The Nile boat or, glimpses of the land of Egypt / by . byStrabo, the only point noticed being the artificial basin ofRhacotis, whence a canal went off to the lake Mareotis, as atpresent. This harbour, anciently called Eunostus, is now theprincipal one; and on the shore are the palace of the pashaand the arsenal. The modern city chiefly occupies, as willbe seen, the intervening space between the two harbours,but it is extending gradually inland. The whole of the spacebetween the sea and the lake Mareotis, was covered by theancient city. Two great streets, a hundred feet wide, inter-
The Nile boat or, glimpses of the land of Egypt / by . byStrabo, the only point noticed being the artificial basin ofRhacotis, whence a canal went off to the lake Mareotis, as atpresent. This harbour, anciently called Eunostus, is now theprincipal one; and on the shore are the palace of the pashaand the arsenal. The modern city chiefly occupies, as willbe seen, the intervening space between the two harbours,but it is extending gradually inland. The whole of the spacebetween the sea and the lake Mareotis, was covered by theancient city. Two great streets, a hundred feet wide, inter-sected it at right angles, the general direction of which maystill be traced; one of these passed from the lake Mareotis,below Pompeys pillar, to the great harbour, so that the ship-ping was visible at each extremity. It will be seen that but avery small part of the immense site of the ancient city is nowbuilt upon ; an irregular wall encloses about half of it, but ILLAR OF DIOCLE1 o s NEW PORT ==0= .. 11 it fi -^l—.St ^0^^ :\ -t^g~zS-- P /€ 0 I S \ 1. 24 ANCIENT ALEXANDRIA. by this causeway, the eastern, now called the old harbour,was originally the most important; and around it, on the landwhich, as appears in the sketch, is now nearly clear of build-ings, stood formerly the quarter called Bruchion, contain-ing the palace, the museum, with the library, theatre, &c, allremains of which have utterly perished. The site of theCassarium, or temple of Caesar, is marked by the two obelisks,one of which is now prostrate, called Cleopatras needles; andbeyond the projecting rock, mid-way between these monumentsand Lochias point, stood, at the end of a mole, the Timonium,so called because built by Antony, for his desponding retire-ment after the battle of Actium. This, it is hardly necessaryto say, was the principal quarter of Alexandria, that to whichits historical interest principally belongs. On the other sideof Cleopatras needles, were the market and the docks, occupy-ing, a
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1840, booksubjectegyptdescriptionandt
