prices, ground conditions, specific uses, monument, prestige, and aesthetic reasons. To better understand the concept, see ''Nonbuilding structure'' for contrast. Buildings serve several societal needs – occupancy, primarily as shelter from weather, security, living space, privacy, to store belongings, and to comfortably live and work. A building as a shelter represents a physical separation of the :Human habitats, human habitat (a place of comfort and safety) from the ''outside'' (a place that may be harsh and harmful at times). buildings have been objects or canvasses of much architecture, artistic expression. ...
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3rd-century BC Establishments In Egypt
The 3rd century was the period from AD 201 (represented by the Roman numerals CCI) to AD 300 (CCC) in accordance with the Julian calendar. In this century, the Roman Empire saw a crisis, starting with the assassination of the Roman Emperor Severus Alexander in 235, plunging the empire into a period of economic troubles, barbarian incursions, political upheavals, civil wars, and the split of the Roman Empire through the Gallic Empire in the west and the Palmyrene Empire in the east, which all together threatened to destroy the Roman Empire in its entirety, but the reconquests of the seceded territories by Emperor Aurelian and the stabilization period under Emperor Diocletian due to the administrative strengthening of the empire caused an end to the crisis by 284. This crisis would also mark the beginning of Late Antiquity. While in North Africa, Roman rule continued with growing Christian influence, particularly in the region of Carthage. In Persia, the Parthian Empire wa ...
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