The Alexandrian Studies Centre expedition has begun the task of indexing, photographing and documenting 4,000 pieces of the remains of the 3rd century BC Lighthouse or Pharos of Alexandria, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The pieces were found by French archaeologists on the Mediterranean bed at Alexandria’s Eastern Harbour at the tip of which lies Qaitbay Citadel, the medieval fort built on the site of the ancient lighthouse.
The lighthouse was badly damaged by three earthquakes between AD956 and 1323. It was an abandoned ruin till 1480, when the last of its stones were used to build the Citadel of Qaitbay on the site. In 1994, French archaeologists discovered some remains of the lighthouse on the seabed of the Eastern Harbour.
Muhammad Mustafa Abdel Mageed, General Manager of the Department for Sunken Antiquities at Egypt’s Antiquities Ministry, told Watani once the indexing is complete, work will resume to salvage the sunken ship Qaitbay 2.
Watani International
16 October 2016