The Pharos of Alexandria like the Great Pyramid at Giza was Egyptian and one of the "Seven Wonders of the Ancient World" but unlike the Pyramids, which are still in evidence today, the Pharos has long since disappeared. With the exception of the Pyramids all these monuments have become the victims of time, however the Pharos was the last to disappear, lasting until the 14th century AD. The Pharos was of course a lighthouse and was the source of great wonderment to all who saw her. For sailors, it provided a guiding light for a safe return to port, for architects, it was the tallest manmade building in the then known world and for scientists, it was a mysterious mirror which reflected light up to 50km from the shore.

The city of Alexandria was founded by the Macedonian conqueror Alexander the Great in 332 BC. Alexander built many cities named Alexandria at different locations in his vast empire but most of them disappeared. Alexandria in Egypt however, thrived for centuries and continues even today. He is said to have chosen the location of his new city carefully. Instead of building it on the Nile delta, he selected a site some twenty miles to the west, so that the silt and mud carried by the river would not block the city harbor. A canal was constructed linking the Nile with the new city, thus Alexandria became accustomed to both river traffic on the Nile and sea traffic from the Mediterranean. Alexander did not live long enough to see his city reach its great potential so it was up to his successor Ptolemy Soter to continue this work. The work on the lighthouse began in 290 BC, taking 20 years to complete. This new monument now reflected the wealth and progress made during this time.

The actual designer was Sostrates of Knidos, who was so proud of his work that he wanted to have his name carved into the foundation. Ptolemy II, the son who ruled Egypt after his father, refused this request wanting his own name to be the only one on the building. Sostrates, determined to get his own way, had his own inscription applied, covering it over with plaster bearing Ptolemy's name. As time went by, this eroded away exposing the original underneath, leaving the designer with the last say. The name "Pharos" comes from its location on the island of Pharos, where the lighthouse was built.

It is generally thought that the Lighthouse was a tower of over 100 meters tall standing on the eastern tip of Pharos island and that it was constructed in three stages: the first was square, the second octagonal and the last circular. Access to the entrance was up a long vaulted ramp. From there, a spiral staircase led up to the many chambers and it was perhaps used by beasts of burden to carry fuel to the third level where the fire burned on the summit.

In its day the lighthouse was apparently a great tourist attraction. Food was sold to visitors at the observation platform at the top of the first level. A smaller balcony provided a view from the top of the eight-sided tower for those that wanted to make the additional climb. The view from there must have been very impressive as it was probably 300 feet above the sea. There were few places in the ancient world where a person could ascend a man-made tower to get such a perspective.

There are a number of questions, which are difficult to answer though, and its important that we raise them here. If we assume that the light from this lighthouse came from the continuous burning of wood, where did all this wood come from, as this part of Egypt is very sparse in producing trees. Another question relates to the statue or statues, which we are told, adorned its summit. Would the constant heat from the fire below not damage or destroy these statues. Maybe there are answers to these questions but maybe it is fitting that there should still be some mystery surrounding this great monument.

In 1994 a team of archaeological scuba divers entered the waters off of Alexandria, Egypt. Working beneath the surface they searched the bottom of the sea for artifacts. Large underwater blocks of stone were marked with floating masts so that an Electronic Distance Measurement station on shore could obtain their exact positions. Global positioning satellites were used to further fix the locations. The information was then fed into computers to create a detailed database of the sea floor. Did the divers actually find the remains of Pharos in the bottom of the harbor? Some of the larger blocks of stone found certainly seem to have come from a large building. Statues were located that may have stood at the base of the Pharos. Interestingly enough, much of the material found seems to be from earlier eras than the lighthouse. Scientists speculate that they may have been recycled in the construction of the Pharos from even older buildings. There are plans to turn this site into an archaeological park with a lighthouse museum. In a few years visitors maybe able to get into their wet suits and dive in the bay among the remains of the great Pharos lighthouse.