Alexandria
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Alexandria is a city and port in Egypt.
In ancient times, Alexandria was one of the most famous cities in the world. It was founded around a small pharaonic town c. 334 BC by Alexander the Great. It remained Egypt's capital for nearly a thousand years, until the Muslim conquest of Egypt in 641 AD when a new capital was founded at Fustat (Fustat was later absorbed into Cairo).
Alexandria was known for the Lighthouse of Alexandria (one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World), the Library of Alexandria (the largest library in the ancient world) and the Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa (one of the Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages). Ongoing maritime archaeology in the harbor of Alexandria, which began in 1994, is revealing details of Alexandria both before the arrival of Alexander, when a city named Rhakotis existed there, and during the Ptolemaic dynasty.
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Culture
Writings
Novels
- The Alexandria Semaphore by Robert Sole
- Academic Year (1955, set in late 1940s) by D.J. Enright.
- The Alexandria Quartet (1957-60, set in 1930s) by Lawrence Durrell.
- The Bat (part of the Drifting Cities trilogy) (1965, set in 1943-44) by Stratis Tsirkas.
- The Danger Tree (1977, set in 1942, partly in Alexandria) by Olivia Manning.
- The Beacon at Alexandria (1986, set in 4th century) by Gillian Bradshaw.
- City of Saffron (tr. 1989, set in 1930s) by Edwar Al-Kharrat.
- Girls of Alexandria (tr. 1993, set in 1930s and '40s) by Edwar Al-Kharrat.
- No One Sleeps in Alexandria (1996, set during World War II) by Ibrahim Abdel Meguid.
- Miramar (1967) by Naguib Mahfouz.
- Pashazade (2001, first book of the Arabesk trilogy set in a liberal Islamic Ottoman Alexandria in the 21st century) by Jon Courtenay Grimwood.
History
- Alexandria: A History and a Guide (1922; numerous reprints) by E.M. Forster.
- Alexandria: City of Memory (Yale University Press, 2004) by Michael Haag.
Memoir
- Out of Egypt (1994; describes family history in Alexandria) by André Aciman.
Songs
- Songs in French:
- Alexandrie by Georges Moustaki.
- Alexandrie, Alexandra by Claude François.
- Songs in Greek:
- Alexandrinos by Yannis Kotsiras.
- Songs in Arabic:
- Shat Eskendereya by Fairouz.
- Ahsan Nas by Dalida.
- Leil Eskendereya by Moustafa Amar.
- Ya Wad Ya Eskandarany by Moustafa Amar.
- Ya Eskendereya by Mohamed Mounir (lyrics by Ahmed Fouad Negm).
- Songs in English:
- "Alexandria" by Kamelot
Tourism
Alexandria is a main summer resort in the Middle East, visited by people from all other cities to enjoy the sun and the sea. Beaches become full of umbrellas and families and the city is usually crowded in summer. There are both public beaches (which anyone can use for free, and are usually crowded) and private beaches (which can be used upon paying a small fee). There are also private beaches that are dedicated only to the guests of some hotels.
Notable People
- Ahmed Ramzy (Egyptian Actor)
- Ahmed Nazif (Egyptian Prime Minister)
- Alypius (4th century BC) Greek writer on music
- André Aciman (American writer)
- Antonis Benakis (1873-1954) Greek art collector
- Arius (4th century) who sparked the Arian controversy
- Pope Athanasius the Apostolic (Champion of Christianity)
- Claudius Ptolemaus - Soter (Egyptian Ruler) Started Ptolemaic Dynasty
- Cleopatra VII (Egyptian Ruler)
- Constantine P. Cavafy (1863-1933) Greek poet
- Cosmas Indicopleustes (6th century) Greek monk, geographer and writer
- Demis Roussos (Greek singer)
- Eric Hobsbawm (British historian)
- Farida of Egypt ( Former Queen of Egypt)
- Farouk Hosny (Egyptian Minister of Culture)
- Princess Fawzia (Egyptian princess)
- Filippo Tommaso Marinetti (Italian poet and artist)
- Gamal Abdel Nasser (Egyptian President)
- Georges Moustaki (Greek-French singer and composer)
- Gideon Gechtman (Israeli sculptor)
- Giuseppe Ungaretti (Italian poet)
- Haim Saban (American billionaire)
- Hossam Habeeb (Egyptian singer & composer)
- Hend Rostom (Egyptian actress)
- Hypatia (4th-5th century AD) Greek philosopher
- Jean Desses (1904-1970) Greek fashion designer
- Konstantinos Parthenis (1878-1967) Greek painter
- Bayram Al-Tunsi (Egyptian poet)
- Mohamed Al-Fayed (Egyptian businessman)
- Moustafa Amar (Egyptian singer)
- MTM (Egyptian hip-hop & rap music band)
- Omar Sharif (Egyptian actor)
- Pappus (4th century AD) Hellenized Egyptian Mathematician
- Penelope Delta (1874-1941) Greek author
- Rudolf Hess (German deputy fuhrer of the Nazi Party)
- Sayed Darwish (Egyptian music composer)
- Tawfiq al-Hakeem (Egyptian writer)
- Youssef Chahine (Egyptian film director)
- Zahret El O'la (Egyptian Actress)
