A major
restoration project of the site of Pompey’s
Pillar in Alexandria was recently completed
by the Supreme Council of Antiquities.
It is now an impressive open museum and
one of the finest archaeological examples
of the Greco-Roman Period in Egyptian history.
Pompey’s Pillar itself stands at
the top of a hill in the oldest part of
the city of Alexandria. Once the site of
an ancient Egyptian village called Rhakotis,
the area became known during Ptolemaic
times as the “Alexandria Acropolis.” Pompey’s
Pillar remains its primary landmark at
an impressive height of approximately 27
meters. It is made of red granite, quarried
and transported from Aswan in Upper Egypt,
and is flanked by two sphinx statues. Contrary
to popular belief, the pillar did not belong
to the great Roman leader, Pompey, but
was erected during the Greco-Roman period
by the people of Alexandria to honor the
Emperor Diocletian. An inscription on the
pillar reads: “To the right and good
emperor, the protector god of Alexandria,
Diocletian, who has never been beaten.
Therefore Postumus constructed this pillar.” Legend
has it, however, that when Pompey was defeated
by Julius Caesar and escaped Rome for Egypt,
only to be killed in Alexandria, his head
was placed in a funerary jar on top of
the pillar’s capital, thus earning
the monument its famous name.
Pompey’s
pillar stands in the center of the temple
hall of the Serapeum, the
principal temple of the Greco-Egyptian
god Serapis, personified by the sacred
Apis bull. The foundations of this temple
survive, along with bilingual texts, dating
construction of the temple to Ptolemy III
Euergetes. A renovation was performed on
the temple in approximately 200 AD, remains
of which are still standing. The Serapeum
also housed an underground library, contemporary
to the ancient library of Alexandria. This
crypt-like structure, approximately 75
meters in length, running beneath the grounds
of Pompey’s pillar, is still well-preserved,
with niches in the walls once reserved
for papyri scrolls. The library is accessed
from a staircase leading from the top of
the hill to the lower-level ground.
The
site of the Alexandria Acropolis also features
a “Nilometer.” By
means of the Shidia canal, which connected
the Nile River to Lake Mariut, the Nilometer
was used for measuring the height of the
Nile during each flooding season.
HOURS OF
OPERATION:
Open daily. 8 AM - 5 PM
Ramadan: 9 AM - 4 PM
TICKET COST:
Egyptian: 2 LE
Foreign: 15 LE
Tripod (permission required): 20 LE
50% reduction for bearers of International Student ID Card
LOCATION:
Alexandria
DIRECTIONS:
BY BUS or TRAIN: Buses and trains run regularly
from Cairo and surrounding major cities
to Alexandria.
BY
TAXI: Within Alexandria, ask for el aamoud
es-sawary, the Arabic
name for Pompey’s
Pillar.
BY
FOOT: Walk west from Misr Train Station
in Midan Gomhuriyya, and follow
the tram
tracks into a market. From here the pillar
is visible.
FACILITIES:
Bathrooms are available on the site in
the visitor’s center.
Facilities may also be found in town, just
outside of
the site proper. Street vendors sell food
in the nearby market. |
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Pompey's Pillar,
flanked by two spinxes (Garry
Shaw) |
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Pompey's Pillar
(SCA Archives)
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