Moreover, if it is true, as literary tradition leads us to suppose, that the Canopic Street passed through the centre of the town, then that centre, according to our actual knowledge, ought to be sought for by preference along the line of the Rosetta Road where remarkable antiquities have been discovered, and not in Moharrem Bey, to the south of Kom-el-Dik.

Hogarth's objections seem to me more serious. Referring to some shafts which he sank to the north and south of the Rosetta Avenue and arguing from the alignment of the walls that had been uncovered, he concludes « That in this central region at least, the ancient town was built very far from the lines of the modern, and that the axis of the old Canopic Street must vary much at this point from that of the Boulevard de Rosette; the former must have read about 230°, the latter reads 260° ».

In reality, Hogarth's excavations were not carried far enough for us to accept his conclusions without reservation. It may well be that the axis of the ancient street differed somewhat from that of the modern, but to me all the same there seems no doubt that the Canopic Street was not very distant from the Rosetta Road of our own days, and coincided with it over a portion of its course.

Eye-witnesses have often declared that they have seen at different spots, and I myself have observed, columns in rows both on the north and south of the Rosetta Road. Further it is evident that this street must have passed through the centre of the town, and I believe this centre must have been in the triangle formed by the Zizinia Theatre, the Nabi Daniell Mosque, and Toussoun Bourse. It is there that the main transversal street ought to pass. El-Falaki, on the contrary, thinks that the main street is the one marked R. I., on his plan. Starting from Cape Lochias, on which there was a royal palace, it passes close to the harbour reserved for the private boats of the kings, close to the royal arsenal, and ends at a second harbour on the Canal. At a distance of 130 metres from the city walls I discovered the quays of this port, facing a bridge, probably ancient ». He adds details which would have been confirmatory of his identification if Noack's methodical researches along this road had not destroyed this theory.

El-Falaki says: « There is an underground aqueduct on the east side of the road for carrying the Canal water to the palace and into the city to supply the cisterns. A shallow drain for carrying off dirty water is at the other side of the road, which has one peculiarity distinguishing it from any other road:

besides its double width which it shares in common with the Canopic Street, it is formed of two pavements at the same level and of equal width. The one to the east is paved with the usual blocks, the other is made of masonry composed of chalk, earth, small pebbles and ashlar-work. Following the axis of the street and separating these two pavements, is a narrow space, about a metre wide, filled up simply with vegetable mould, which makes me think there might have been a row of trees between the two pavements. One of them probably was intended for a carriage-way, the other for horsemen ». Falaki, p. 23).

(See El

But Noack's minute and methodical researches on the site of the road (o. c., p. 234-237) have forced him to the conclusion that it is impossible to reconcile his results with the statements of El-Falaki, and any idea of a row of trees must be given up.

This is not the place to enter into further details. Suffice it to say that the grounds for believing that Street R. I. can be identified with the great transversal street are very slight. Moreover El-Falaki's Street R. I. is too far distant from the probable centre of the antique town. Apart from the remarks we have made about the enclosing wall of the city and the length of the wide longitudinal street, we must add this indisputable fact, that beyond the eastern end of the North Public Garden of the present day, traces of cemeteries have frequently been discovered but very few remains of habitations, and when they have been found they are at a much higher level than the ruins in the interior of the town. And in any case there are no vestiges of important buildings. This leads me to believe that Street R. I. lies nearer to the eastern limits than to the centre of the town.

On the other hand we must recollect that the large statue of Marcus Aurelius (Museum, Room 12) as well as other marble antiquities were discovered in excavating for the foundations of the Zizinia Theatre, that the large Hellenistic statue of Hercules was discovered under the present Boustros Building; and that in front of the Zizinia in making the foundations for the Lifonti Building a marble pedestal bearing an inscription in honour of the Emperor Valentinian was brought to light. A little further on was discovered the block of granite intended to contain the works of Dioscorides, considered by some to be a waif from the Alexandrian Library. Finally, the remains of a large temple dedicated to Osorapis, dating from the time of Ptolemy IV, were found under Toussoun Bourse. In my opi

nion these indications are suggestive enough. It is here abouts that we ought to look for the centre of the ancient town, and consequently we may say that the broad transversal street passed about here. It could not have been very far from Nabi Daniell Street, though not actually the same; its axis may have lain more directly north and south. To sum up, the following points may be laid down: The system of streets established by El-Falaki may fairly correspond in its main lines to the system of streets in the ancient town. The plan which he drew up may be accepted as approximate, exception being made for the length of the roads towards the east, and for the position and direction of the main transversal street.

The Coast-Line and Harbours. We have already mentioned that the outline of the shore of Alexandria is not what

As

it was twenty-two centuries ago. In fact it is easy to see that from Ramleh to Mex the sea has gained on the land. one walks along the shore, tombs, edifices, quays are seen which today lie submerged under the sea. It is known that, before the foundation of the town, the shore was separated from the Pharos Island by a branch of the sea, and that a connection between the continent and the island was made by means of a jetty or dyke seven stadia in length (whence the name Heptastadium, about 1200 metres). Consequently the appearance of the shore and of the ancient town was quite different from their modern aspect.

The New Quay along the Portus Magnus from Chatby as far as the Yehia property opposite Ramleh Tram Terminus, has pushed back the sea to about the limits it may have had in antiquity, but beyond the present day Ramleh Station westwards, the coast-line differed considerably from the line it now follows. Following the outer line of the houses to the north of the Boulevard Ramleh, the coast line took a south-westerly turn about the present rue Centrale and then continued across Place Ste. Catherine and Place-de-la-Paille to the vicinity of the Custom House, passing near Fort Cafarelli.

When the Alexandria Central Buildings were being erected a granite column six metres long, with a diameter of 80 cm. was discovered in Adib Street on the site at present occupied by the hairdresser Zoadanos' shop. Some handsome capitals of granite and marble were found at the same time.

Further along Central Street a marble column was found in its original position. It was below water-level and stood 80 cm. high, with some flagstones at its base. Near the top

of this column, it was perfectly easy to distinguish some cavities caused by the friction of cords, while on the flagstones a worn irregular mark with traces of rust gave evident signs of the use of iron chains. It seems likely that this column was placed on the edge of the sea, upon the quay of the ancient harbour.

Thus, the area occupied by the Turkish town (Mohamed Ali Square, the Midan Quarter, and the Marina) has been reclaimed from the sea, on both sides of the ancient Heptastadium, which must have had its point of departure a hundred metres to the north-east of Kom-el-Nadoura (Cafarelli Fort, where the signalling for the Harbour is done) and taken a straight line for the southern extremity of the Pharos Island, level with the present Arsenal.

As a result of the construction of the Heptastadium, two harbours were formed: The Eastern Harbour (Mέyas Aμýr, Magnus Portus) which was considered the most important of the two by the ancient Alexandrians, and Port Eunostos, our modern Harbour.

Two openings were made in the Heptastadium in order to facilitate direct and rapid communication between the two ports. These openings were placed near the extremities of the dyke, and we may suppose that they were crossed by bridges supported on high columns, while at the time of Caesar, at any rate, they were guarded by two forts.

The Magnus Portus, which, it seems, was very difficult to enter, was surrounded by superb edifices. I will here confine myself to mentioning that a jetty starting from Cape Lochias protected the port from northerly winds and currents, whilst on the opposite side the Pharos Island offered natural protection. At the extremity of this island, quite close to the entrance of the port, the lighthouse was erected, taking its name from that of the island (Pharos). In the middle of the harbour, towards the south-east, there was an island, called Antirrhodos, probably on account of its shape. On a perfectly calm day, it is possible to perceive its shape under the water. A royal palace rose on this island. At the end of the promontory of Cape Lochias there was a small inner harbour, reserved for the private use of the royal family.

A promontory ran out into the harbour, almost in front of the present Ramleh Station. At the end of this promontory Mark Antony had the Timonium built, a sort of philosophical hermitage, where he used to retire from time to time. From the time of the later Imperial epoch, Port Eunostos became more

frequented whilst the large harbour was more and more deserted. The entrance of the former must have been near the western end of the Pharos Island (Ras-El-Tin), on which there was a temple to Poseidon (1).

Inside the Eunostos there was a small artificial harbour enclosed on all sides, i xißwrós, the box, the coffer. A navigable canal connected it with Lake Mareotis. Historians think that the name Eunostos was derived from Eunostos king of Soloe, son-in-law of Ptolemy Soter; others think the name signified simply the harbour of happy return, or arrival.

The Canal. The Canal, which supplied Alexandria with fresh water and which formed the commercial highway with the interior of the country, had its head on the Canopic branch of the Nile at Schedia, about 27 kilometres distance from Alexandria. This Canal must have followed very closely the direction of the present Mahmoudieh Canal. Not far from Hagar-el-Nawatieh it separated into two branches, one of which went towards Canopus, parallel with the coast, and the other towards Alexandria.

It is generally admitted that this canal surrounded the south side of the town, and emptied itself into the Eunostos through the Kibotos basin. In my opinion (2), this supposition is not correct, because in the Graeco-Roman period the town gravitated towards the Μέγας Λιμήν, and it is most natural to think that the most important branch of the canal would empty itself into this port.

Moreover Strabo does not say that the Schedia Canal discharged itself into the Eunostos or into the Kibotos. On the contrary I find his silence on this subject very significant. The following words are all he says: « A navigable canal falls into this basin and puts it into direct communication with Mareotis ». On the other hand we have a document which proves that a canal crossed Neapolis even at the end of the 4th century A. D. This document deals with a contract passed at Hermopolis (Upper Egypt): the owner of a boat undertakes to transport to Alexandria and to unload into the granaries at Neapolis a cargo of wheat. As Neapolis was precisely the quarter adjoi

(1) M. Jondet has discovered to the North and West of Pharos Island a large harbour which at the present time is under water. We ought not to confound this one with the small harbour to the North of the island, which Caesar mentions. As M. Jondet's researches are not yet completed, we can only point to them without discussing results.

(2) Compare the plan drawn up by Sieglin in which a canal is seen emptying itself into the large harbour.