Egypt

Call to rebuild Lighthouse of Alexandria

Egypt Daily Star News

The tour guide mentioned in the above article is the same one who, in March, called for the return of mummies to their tombs (also reported in the Daily Star).

A tour guide is calling for rebuilding the Lighthouse of Alexandria, once identified as the Seven Wonders of the World and was severely damaged following a series of earthquakes that hit the Alexandrian coast over the past centuries.

Bassam El Shammaa is appealing to the concerned authorities and the people of Egypt to start a campaign to restore an ancient landmark.

“If we speak of the Lighthouse of Alexandria, we should shed the light on the Seven Wonders of the World, two of which were built by Egyptians,” noted El Shammaa.

“True the ancient tower was set up by the ancient Greeks who ruled Egypt at that time, but why didn’t they build it in Greece? This was simply because Egypt was the only country with the required expertise capable of constructing such an edifice,” argued El Shammaa.

However, El Shammaa added that it is not known that a lot of other lighthouses were built by Egyptian artisans, namely the lighthouse in Abu Sir in west of Alexandria — a large part of which still stands today.

- Diving Off Alexandria
BBC News University of Ulster divers have been passing on their expertise to maritime archaeologists in the historic Egyptian port of Alexandria. Staff from the UU's maritime archaeology centre conducted a 10-day training workshop for 15 archaeologists...

- Project To Save Remaining Of Alexandria Old Lighthouse
State Information Service Minister of Culture, Farouq Hosni agreed to form a joint Egyptian-French mission for rescuing the remaining of Alexandria old lighthouse. The old lighthouse was drawn in the north area near Alexandria Eastern port. Dr. Zahi Hawas,...

- Egyptologist Proposes That There Were Two Sphinxes At Giza
Egypt Daily Star (Ahmed Maged) Egyptologist Bassam El Shammaa believes that the famed half-lion, half-man statue was an Egyptian deity that was erected next to another sphinx, which has since vanished without a trace. This contradicts what many have believed...

- Alexandria Lighthouse
http://www.algomhuria.net.eg/egyptian_mail/m2/A short article about the Alexandrian Pharos lighthouse: "The Alexandria Lighthouse was one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The lighthouse, built in the era of Ptolemy II, survived until the Islamic conquest...

- Archaeologists Discover Base Of Ancient Lighthouse
http://en.rian.ru/world/20051107/42010229.htmlThanks to EEF for this news item: "French diving archeologists have discovered the foundation of the ancient lighthouse of Pharos in Alexandria, the seventh wonder of the world. The director of the Alexandria...

Egypt