The Serapeum was built during the reign of Ptolemy III Euergetes (246–221 BCE), on a hill to the west of the city just outside the ancient Ptolemaic city boundary, in what is today Kom El Shogafa district.
The Serapeum was built during the reign of Ptolemy III Euergetes (246–221 BCE), on a hill to the west of the city just outside the ancient Ptolemaic city boundary, in what is today Kom El Shogafa district.
It was dedicated to Serapis: a syncretic deity created by the Ptolemies, with traits of the Egyptian gods Osiris and Apis, and a physical appearance similar to the Greek god Zeus. Appealing to both Egyptians and Greeks, Serapis became one of the most important Alexandrian cults.
In the late first century CE, the Serapeum was largely destroyed by fire, and during the Roman era a larger temple was built on the same site. The Alex Med scale model is a reconstruction of the Serapeum built under the Romans. Archeological evidence shows that it had a large colonnaded courtyard, and in 289 CE, Diocletian's column was erected within this courtyard to commemorate Diocletian’s victory over an Egyptian rebellion.
Other features included underground passages and a sister library to the Library of Alexandria. In 391 CE, the Serapeum was destroyed two years after Emperor Theodosius had ordered the closure of all pagan temples throughout the Roman Empire. Today, the only element which remains standing intact is Diocletian’s column, erroneously referred to as Pompey's Pillar.Around the Roman Amphitheatre in Alexandria are some statues and columns’ capitals, dating back to the Roman era in Egypt.
Pompey's Pillar (column)
The name of Pompey pillar in relation to the pillar was used by many European writers in early modern times. The name is considered to stem from a historical misreading of the Greek dedicatory inscription on the base; the name ΠΟΥΠΛΙΟΣ (Πού̣π̣[λιος], Pouplios) was confused with ΠΟΜΠΗΙΟΣ (Ancient Greek: Πομπήιος, romanized: Pompeios)
Pompey's Pillar construction
In 297 Diocletian, Augustus since 284, campaigned in Egypt to suppress the revolt of the usurper Domitius Domitianus. After a long siege, Diocletian captured Alexandria and executed Domitianus's successor Aurelius Achilleus in 298. In 302 the emperor returned to the city and inaugurated a state grain supply. The dedication of the column monument and its statue of Diocletian, describes Diocletian as polioúchos (Ancient Greek: πολιοῦχον Ἀλεξανδρείας, romanized: polioúchon Alexandreias, lit. 'city-guardian-god ACC of Alexandria').In the fourth century AD this designation also applied to Serapis, the male counterpart of Isis in the pantheon instituted by the Hellenistic rulers of Egypt, the Ptolemies.
The sanctuary complex dedicated to Serapis in which the column was originally erected, the Serapeum, was built under King Ptolemy III Euergetes in the third century BC and rebuilt under Roman rule, likely in the late 2nd to early 3rd century CE, being completed under Emperor Caracalla. In the later fourth century AD it was considered by Ammianus Marcellinus a marvel rivalled only by Rome's sanctuary to Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitoline Hill, the Capitolium.
The monument stands some 26.85 m (88.1 ft) high, including its base and capital, and originally would have supported a statue some 7 m (23 ft) tall. The only known monolithic column in Roman Egypt (i.e., not composed of drums), it is one of the largest ancient monoliths and one of the largest monolithic columns ever erected. The monolithic column shaft is 20.46 m (67.1 ft) in height with a diameter of 2.71 m (8 ft 11 in) at its base, and the socle itself is over 6 m (20 ft) tall. Both are of lapis syenites, a pink granite cut from the ancient quarries at Syene (modern Aswan), while the column capital of pseudo-Corinthian type is of grey granite. The weight of the column shaft is estimated to be 285 tonnes (314 short tons).
The surviving and readable four lines of the inscription in Greek on the column's socle relate that a Praefectus Aegypti (Ancient Greek: ἔπαρχος Αἰγύπτου, romanized: eparchos Aigyptou, lit. 'Eparch of Egypt') called Publius dedicated the monument in Diocletian's honour. A praefectus aegypti named Publius is attested in two papyri from Oxyrrhynchus; his governorship must have been held in between the prefectures of Aristius Optatus, who is named as governor on 16 March 297, and Clodius Culcianus, in office from 303 or even late 302. Since Publius's name appears as the monument's dedicator, the column and stylite statue of Diocletian must have been completed between 297 and 303, while he was in post. The governor's name is largely erased in the damaged inscription; the Greek rendering of Publius as ΠΟΥΠΛΙΟΣ (Πού̣π̣[λιος], Pouplios) was confused with the Greek spelling of the Republican general of the first century BC Pompey, ΠΟΜΠΗΙΟΣ (Ancient Greek: Πομπήιος, romanized: Pompeios, Latin: Pompeius).
The porphyry statue of Diocletian in armour is known from large fragments that existed at the column's foot in the eighteenth century AD. From the size of a 1.6 m (5 ft 3 in) fragment representing the thighs of the honorand, the original height of the loricate statue has been calculated at approximately 7 m (23 ft). While some fragments of the statue were known to be in European collections in the nineteenth century, their whereabouts were unknown by the 1930s and are presumed lost.
It is possible that the large column supporting Diocletian's statue was accompanied by another column, or three smaller columns bearing statues of Diocletian's co-emperors, the Augustus Maximian and the two Caesares Constantius and Galerius. If so, the group of column-statues would have commemorated the college of emperors of the Tetrarchy instituted in Diocletian's reign.
Muslim traveller Ibn Battuta visited Alexandria in 1326 AD. He describes the pillar and recounts the tale of an archer who shot an arrow tied to a string over the column. This enabled him to pull a rope tied to the string over the pillar and secure it on the other side in order to climb to the top of the pillar.
In early 1803, British naval officer Commander John Shortland of HMS Pandour flew a kite over Pompey's Pillar. This enabled him to get ropes over it, and then a rope ladder. On February 2, he and John White, Pandour's Master, climbed it. When they got to the top they displayed the Union Jack, drank a toast to King George III, and gave three cheers. Four days later they climbed the pillar again, erected a staff, fixed a weather vane, ate a beef steak, and again toasted the king. An etymology of the nickname "Pompey" for the Royal Navy's home port of Portsmouth and its football team suggests these sailors became known as "Pompey's boys" after scaling the Pillar, and the moniker spread; other unrelated origins are also possible.
Mediterranean city of Al-Alamein on the northern coast, with the participation of the Egyptian aerobatics team, Silver Stars, and the UAE team, Al-Fursan The Egyptian-Emirati Al-Alamein Air Show 2023.
El-Alamein Air Show 2023 took place in New Alamein City, co-hosted by aircraft from Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. The ministries of civil aviation, social solidarity, tourism and antiquities, youth, and sports, and attended the occasion.
The New Alamein Festival’s events included the magnificent flying display in the Mediterranean seaside city. Egyptian and United Arab Emirates air demonstration teams put on the spectacle. Aerobatic planes performing climbs, spins, and dives, left breathtaking plumes of colored smoke behind their flight paths against the clear blue sky at the El-Alamein Air Show in 2023.
The impressive flight performance in the Mediterranean coastal city is part of the activities of the New Alamein Festival. At the El-Alamein Air Show 2023, planes performing climbs, turns and dives left breath-taking plumes of colored smoke behind their flight paths against the blue sky.
The event was attended by the Egyptian ministers of civil aviation, social solidarity, tourism and antiquities and youth and sports. Also, the Emirati ambassador in Cairo and a number of military attaches, House of Representatives, public figures and media professionals attended the event.
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Make your best journey to Cairo with the promised standard of Hilton CleanStay, and enjoy free Wi-Fi in all rooms. Conveniently situated in the Heliopolis part of Cairo, this property puts you close to attractions and interesting dining options. Don't leave before paying a visit to the famous The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities. Rated with 5 stars, this high-quality property provides guests with access to massage, restaurant and hot tub on-site.
The statue of Muhammad Ali, designed by the famous French sculptor Alfred Jacquemar, one of the most famous French sculptors in the nineteenth century, was commissioned by Khedive Ismail to commemorate his grandfather, Muhammad Ali Pasha, the great founder of the Alawite state.
The cost of carving the statue was two million francs at the time. The statue was displayed in France for a month, until it decorated Consuls Square (now Mansheya) in December 1872.
Mohamed Ali Pasha Statue
Since 1865, Khedive Ismail has been thinking of erecting a statue of his grandfather, Muhammad Ali Pasha, and it was initially scheduled to be erected in the city of Ismailia, and then he finally decided to erect it in Muhammad Ali Square in Alexandria.
Since 1865, Khedive Ismail has been thinking of erecting a statue of his grandfather, Muhammad Ali Pasha, and it was initially scheduled to be erected in the city of Ismailia, and then he finally decided to erect it in Muhammad Ali Square in Alexandria.
Mohamed Ali Pasha Statue
Jacmard completed the work of the statue in July 1872, and it was displayed for a month on Champs-Elysees Street near the Palace of Industry, and Jacmard sent his friend, the architect Ambroise Baudry, to Egypt to confirm to the Egyptian government that the statue had already been completed.
Bodry designed the base of the statue of marble, and on its sides were two small marble shoulders, between which there was a decorative unit of metal in the form of a crescent and a star.
Bodry designed the base of the statue of marble, and on its sides were two small marble shoulders, between which there was a decorative unit of metal in the form of a crescent and a star.
Where is Mohamed Ali Pasha Statue located?
Mohamed Ali Pasha Statue is located in Ahmed Oraby, Qism Al Mansheya, Alexandria Governorate 5361007
On December 19, 1872, the official ceremony was held in the center of Muhammad Ali Square.
Bodry designed the base of the statue of marble, and on its sides were two small marble shoulders, between which there was a decorative unit of metal in the form of a crescent and a star. The statue arrived in Alexandria, and in August of the same year, the statue was placed on the base designated for it.
The Pyramid of Hawara was made for Amenemhet III of the 12th Dynasty in ancient Egypt and is located about 9 kilometers east of the oasis of Faiyoum. Amenemhet III was the 6th Pharaoh of the 12th dynasty of the Old Kingdom. The Pyramid of Hawara was built out of brick stones and then coated with limestone. It is sometimes called the Black Pyramid. Archeologists were able to unearth some of the most wonderful portraits in Hawara, which are famous now for being called (the Portraits of the Fayoum). These are 146 portraits of different people drawn with paint and they date from the 1st to the 3rd centuries A.D.
Beside the Pyramid of Hawara, there are also the ruins of the Mortuary Temple of Amenmehat III. The temple was attached to the pyramid when they were first constructed. This temple used to contain 12 halls with ceilings, with six of them positioned to the north and the other six positioned to the south. The Mortuary Temple of Amenmehat III used to have a large fortified wall and it used to contain more than 300 different rooms and chambers, with half of them located under the ground and they hosted the mausoleum of the king. The rest of the rooms were situated above the ground.
Hawara Pyramid
The village of Hawara is located 9 kilometers to the South East of the city of El Fayoum, one of the most wonderful destinations in Egypt. The village is situated around 100 kilometers southeast of Cairo and has been known since ancient times when it was called Hat Wa'art, which means "the footsteps." Afterward, it was named Laprincess and some historians believe that this name was originally derived from the name of the Temple of Amenmehat III in Hawara, the (Laprent) or "the temple located at the outlet of the lake."
The Pyramid of Amenemhet III at Hawara in Egypt Hawara Labyrinth
Pyramid of Amenmehat III
Amenmehat III wanted to make sure his new pyramid in Hawara would never fall down and this was why the engineers constructed it with a much lower angle than the other pyramid in Dahshur. There was a smaller pyramid located on top of the original pyramid and the lower plan and design of the Pyramid of Hawara was very complicated and maybe it was influenced by the design of the step Pyramid of Saqqara that was built early at the beginning of the period of the Old Kingdom.
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