Great Harbour

Egypt’s great costal harbours were a solution to the problem posed by the Nile to seafaring ships. Although the river is navigable, the delta silts-up and its waterways change course, sometimes annually. Although ships could navigate the deeper water courses, this constant change made siting ports near the delta impossible. The greatest of the harbours on the coast was undoubtedly at Alexandria. Following Alexander the Great’s orders, his architect Dinocrat had the silted-up port of Rhakotis cleared, and two great harbours constructed; one military, the other for merchant vessels by the island of Pharos to the mainland. This land bridge was one kilometre long and 200 metres wide. It also allowed the construction of the Pharos, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, between 280-247BC.