Hidden Secrets of the Lighthouse of Alexandria Unearthed Beneath the Mediterranean Waves
Pieces Recovered From The Lighthouse Of Alexandria, One Of The Seven Wonders Of The Ancient World
CEAlex/GEDEON ProgrammesThe recent recovery efforts are part of an ongoing project to digitally reconstruct the Lighthouse of Alexandria.
Researchers were able to identify the 22 blocks, weighing 70 to 80 tons each, as parts of the lighthouse’s threshold, base slabs, and door lintels and jambs.
They also identified pieces of a previously unknown monument, a gateway likely from the Hellenistic period that featured an Egyptian-style door, according to La Fondation Dassault Systèmes.
The goal of the project was to scan these blocks and add that data to the team’s digital collection of structural information about the lighthouse. This is part of a larger initiative, the PHAROS Project, conducted along with the French National Centre for Scientific Research to digitally reconstruct the once-towering lighthouse.
The team has already digitized more than 100 of the submerged blocks in the last 10 years. Once these new blocks are added to the collection, it will be handed off to a group of volunteer engineers with La Fondation Dassault Systèmes, which has been supporting the project over the last three years.
The engineers will then analyze each block, virtually repositioning them to try and solve the puzzle of this Wonder of the Ancient World. The engineers will also use simulations to better understand how the Lighthouse of Alexandria collapsed in 1303.
In all, the researchers hope to fill in the gaps in the history of the Lighthouse of Alexandria and better understand how it was constructed, and how it ultimately came tumbling down.
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