Alexandria

Alexandria is a very busy city on the Mediterranean Sea.  It was founded by Alexander the Great in 331 BCE and is the stuff of legend!  Alexander arrived from Sinai and had his right to rule Egypt confirmed by the priests of Memphis.  When Alexander died at Babylon in 323 BCE the rule of Egypt fell to the Macedonian general Ptolemy who mastermined the development of the new city, filling it with architecture to rival Rome or Athens.  But over the centuries the monuments were destroyed so much by earthquakes that the classical world has almost gone. The reign of Egyptian reformist Mohammed Ali from 1805 led to a new town being built on top of the old one. 

In 1900 the Tomb (Catacombs) of Kom Ash Shuqqafa were discovered when a donkey fell into a hole! It dates to the end of the 1st century AD and was used until the 4th century.  The funerary architecture combines Egyptian, Greek and Roman art.  It's a warren of corridors with chambers that once held the deceased. 

Pompey's Pillar nearby is the only ancient monument in Alexandria which is still whole and standing.  An inscription on the base says it was erected in CE 291 to support a statue of Diocletian.  

The city's impressive library opened in 2002.  The main reading room has 8 million books and can accommodate 2500  readers! 

After a busy couple of days in Alexandria we hit the road back to Cairo to catch the sleeper train to Aswan.