Heptastadion

The Heptastadion was a giant causeway, often referred to as a mole[1] or a dyke built by the people of Alexandria, Egypt during the Ptolemaic period.[2] It connected the island on which the Pharos lighthouse stood to the mainland. It is also believed to have served as an aqueduct while Pharos was inhabited.[3] Due to silting over the years,[1] the former dyke now forms the Mansheya isthmus.[4] Its name comes from its length: seven stadia (Hepta meaning seven).[3]

References

  1. ^ a b Pearson, Birger Albert (2004). Gnosticism and Christianity in Roman and Coptic Egypt. Continuum International Publishing Group. pp. 104. ISBN 0567026108. 
  2. ^ Khalid S. Al-Hagla. "Cultural Sustainability: An Asset of Cultural Tourism Industry". International Cetre for Research on the Economics of Culture, Institutions, and Creativity (EBLA). http://www.eblacenter.unito.it/WP/2005/6_WP_Ebla.pdf. 
  3. ^ a b Bertrand Millet; Goiran, Jean-Philippe (2007). "Impacts of Alexandria’s Heptastadion on Coastal Hydro-Sedimentary Dynamics During the Hellenistic Period". The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 36 (1): 167–176. doi:10.1111/j.1095-9270.2006.00131.x. http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1095-9270.2006.00131.x?cookieSet=1. 
  4. ^ "The Ptolemaic Legacy". http://www.authenticwonders.com/Alexandria/History/legacy.html. Retrieved 2008-02-11.