called ISKANDERIA by the Turks, an ancient city of Lower Egypt, and for a long time its capital. This city was built by Alexander the Great, soon after the overthrow of Tyre, about 333 years before Christ. It is situated on the Mediterranean, twelve miles west of that mouth of the Nile anciently called Canopicum, and lies in Long. 29° 54', E. Lat. 31° 10', N.

Alexander is said to have been induced to build this city on account of its affording a fine port, and being advantageously situated for trade. It realised his expectations; for it soon became the emporium, not only for merchandise, but also for all the arts and sciences of the Greeks. Alexandria, according to Strabo, was 30 stadia in length from east to west, and 7 or 8 stadia in breadth where narrowest. The circumference was about 70 stadia, or 9 miles; but Pliny, including no doubt the suburbs, reckons the circumference 15 miles. Lake Mareotis bathed its walls on the south, and the Mediterranean on the north. It was intersected lengthwise by straight parallel streets. This direction left a free passage to the northern wind, which alone conveys coolness and salubrity into Egypt. A street of 100 feet wide began at the gate of the sea, and terminated at the gate of Canopus. It was decorated with magnificent houses, temples, and public buildings. In its extensive range, the eye wandered with admiration over the marble, the porphyry, and the obelisks, which were destined at some future day to embellish Rome and Constantinople. The great street, the handsomest in the world, was intersected by another of the same breadth. From the middle of this place were to be seen at once vessels arriving under full sail from the north and from the south.

An artificial mole, called the Heptastadium, nearly a mile in length, stretched from the continent to the isle of Pharos, and divided the great harbour into two. That which is to the northward preserved its name. A dike drawn from the island to the rock on which the watch-tower was built, secured it from the westerly winds. The other was called Eunostos, or the Safe Return. The former is called at present the new, the latter the old harbour: they were connected with each other by two breaks in the mole, crossed by two bridges, which could be raised at pleasure. The palace, which advanced beyond the promontory of Lochias, extended as far as the dike, and occupied more than a quarter of the city. Each of the Ptolemies added to its magnificence. It contained within its inclosure, the museum, an asylum for learned men, groves, and buildings worthy of royal majesty, and a temple where the body of Alexander was deposited in a golden coffin. Ptolemy Soter II., violated this monument, carried off the golden coffin, and put a glass one in its place. In the great harbour was the little island of Anti-Rhodes, where stood a theatre and a royal place of residence. Within the harbour of Eunostos was a smaller one called Kibotos, dug by the hand of man, which communicated with Lake Mareotis by a canal. Between this canal and the palace was the grand temple of Serapis, while that of Neptune stood near the great market place. Alexandria extended likewise along the northern banks of the lake. Its eastern part presented to view the gymnasium, with its porticoes of more than 600 feet long, supported by several rows of marble pillars. Without the gate of Canopus was a spacious circus for the chariot races. Beyond that the suburb of Nicopolis ran along the sea-shore, and seemed a second Alexandria. A superb amphitheatre was built there, with a race-ground, for the celebration of the quinquennalia.

Such is the description of Alexandria left us by the ancients, and above all by Strabo.

The architect employed by Alexander in this undertaking was the celebrated Dinocrates, who had acquired so much reputation by rebuilding the temple of Diana at Ephesus. The city was first rendered populous by Ptolemy Soter, the son of Lagus, one of Alexander's captains, who, after the death of the Macedonian monarch, being appointed governor of Egypt, soon assumed the title of king, and took up his residence at Alexandria, about 304 years before Christ.

In the 30th year of Ptolemy's reign he took his son Ptolemy Philadelphus as his partner in the empire; and by this prince the city of Alexandria was much embellished. In the first year of his reign the famous watch-tower of Pharos was finished. It had been begun several years before by his father; and, when finished, was looked upon as one of the wonders of the world. The same year, the islet of Pharos itself, originally seven furlongs distant from the peninsula, was joined to it by a causeway. This was the work of Dexiphanes, who completed it at the same time that his son put the last hand to the tower. The tower was a large square structure of white marble, on the top of which fires were kept constantly burning for the direction of sailors. The building cost 800 talents; which, if Attic, amounted to L155,000; if Alexandrian, to L248,000. This is reckoning the Attic talent at 60, and the Alexandrian at 96 minae, and each mina equal to L3, 4s. 7d.

The architect employed in this famous structure is said to have fallen upon the following contrivance to usurp the whole glory to himself. Being ordered to engrave upon it the following inscription,—"King PTOLEMY to the Gods the Saviours, for the benefit of Sailors,"—instead of the king's name he substituted his own, and then filling up the hollow of the marble with mortar, wrote upon it the above-mentioned inscription. In process of time, the mortar being worn off, the following inscription appeared: "SOSTRATUS the Cnidian, the son of DEXIPHANES, to the Gods the Saviours, for the benefit of Sailors."

This year also was remarkable for the bringing of the image of Serapis from Pontus to Alexandria. It was set up in one of the suburbs of the city, called Rhacotis, where a temple was afterwards erected to his honour, suitable to the greatness of that stately metropolis, and called, from the god worshipped there, Serapeion. This structure, according to Ammianus Marcellinus, surpassed in beauty and magnificence all others in the world, except the Capitol at Rome. Within the verge of this temple was the famous Alexandrian library. It was founded by Ptolemy Soter, for the use of an academy he instituted in this city; and, by continual additions by his successors, became at last the finest library in the world, containing no fewer than 700,000 volumes. The method followed in collecting books for this library was to seize all those which were brought into Egypt by Greeks or other foreigners. The books were transcribed in the museum. by persons appointed for that purpose; the copies were then delivered to the proprietors, and the originals laid up in the library. Ptolemy Euergetes, having borrowed from the Athenians the works of Sophocles, Euripides, and Æschylus, returned them only the copies, which he caused to be transcribed in as beautiful a manner as possible; presenting them at the same time with fifteen talents (equal to L2906, 5s., reckoning by the smaller talent) for the exchange.

As the museum was at first in that quarter of the city called Brucheion, near the royal palace, the library was placed there likewise; but when it came to contain 400,000 volumes, another library, within the Serapeion, was erected by way of supplement to it, and on that account called the daughter of the former. In this second library 300,000 volumes in process of time were deposited; making in all 700,000. In the war carried on by Julius Caesar against the inhabitants of this city, the library in the Brucheion, with all its contents, was reduced to ashes. The library in the Serapeion, however, still remained; and here Cleopatra deposited 200,000 volumes of the Pergamenean library, which Mark Antony presented to her. These, and others added from time to time, rendered the new library at Alexandria more numerous and considerable than the former; but when the temple of Serapis was demolished under the archiepiscopate of Theophilus A.D. 389, the valuable library was pillaged or destroyed, and twenty years afterwards the empty shelves excited the regret and indignation of every intelligent spectator. Afterwards the church and seat of the patriarchs may have been enriched with considerable collections of books, consisting chiefly of theological controversy, but the library no longer contained the 400,000 or 700,000 volumes collected by the curiosity and magnificence of the Ptolemies. For 293 years Alexandria was the capital of the kingdom of the Ptolemies.

This city, as we have already observed, soon became extremely populous, and was embellished both by its own princes and the Romans; but, like most other noted cities of antiquity, it has been the seat of terrible massacres. About 141 years before Christ it was almost totally depopulated by Ptolemy Physcon. That barbarous monster, without the least provocation, gave free liberty to his guards to plunder his metropolis, and murder the inhabitants at their pleasure. The cruelties practised on this occasion cannot be expressed, and the few who escaped were so terrified that they fled into other countries. Upon this, Physcon, that he might not reign over empty houses, invited strangers from the neighbouring countries; by whom the city was repeopled, and soon recovered its former splendour. On this occasion many learned men, having been obliged to fly, proved the means of reviving learning in Greece, Asia Minor, and the islands of the Archipelago, and other places where it was almost totally lost.

The new inhabitants were not treated with much more kindness by Physcon than the old ones had been; for, on their complaining of his tyrannical behaviour, he resolved on a general massacre of the young men. Accordingly, when they were one day assembled in the gymnasium, or place of public exercise, he ordered it to be set on fire; so that they all perished, either in the flames, or by the swords of the tyrant's mercenaries, whom he had posted at all the avenues.

Though Julius Caesar was obliged to carry on a war for some time against this city, it seems not to have suffered much damage, except the burning of the library already mentioned. Before Caesar left Alexandria, in acknowledgment of the assistance he had received from the Jews he confirmed all their privileges there, and even engraved his decree on a pillar of brass. This, however, did not prevent the massacre of 50,000 of them in this city, about the year of Christ 67.

The city of Alexandria seems to have fallen into decay soon after this, and to have forfeited many of its ancient privileges, though for what offence is not known; but when Hadrian visited Egypt, about the year 122, it was almost totally ruined. He repaired both the public and private buildings, not only restoring the inhabitants to their ancient privileges, but heaping new favours upon them; for which they returned him their solemn thanks, and conferred upon him what honours they could while he was present; though as soon as he was gone they published the most bitter lampoons against him.

The licke and satirical humour of the Alexandrians was highly offensive to Hadrian, though he visited it with no punishment. Caracalla, however, did not let it pass so easily. That tyrant, when he visited their city in the year 215, having become the subject of their foolish satires, ordered a general massacre by his numerous troops, who were dispersed all over the city. The inhuman order being given, all were murdered, without distinction of age or sex; so that in one night's time the whole city floated in blood, and every house was filled with carcasses. The monster who occasioned this had retired during the night to the temple of Serapis, to implore the protection of that deity; and, not yet satisfied with slaughter, commanded the massacre to be continued all the next day; so that very few of the inhabitants remained. As if even this had not been sufficient, he stripped the city of all its ancient privileges; suppressed the academy; ordered all strangers who lived there to depart; and that the few who remained might not have the satisfaction of seeing one another, he cut off all communication of one street with another, by walls built for that purpose, and guarded by troops.

Notwithstanding this terrible disaster, Alexandria soon recovered its former splendour after the death of Caracalla. It was long esteemed the first city in the world, next to Rome; and we may judge of its magnificence, and the multitude of people contained in it, from the account of Diodorus Siculus, who relates that in his time (B.C. 44) Alexandria had on its rolls 300,000 free inhabitants. Mannerl, a learned German writer, thinks the slaves must have been at least equally numerous; and thus the city, in its flourishing periods, had contained not less than 600,000 inhabitants. According to Eutychius, it was on the 22d December A.D. 640, that Amrou, Omar's general, took it by storm after a siege of 14 months, and with the loss of 28,000 men. Heraclius, then emperor of Constantinople, did not send a single ship to its assistance. This prince affords an example very rare in history: he had displayed some vigour in the beginning of his reign, and then suffered himself to be lulled into idleness and effeminacy. Awakened suddenly from his lethargy by the noise of the conquests of Chosroes, that scourge of the East, he put himself at the head of his armies, distinguished himself as a great captain from his very first campaign, laid waste Persia for seven years, and returned to his capital covered with laurels: he then became a theologian on the throne, lost all his energy, and amused himself the rest of his life with disputing upon monotheism, whilst the Arabs were robbing him of the finest provinces of the empire. Deaf to the cries of the unfortunate inhabitants of Alexandria, as he had been to those of the people of Jerusalem, who defended themselves for two years, he left them a sacrifice to the rising fortune of the indefatigable Amrou. All their intrepid youth perished with their arms in their hands.

The victor, astonished at his conquest, wrote to the caliph, "I have taken the city of the west. It is of an immense extent. I cannot describe to you how many wonders it contains. There are 4000 palaces, 4000 baths, 12,000 dealers in fresh oil, 12,000 gardeners, 40,000 Jews who pay tribute, 400 theatres or places of amusement." At this time, according to the Arabian historians, Alexandria consisted of three cities, viz. *Mena*, or the port, which includes Pharos and the neighbouring parts; *Alexandria*, properly so called, where the modern Alexandria now stands; and *Nekita*, probably the Necropolis of Josephus and Strabo.

The following story relating to the destruction of the famous library is told by Abulragius, whose account, however, is utterly irreconcilable with the silence of all historians of the period.—See Gibbon, *Decline and Fall*, &c. c. 51.

At that time John, surnamed the *Grammarians*, a famous Peripatetic philosopher, being in the city, and in high favour with Amrou Ebn al Aas, the Saracen general, begged of him the royal library. Amrou replied that it was not in his power to grant such a request; but that he would write to the caliph on that head, since, without knowing his pleasure, he dared not to dispose of a single book. He accordingly wrote to Omar, who was then caliph, acquainting him with the request of his friend; to which he is said to have replied, That if those books contained the same doctrine with the Koran, they could be of no use, since the Koran contained all necessary truths; but if they contained anything contrary to that book, they ought not to be suffered; and, therefore, whatever their contents were, he ordered them to be destroyed. Pursuant to this order, they were distributed among the public baths, where, for the space of six months, they served to supply the fires of those places, of which there was an incredible number in Alexandria. See AMROU.

After the city was taken, Amrou thought proper to pursue the Greeks who had fled farther up the country; and therefore marched out of Alexandria, leaving but a very slender garrison in the place. The Greeks, who had before fled on board their ships, being apprised of this, returned on a sudden, surprised the town, and put all the Arabs they met with to the sword; but Amrou, receiving advice of what had happened, suddenly returned, and drove them out of it with great slaughter; after which the Greeks were so intimidated, that he had nothing further to fear from them—A few years after, however, Amrou being deprived of his government by the caliph Othman, the Egyptians were so much displeased with his dismission that they showed a tendency to revolt. Constantine, the Greek emperor, having received intelligence of their disaffection, determined on the reduction of Alexandria. For this purpose he sent the eunuch Manuel, his general, with a powerful army, to retake that place; which, by the assistance of the Greeks in the city, who kept a secret correspondence with the imperial forces while at sea, and joined them as soon as they had made a descent, he effected with inconsiderable loss. The caliph, now perceiving his mistake, immediately restored Amrou to his former dignity. This step was very agreeable to the natives, who, having had experience of the military skill and bravery of this renowned general, and apprehending that they should be called to an account by the Greeks for their former perfidious conduct, had petitioned Othman to send him again into Egypt.—Upon Amrou's arrival, therefore, at Alexandria, the Copts or natives, with the traitor Al-Mokawkas (who had formerly betrayed to Amrou the fortress of Mesr) at their head, not only joined him, but supplied him with all kinds of provisions, exciting him to attack the Greeks without delay. This he did; and after a most obstinate struggle, which lasted several days, drove them into the town, where, for some time, they defended themselves with great bravery, and repelled the utmost efforts of the besiegers. This so exasperated Amrou that he swore, if God enabled him to conquer the Greeks, he would throw down the walls of the city, and make it as easy of access as the house of a prostitute. Nor did he fail to execute his threat; for, having taken the town by storm, he quite dismantled it, entirely demolishing the walls and fortifications. The lives of the citizens, however, were spared, at least as far as lay in the general's power; but many of them were put to the sword by the soldiers on their first entrance. In one quarter particularly, Amrou found them butchering the Alexandrians with unrelenting barbarity; to which, however, by his seasonable interposition, he put a stop, and on that spot erected a mosque, which he called the mosque of mercy.

From this time Alexandria never recovered its former splendour. It continued under the dominion of the caliphs till the year 924, when it was taken by the Magrebians, two years after its great church had been destroyed by fire. This church was called by the Arabs *Al Kaisaria* or *Ceresrea*, and had formerly been a pagan temple, erected in honour of Saturn by Cleopatra.

The city was soon after abandoned by the Magrebians; but in 928 they again made themselves masters of it. Their fleet being afterwards defeated by that of the caliph, Abul Käsem the Magrebian general retired from Alexandria, leaving there only a garrison of 300 men; of which Thamal, the caliph's admiral, being apprised, he in a few days appeared before the town, and carried off the remainder of the inhabitants to an island of the Nile called Aboukir. This was done to prevent Abul Käsem from meeting with any entertainment at Alexandria, in case he should think proper to return. According to Eutychius, above 200,000 of the miserable inhabitants perished this year.

What contributed to raise Alexandria to the extraordinary height of splendour it enjoyed for a long time, was its being the centre of commerce between the eastern and western parts of the world. It was with the view of becoming master of this lucrative trade, that Alexander built this city, after having extirpated the Tyrians, who formerly engrossed all the traffic of the East. Of the immense riches which that trade afforded, we may form an idea from considering that the Romans accounted it a point of policy to oppress the Egyptians, especially the Alexandrians. Extravagant accounts have been given of the wealth of Alexandria; but according to Strabo, the revenue of all Egypt under the last and most indolent of the Ptolemies, amounted only to 12,500 talents, or about two millions and a half of our money. This was afterwards considerably increased by the more exact economy of the Romans, and the increase of the trade of Ethiopia and India.

Though the revolutions which happened in the government of Egypt after it fell into the hands of the Mahometans frequently affected this city to a very great degree, yet still the excellence of its port, and the innumerable conveniences resulting from the East India trade to the possessors of Egypt, preserved it from total destruction, even when in the hands of the most barbarous nations. Thus, in the 13th century, when the European nations began to acquire a taste for the elegancies of life, the old mart of Alexandria began to revive; and the port, though far from recovering its former magnificence, grew once more famous by becoming the centre of commerce; but having fallen under the dominion of the Turks, and the passage round the Cape of Good Hope being discovered by the Portuguese in 1497, a fatal blow was given to the Alexandrian commerce, and the city thenceforward rapidly declined.

*Alexandria Modern*, is built upon a neck of land between the two ports. That to the westward, the ancient *Enostos*, now the *old port*, is by far the best. It stretches from the town westward to Marabout, nearly six miles, is about a mile and a half wide, and has three entrances. The first, or that nearest the city, has seventeen feet of water, and is about two miles south-west from the large building. situated a little to the westward of the town, called the palace. The entrance, however, is difficult. The eastern side of the second or middle entrance is marked by buoys, which lie about two miles and three quarters south-west from the palace; it is about a quarter of a mile wide, and has, where shallowest, twenty-seven feet of water. The third or western entrance, which is the best, has its western boundary about three eighths of a mile from the east end of Marabout Island, is about half a mile wide, and has at its shallowest part from twenty-five to twenty-seven feet of water. The new or Asiatic harbour is on the eastern side of the town. The space for anchorage in it is very limited; and being exposed to the north winds, with a foul and rocky bottom, the cables of vessels soon chafe and part, by which serious accidents sometimes happen, from the violent collision of the vessels thus driven from their moorings.

The country around Alexandria is entirely destitute of water. That necessary is supplied from the Nile by the kaidj, a canal of 12 leagues, which conveys it every year at the time of the inundation. It fills the vaults or reservoirs dug under the ancient city; and this provision serves till the next year. It is evident, therefore, that were a foreign power to take possession, the canal would be shut, and all supplies of water cut off. It is this canal alone which connects Alexandria with Egypt; for, from its situation without the Delta, and the nature of the soil, it really belongs to the deserts of Africa. Its environs on the western and southern side are sandy, flat, and sterile, without trees or houses; on the eastern side the country is broken and undulating, and adorned in the vicinity of the town with well-cultivated gardens. The famous tower of Pharos has long since been demolished, and a castle, called Pharillon, built in its place. The causeway which joined the island to the continent is broken down, and its place supplied by a strong bridge of several arches.

Some parts of the Saracenic walls of the city are yet standing, and present a fine specimen of ancient masonry. They were flanked with large towers, about 200 paces distant from each other, with small towers in the middle. Below were some extensive casemates, which might serve for galleries to walk in. In the lower part of one of the towers was a large square hall, the roof of which was supported by thick columns of Thebaic syenite. Above were several rooms, over which were platforms more than 20 paces square. The ancient reservoirs, vaulted with so much art, which extend under the whole town, remain almost entire at the end of 2000 years.

Of Cesar's palace there remain only a few porphyry pillars, and the front, which is almost entire, and very beautiful. The palace of Cleopatra was built upon the walls facing the port, with a gallery on the outside, supported by several fine columns. Not far from this palace are two obelisks, vulgarly called Cleopatra's Needles. They are of Thebaic stone, and covered with hieroglyphics. One is overturned, defaced, and lying under the sand; the other is on its plinth. These two obelisks, each of which is a single stone, measured 70 feet high, by 7 feet 7 inches at the base. Denon, who went to Egypt along with the French army in 1798, supposed that these columns decorated the entrance of the palace of the Ptolemies, the ruins of which still exist at no great distance from the place of the obelisks. Towards the gate of Rosetta are five columns of marble, on the place formerly occupied by the porticoes of the gymnasium. The rest of the colonnade, the design of which was discoverable 150 years ago by Maillet, has since been destroyed by the barbarism of the Turks.

But what most engages the attention of travellers is the pillar of Pompey, as it is commonly called, situated at a quarter of a league from the southern gate. It is composed of red granite. The capital, which is Corinthian, with palm leaves, and not indented, is nine feet high. The shaft and the upper member of the base are of one piece of nearly 90 feet long and 9 in diameter. The base is a square of about 15 feet on each side. This block of marble, 60 feet in circumference, rests on two layers of stone bound together with lead; which, however, has not prevented the Arabs from forcing out several of them, to search for an imaginary treasure. The whole column is 98 feet 9 inches high; 29 feet 8 inches in circumference; and the diameter at the top of the capital measures 16 feet 6 inches. It is perfectly polished, and only a little shivered on the eastern side. Nothing can equal the majesty of this monument: seen from a distance, it overtops the town, and serves as a signal for vessels. On a nearer approach, it produces an astonishment mixed with awe. One can never be tired with admiring this beautiful column, the length of the shaft, or the extraordinary simplicity of the pedestal. This last has been somewhat damaged by the instruments of travellers, who are curious to possess a relic of this antiquity. The column was considered inaccessible, till it was scaled about half a century ago by the wild frolic of a party of English sailors, who conceived the project of emptying a bowel of punch on the top of this celebrated monument. Dextrously availing themselves of the movements of a paper kite, they succeeded in fastening a rope to the summit, by which they ascended, and performed this great achievement. They discovered a foot and ankle, the only remnant of a gigantic statue which had originally adorned it. It was ascended by Captain W. H. Smyth, R.N. in 1822, for the purpose of ascertaining, by a series of angles taken from its summit, whether, as he had imagined, it had been erected as a mark at the north end of the degree of the meridian measured by Eratosthenes. At that time it was ascended by many persons; and Mr Marden mentions an English lady who breakfasted and wrote a letter from this elevated position. At the base, on the west side of the pedestal, some English officers found a Greek inscription, from which it would appear to have been erected in the time, and to the honour, of the emperor Diocletian; although the monolithic shaft appears of far greater antiquity.

The island of the Pharos, called by the Arabs, Rondah-el-Tyn, or the Garden of Fig-trees, lies in a N.E. and S.W. direction, to the N. of the city, and consists of a dry saline soil, and dazzling white calcareous rocks, bordered with reefs, especially on the S.W. side. At its north-eastern extremity is situate the castle, a large and lofty square building, which previous to 1842 was surmounted by a lighthouse in the form of a minaret, a substitute for the ancient magnificent structure, which stood on a rock in the eastern harbour. The castle has been strongly fortified, and occupies a small island joined to the larger one by a dike, constructed in part of ancient granite columns laid crosswise. A new lighthouse was erected in 1842, on the most westerly point of the island. It has a fixed light, 180 feet above the level of the sea, which in clear weather is visible at a distance of nearly 20 miles. The high coasts of the island shelter the old harbour from the violent winds that blow between N.W. and N.E. At its south-western extremity, called Ras-el-Tyn, or Fig-tree point, there is a naval hospital, capable of holding 300 beds, with spacious, lofty, and well-aired apartments. The foundations of the ancient Pharos are to be seen in a calm day below water.

On the south-west side of the city, at a mile's distance, are situate the catacombs, the ancient burial-place of Alexandria; a remarkable object, although they cannot be compared to those of the ancient Thebes. The Baron de Tott, in describing these, observes "that Nature not having furnished this part of Egypt with a ridge of rocks, like that which runs parallel with the Nile above Delta, the ancient inhabitants of Alexandria could only have an imitation by digging into a bed of solid rock; and thus they formed a Necropolis, or City of the Dead. The excavation is from 30 to 40 feet wide, 200 long, and 25 deep, and is terminated by gentle declivities at each end. The two sides, cut perpendicularly, contain several openings, about 10 or 12 feet in width and height, hollowed horizontally; and which form, by their different branches, subterranean streets. One of these, which curiosity has disencumbered from the ruins and sands that render the entrance of others difficult or impossible, contains no mummies, but only the places they occupied. The order in which they were ranged is still to be seen. Niches, 20 inches square, sunk six feet horizontally, narrowed at the bottom, and separated from each other by partitions in the rock seven or eight inches thick, divided into checkers the two walls of this subterranean vault. It is natural to suppose, from this disposition, that each mummy was introduced with the feet foremost into the cell intended for its reception; and that new streets were opened, in proportion as these dead inhabitants of Necropolis increased." This observation, he adds, which throws a light on the catacombs of Memphis, may perhaps likewise explain the vast size and multitude, as well as the different elevations, of the pyramids in Upper and Lower Egypt.

About seventy paces from Pompey's pillar is the canal of the Nile, which was dug by the ancient Egyptians, to convey the water of the Nile to Alexandria, and fill the cisterns under the city. This canal had ceased altogether to be navigable, till Mahommed Ali spent immense labour and cost in restoring it. The work was begun in 1819, and completed within a year, at a melancholy sacrifice of human life. Unfortunately, the Italian engineers whom he employed were entirely destitute of the skill necessary to conduct so great and arduous an undertaking. They took no measures to protect the canal against the fresh influx of mud from the Nile, so that it was soon choked up, and still requires frequent cleaning out. It now forms the regular line of communication between Alexandria and the Nile for the overland passage to India. The distance between Alexandria and Atfeh, where passengers embark on the Nile, is 48 English miles.

modern times, until its complete fortification by Mahommed Ali, has never ranked as a place of strength. Accordingly, when attacked by Bonaparte in 1798, it surrendered almost without a blow. The French were very industrious in forming the place, if not into a regular fortress, yet into a very strong entrenched position. They appear to have succeeded. In 1801 Sir Ralph Abercromby undertook his memorable expedition. On the 13th and 21st March he gained, in the plain before Alexandria, two successive victories, of which the last was most complete and signal, though purchased by the life of the distinguished commander. Yet it was still not considered possible to carry Alexandria, unless by regular siege; the conclusion of which, on the 2d September, was accompanied by a general convention for the evacuation of Egypt by the French armies.

In 1807 a British force under the command of General Frazer landed and took possession of Alexandria without resistance; but being repulsed in two successive attempts upon Rosetta, they finally evacuated it on the 23d September of the same year.

It has recently begun to recover some degree of prosperity, from its being an important station on the overland route to India, by which the distance is shortened more than a half; and rendered comparatively safe and expeditions. Steamers from England, Marseilles, Trieste, and Constantinople sail regularly to and from Alexandria; and the goods, mails, and passengers which they convey, pass by the Mahmoudéeh canal and the Nile, through Cairo and the desert, to and from Suez, which communicates with India by the Red Sea steamers. The consequence has been a rapid increase of population, and enlargement of the town. In the Turkish quarter, however, the streets are still narrow and irregular, and the greater part of the houses very humble and poor. In the Frank or European quarter, the houses are clean and whitewashed, generally elegant and well-built, in wide, airy streets, and it contains a large new square, where are found the principal hotels and most of the consulates. The houses are built of brick or of stone, dug from the ruins of the ancient city. In the environs there are a number of handsome villas, with well-inclosed gardens. Its exports are chiefly corn, cotton, flax, wool, rice, opium, senna, and other African products; and its imports are cotton, woollen, and silk goods, hardware, iron, machinery, coals, &c. In the year 1847, 199 vessels of the united burden of 409,516 tons entered its port; of which 465 vessels, of 136,499 tons, were British; and in 1849, 1651 vessels, of which 336 were British. In 1843 the value of its imports was L1,005,412, and of its exports, L1,321,268. It has a new palace, a custom-house, and two theatres; a naval arsenal, a marine hospital, a dry dock, a military and a naval school, several mosques, synagogues, and Christian churches; and since 1840 a Protestant church. Its population amounts to about 60,000 exclusive of the military, and is of a very mixed character, consisting of Turks, Copts, Armenians, Greeks, Syrians, Jews, and Europeans.

Alexandria is about forty leagues north-west of Cairo. A railway is at present (1853) in the course of construction between these two places. Long. 30. 10. E. Lat. 31. 12. N.

city of Virginia, in N. America, capital of the county of the same name, and lately in the district of Columbia. It is beautifully situated on the right bank of the river Potomac, six miles south of Washington. It is neat and well-built, has a good harbour, and a considerable trade in flour. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal begins here, which must tend to increase the prosperity of the town. In 1850 the population amounted to 8795; and that of the county to 10,216.

city of Russia, capital of the circle of that name in the province of Cherson. It is situated on the river Inguletz, and contains 270 houses and 1200 inhabitants. Great quantities of maize are grown in the neighbourhood; and the sheep are of the broad-tailed kind, like those of the Cape of Good Hope. Long. 33. 3. E. Lat. 48. 22. N.

Ancient Geography, a city of Arachosia, called also Alexandropolis, on the river Arachthus (Stephanus, Isidorus Characenus).—Another Alexandria in Gedrosia, built by Leonatus by order of Alexander (Pliny).—A third Alexandria in Arias, situated at the lake Arias (Ptolemy); but, according to Pliny, built by Alexander on the river Arius.—A fourth in Bactriana (Pliny).—A fifth Alexandria, an inland town of Carmania (Pliny, Ptolemy, Ammianus).—A sixth Alexandria, or Alexandropolis, in Sogdiana (Isidorus Characenus).—A seventh in India, at the confluence of the Acesines and Indus (Arrian).—An eighth, called also Alexandretta, near the Sinus Issicus, on the confines of Syria and Cilicia, now Scanderoon, the port town to Aleppo.—A ninth Alexandria of Margiana, which being demolished by the barbarians, was rebuilt by Antiochus the son of Seleucus, and called Antiochia of Syria (Pliny); watered by the river Margus, which is divided into several channels, for the purpose of watering the country which was called Zotaile. The city was seventy stadia in circuit, according to Pliny; who adds, that after the defeat of Crassus, the captives were conveyed to this place by Orodes, the king of the Parthians.—A tenth, of the Oxiana, built on the Oxus by Alexander, on the confines of Bactria (Pliny).—An eleventh, built by Alexander at the foot of Mount Paropamisus, which was called Caucasus (Pliny, Arrian).—A twelfth Alexandria in Troas, called also Troas and Antigonia (Pliny).—A thirteenth on the Jaxartes, the boundary of Alexander's victories towards Scythia, and the last that he built on that side.

ALEXANDRIAN MS., Codex Alexandrinus, the appellation given to a manuscript of the Sacred Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments now in the British Museum. This venerable Greek MS. was presented to our Charles I., through the hands of his ambassador to the Porte, Sir Thomas Rowe, by Cyrilus Lucaris, patriarch of Constantinople, in 1628. The donor had then recently brought it from Alexandria, whence its name. It remained in the royal library of our sovereigns, until transferred to the Museum in 1753. It is contained in four small folio volumes, written on vellum in double columns; the first three containing the Old Testament, the last the New Testament. The Old, however, is more perfect than the New; for the beginning of the Gospel of St Matthew is lost, the MS. commencing with the 6th verse of chapter xxv. There are several lacunae in the Gospel of St John, as vi. 50, viii. 52; and a still larger one in 2d Epistle to Corinthians, from chap. iv. 13, to xii. 6. (See Weide's Prolegomena.) Occasionally too, single letters have disappeared, from the operations of the bookbinder. The characters are unequal, well rounded, and carefully written. There are no interspaces dividing words, no aspirates, nor accents, few contractions; and no instances of Stichometry, or division into lines to be read without pauses, an improvement introduced by Euthalius, about the year 462; from which last circumstance Woide and many other critics believe this MS. to be at least older than that period. An Arabic inscription on the reverse of the leaf containing a list of the books of both Testaments, states that it was written by the martyred Thekla. Whether this be true or not, the manuscript bears marks of an Egyptian origin, from Egyptian orthography, the confusion of vowels with nearly similar sounds, and Alexandrian forms of inflection of some tenses, as of the 2d Aorist. That the MS. is very ancient is undoubted, though able critics are divided whether it ought to be referred to the early part of the fourth or beginning of the sixth century; but it seems most probably written before the middle of the fifth. Besides the books of the Old Testament which we regard as canonical, it contains the Apocryphal books, with the exception of the story of Susannah, and of Bel and the Dragon; but it contains the 3d and 4th books of Maccabees. These books are somewhat differently arranged from that of our version, or of the Vulgate of St Jerome. The psalms are divided into 151, with 15 hymns. As an introduction to them, the MS. contains the Epistle of Athanasius to Marcellinus, contained in 1277 lines; with the hypothesis of Eusebius on the Psalms. These three volumes, with very valuable prolegomena and notes, have been printed in fac-simile of the MS. at the expense of the British Museum, by the Rev. H. H. Baber, lately librarian to that institution. Half of the third volume is occupied with Baber's most valuable notes. The fac-simile of the New Testament published by Woide, in 1786, contains very excellent prolegomena and critical remarks on the MS., the general accuracy of which are admitted, though his deductions as to the age of the transcript have been much canvassed. This publication renders a collation of the MS. of the New Testament unnecessary; and his volume is now considered as completing this important work. In the 4th volume of the MS. we have the books of the New Testament in nearly the order usually adopted; except that the Epistle of Paul to the Hebrews immediately follows 2d Thessalonians; and that the Epistle of James, the two of Peter, the three of John, and that of Jude, are included under the Catholica placed between the Acts and the Epistles of Paul. The MS. contains also the whole of the 1st and part of the 2d Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians, which follow the Apocalypse, and are succeeded by the 8 Psalms of Solomon. We may remark that the well-known verses about the three witnesses in the 5th chapter of the 1st Epistle of St John, are not in this MS., nor indeed in almost any of the very ancient Codices; whence its genuineness is doubted by most critics. See Burnet's Travels, Letter I.

To those who desire a more minute account of the Alexandrian manuscript, we must refer them to the prolegomena and notes of Baber and Woide, while we shall add the table of contents of the four volumes (as given in the first volume), with the corresponding designations in the English Bible.

**Tom. I.**

| Τετάρτη Κοσμίου | Genesis | |------------------|---------| | Ἐξόδος Ἀγρυπνοῦ | Exodus | | Λευκτροῦ | Leviticus | | Ἁριβεῖ | Numbers | | Δευτερονόμια | Deuteronomy | | Ἰούδας Ναοῦ | Joshua, son of Nun | | Κριτῶν | Judges | | Ρούθ | Ruth | | Βασιλέως ἀ | Samuel I. or Kings I. | | Βασιλέως β | Samuel II. or Kings II. | | Βασιλέως γ | Kings I. or Kings III. | | Βασιλέως δ | Kings II. or Kings IV. | | Παραλειμμένα α | Chronicles I. | | Παραλειμμένα β | Chronicles II. |

**Tom. II.**

Προφήται (16 Prophets).

| Ὅσιος | Hosea | | Ἄμως | Amos | | Μιχαὴλ | Micah | | Ἰωσὴ | Joel | | Ἀβδαδίας | Obadiah | | Ἰωάννης | Jonah | | Ναοῦμ | Nahum | | Ἀμβακοὺκ | Habakkuk | | Ζοροαστρίας | Zephaniah | | Ἀγγελος | Haggai | | Ζαχαρίας | Zachariah | | Μαλαχίας | Malachi | | Ἱερεμίας | Isaiah | | Ἐρμοναῖας | Jeremiah | | Φρεγμοναῖας | Lamentations | | Ἐζεκίας | Ezekiel | | Δανιήλ | Daniel | | Ἐσθήρ | Esther | | Τοβίθ | Tobit | | Ἰουδίας | Judith | | Ἐσδρας ἀ | Esdras I. | | Ἐσδρας β | Esdras II., including Nequam, and part of the canonical Book of Ezra. | | Μακκαβεῶν α | Maccabees I. | | Μακκαβεῶν β | Maccabees II. | | Μακκαβεῶν γ | Maccabees III. | | Μακκαβεῶν δ | Maccabees IV. |

**Tom. III.**

| Ἀθανασίου Ἐπιστολῆς ἐπὶ Μαρκελλίνῳ | Epistle of Athanasius to Marcellinus on the Psalms. | | Εὐσεβίου Ἐπιστολῆς | Hypothesis of Eusebius on the Psalms. | | Παλαιῶν περὶ Ἀδεων | Psalms 151, Hymns 15. | Alexandrian School. At the time when Greece, by a series of disasters, was deprived of her ancient independence, the glorious era of her poetry was already past; and that intellectual pre-eminence which she had enjoyed for so long a period, was now to find a powerful rival in the city of Alexandria, which, under the Graeco-Egyptian dynasty of the Lagidae, was destined to attain a high celebrity as the seat of letters. At the end of the fourth century before Christ, Ptolemy Soter drew around him at Alexandria many philosophers and men of letters from different parts of Greece; and the work thus commenced by the son of Lagus, was continued after him by Ptolemy Philadelphus, and Ptolemy Euergetes, in succession. Ptolemy Soter, animated with a laudable ambition, founded the Museum, a vast establishment in connection with the royal residence, and thither the learned of all countries were welcomed. That every facility might be afforded them for cultivating the several branches of science and literature, this prince collected from all parts of the world the most celebrated literary productions, and thus laid the foundation of that famous library, which excited the admiration of the ancients, and of which the destruction has given rise to so many contradictory reports. The office of librarian was first held by Demetrius Phalereus. The library and museum, with its theatre for lectures and public assemblies, were connected with the palace by long colonnades of marble, and magnificently adorned by obelisks, sphinxes, and other trophies from the Pharaonic cities. The museum was provided with private apartments for the accommodation of the members, and contained a great saloon in which they took their repasts in common. To this establishment was attached a botanic garden enriched with tropical flora; and also a menagerie of the rarest animals. The museum was governed by a president who was nominated by the Ptolemies, and afterwards by the Caesars. An exterior peristyle or corridor was devoted to exercise and ambulatory lectures. Ptolemy Philadelphus instituted, in honour of Apollo, those literary contests called Ludi Musarum et Apollinis, at which public prizes were adjudged to the successful competitors. This prince also made very considerable additions to the library, of which an account has already been given. See Alexandria.

Alexandria and its school appear to have soon recovered from the disasters of civil war; for in the second century of our era the learned assembled there in great numbers; and a new school of philosophy arose, which, from the third down to the close of the fifth century, attempted to supply the human intellect with a standing ground between the scepticism that followed the decline of Grecian philosophy on the one hand, and the rapidly spreading, and finally victorious, influence of Christianity on the other. The term "Alexandrian School" is applied in a loose sense to the whole body of eminent men who, in all the departments of knowledge, conferred lustre on the capital of the Ptolemies; but as a characteristic designation, it is more strictly confined to that particular section of its philosophers known as the Neo-Platonists. This philosophy, as the name implies, was a new development of Platonism, in a form and combination suited to the exigency of the time, and is specially remarkable as an advance from the more purely rational point of view of the Greeks towards the sphere of religious ideas—as a transition stage between the grossness of pagan superstition, and the spiritual reign of Christianity. Setting out from the higher doctrines of Plato, which formed at once its starting point and its unifying centre, it sought by a broad eclecticism to harmonize, 1st, All philosophy; 2d, All religion. Its first step was the reconciliation, in a higher unity, of Platonism and Aristotelianism; it next set itself to harmonise all the old religious beliefs, by bringing in the mysticism of the East to interpret their higher meaning; and thus it presented the new and peculiar phenomenon of Grecian dialectics applied to oriental theosophy, of philosophy and religion for the first time in alliance. To Christianity its relation was one of direct hostility; while at the same time, it approached it on the side of its higher mysteries, and represented itself as possessed of all that was true in the new religion. Neo-Platonism and Christianity (so far at least as the Alexandrian theology is concerned) exercised on each other a mutually modifying influence.

The first beginning of this remarkable eclecticism dates with the Jew Philo in the first century; but it does not appear as a distinct and influential movement till the opening of the school of Ammonius Saccas (A.D. 193), followed by the more decided and comprehensive development of Neo-Platonism by his disciple Plotinus (A.D. 200-270). In the next generation it was represented by Porphyry and Iamblichus; somewhat later by Hierocles; and it finally attained its culmination with Proclus (A.D. 412-485), in whose person the philosophy of Alexandria, and of the Old World, became extinct. Neo-Platonism thus presents three periods or stages of development: its metaphysics are chiefly represented by Plotinus; its logic and theosophy by Porphyry and Iamblichus; and the systematic combination of its parts gave employment to the genius of Proclus.

For a more particular account of their doctrines, see AMMONIUS, PLOTINUS, &c.

But Alexandria was not distinguished alone by its philosophical school. At the same period also arose those new systems of cosmography which prepared the way for the geography of the moderns, and gave a fresh impulse to research and discovery. Under the infamous Caracalla the museum was suppressed, and from A.D. 257 to 267, pestilence, conflagrations, and civil wars, gave a blow to this seat of learning, from which it recovered with difficulty. The library, however, still subsisted, and continued to augment, until fanaticism completed its ruin. In 391 a bloody struggle took place between the Pagans and the Christians, the priests on either side fomenting the division; and during this contest the magnificent Serapeion was terribly devastated. Whether any part of the library was preserved cannot now be ascertained, but in the sixth century Alexandria became famous for its medical school, and doubtless a new library must have been formed. The story of its destruction by the command of Omar has been already mentioned.

The system of instruction pursued at Alexandria must not be confounded with the modern, nor yet with the ancient academical course, for the promulgation of a systematic doctrine, or a positive science. There was not at any given period a regular school for the teaching of fixed general principles. The views of the Greeks differed from those of the Christian philosophers as well as from those of the Jews. Nor were mental philosophy and letters the sole objects of study with the Alexandrians; they also engaged in the natural and exact sciences, in philology, medicine, and anatomy. The latter science, indeed, may be said to have been created by them, notwithstanding that the dissection of the human body was repugnant to the religious prejudices of the Greeks. In short, at this school every branch of knowledge was represented, and some of its learned men may truly be styled encyclopaedists, whose studies embraced the whole circle of the sciences, and who drew their information from the literature of all countries. If the productions of Greece chiefly occupied the shelves of the library, it is certain that native works, and the written documents of other countries, existed in great numbers at Alexandria. These works were sometimes translated into the Greek tongue; as, for example, the version of the Hebrew Scriptures known as the Septuagint. Alexandria, in its earlier period, was almost exclusively a school of grammar and criticism, to which sciences the learned devoted themselves with unrewarded assiduity. Hence the Alexandrians soon became the arbiters of the Greek language; and by devoting their labours to the writings of the ancients, they became the restorers of learning, producing correct editions of their works, often accompanied with learned commentaries of great value, though occasionally they are chargeable with prolixity and excessive refinement. The name of Aristarchus of Samothrace is proverbial in literary criticism; and in the same category must be placed Zenodotus of Ephesus, Eratosthenes of Cyrene the celebrated geometer and astronomer, Aristophanes of Byzantium, Crates of Mallos, Dionysius of Thrace, Apollonius the sophist, Didymus, and Zoilus. In the same department must also be noticed the learned dictionaries and laborious lucubrations of Harpocration, of Julius Pollux, Hephaestion, Hesychius, and Ammonius. The studies of these men comprehended not only grammar, but likewise criticism, the science of the scholast, the drama, metrical verse, and archaeology. Though occasionally heavy, their erudition was real and profound; and to this class of men we are indebted for elaborate editions of Thucydides, Plato, Aristotle, and other ancient classics. Admirably fitted as they were for the task, they omitted nothing that could serve to elucidate the ancient text. The natural result, however, of this incessant application to the study of the ancients, was to limit the original productions of the Alexandrians. With the exceptions of the curious chronicles of Manetho, and the Chronographia of Eratosthenes (of which works the fragments which remain have acquired deep interest by the hieroglyphical discoveries of Young and Champollion), the Alexandrians have bequeathed to us no valuable work on Egyptian history; their researches being chiefly directed to the traditional histories of the several Greek states, and the obscure question of their origin. In poetry they devoted themselves rather to the niceties of style and artifices of combination than to the nobler part of that art. With those works of unapproachable excellence ever before their eyes, they laboured to become original inventors, and in default of genius, they fell into exaggeration and affectation. It would be erroneous, however, to include in this censure all the poets of the Alexandrian school, or to ascribe an equal degree of merit to the names of Apollonius Rhodius, Lycophron, Aratus, Nicander, Euphorion, Callimachus, Theocritus, Philetas, Phanocles, Scymnus, and Dionysius. Besides these poets, Alexandria possessed a Pleiad of seven tragedians, famous in their day; but there appears to be little reason to regret the loss of their works.

The natural sciences were cultivated at Alexandria with great success. Herophilus and Erasistratus were distinguished anatomists: Demosthenes Philalethes wrote the first work on diseases of the eye; Zopyrus and Cratevas were the improvers of pharmacy, especially of that branch known as rhizotomy; and here also Asclepiades, Seranus, and the celebrated Galen, received instruction in the healing art. But yet greater was its fame as a mathematical school. Among its scholars were Euclid, the father of scientific geometry; Apollonius of Perga, whose work on the conic sections still exists; Nicomachus, the first scientific arithmetician; and it is well known that at Alexandria were made those improvements in the theory of the calendar which were afterwards adopted into the Julian calendar. Here also Claudius Ptolemy (whose system of geography and astronomy was followed until the time of Copernicus) composed his Magna Syntaxis, Aratus his Phenomena, Menelaus his Sphaerica; and to these must be added the names of Eratosthenes, Hipparchus, and Aristyllus. The studies of some of these philosophers embraced every variety of human learning. Their knowledge was frequently profound on subjects of the most opposite nature,—as, for example, we find Eratosthenes celebrated not only as a geometer and astronomer, but also as a geographer, philosopher, historian, and grammarian; and the Deipnosophistes of Athenaeus is an inexhaustible mine of learning on subjects the most widely diversified, in philology, poetry, history, and archaeology. Among the interpreters of Sacred Writ were the (Hellenizing) Jews, Aristobulus and Philo, while the Christian school of Theology flourished under the successive care of Pantenus, Clement, and Origen. At a later period, the Christian school of Alexandria was adorned by the talents of Athanasius, Gregory of Nazianzen, Julius Africanus, Hesychius, Cyril, Synesius, and a host of others.—Essai Historique sur l'Ecole d'Alexandrie, par M. Jacob Matter, Paris, 1820, 2 vols. 8vo.