Day 1 In Alexandria – Pompey’s Pillar and Roman Amphitheatre

We reached Cairo by flight at 6:30 AM from Mumbai. From there we caught the private bus. The distance from Cairo to Alexandria is approximately 230 km. The journey was made by private bus, taking about 2 hours and 50 minutes. Amid the endless sands and silence of the desert, the bus kept moving forward without pause, as if human curiosity and courage were crossing the vastness of the great Sahara Desert. My curiosity truly had no limits, vast like the Sahara Desert itself. I wanted to see and examine every step of Egypt. To see and understand Egypt was my long-awaited dream.

Today, we’re planning to visit the Roman Amphitheatre, the Catacombs of Kom el-Shoqafa, and Pompey’s Pillar, and then we’ll check into our hotel in Alexandria. I already covered Catacombs of Kom el-Shoqafa in my previous article.

Next destinations today are the Serapeum temple, Pompey’s Pillar, and the Roman Amphitheatre.

Here, by Serapeum, we mean the temple of Serapis. The Serapeum is from the beginning of the Ptolemaic-Roman period, while Pompey’s Pillar is from the later Roman period. The Serapeum and Pompey’s Pillar are in total ruins, yet they tell the story of the Ptolemaic, Roman, and Christian eras. The god Serapis was created by Ptolemy I (the first Greek king of Egypt after Alexander left) in the 4th century BC to blend Greek culture and show unity with Egyptians through the blending of deities like Osiris and Apis with Greek gods like Zeus. The god Serapis is a bull, which symbolizes resurrection, renewal (after death), eternal life, and power. Ptolemy wanted to create a common cult to ease the tensions between Greek settlers and the local Egyptians.

Ptolemy I established a cult and is said to have brought in a statue from Pontus (a mythological place in Greek mythologies that the goddess Gaia, the Earth, created as the god of the sea), placing it in the magnificent Serapeum temple in Alexandria. He promoted this Serapis cult through festivals and oracles, which helped it gain popularity across the empire. In short, this site is a story in itself, filled with history.
These structures still stand today, representing the persecution and mass destruction by Christians for converting Romans to Christianity. In the 4th century AD, it stemmed from the rising conflicts between Christians and pagans. Christians saw these structures as a threat to their power.
Early Christians labelled all cults as “pagan” if they were any non-Christian and polytheistic. So Egyptian gods such as Amun, Isis, Osiris, Horus, Serapis, etc., were classified alongside Greek and Roman gods as false or pagan deities. They treated these Gods as human inventions, not real divine beings Or they were demons misleading people away from the true God.

It’s pretty hopeless to visit this site, not because of the very few traces of remains but because of the apathy these sites are facing. I’m here trying to identify a few building ruins where only a signage board without any information is displayed.

Just in front we see a board “Temple of Serapis.” In fact, the whole site is a temple of Serapis, and there were two parts in it: one open to public visits and the other open to the elite and meant for rituals and offerings, called the sanctuary. The part below was open to the public. The main deity, though, was kept inside the sanctuary but was carried to a small public temple in procession through the gallery on special occasions.

The standout feature of this site is Pompey’s Pillar. Standing at around 90 feet tall, it’s carved from a single piece of red granite sourced from Aswan. At its peak was a bronze statue of Emperor Diocletian.

Diocletian took the Roman throne in 284 AD and made some changes to address the conflicts over succession and civil wars. He split the empire into four rulers to secure the borders against threats from the Persians and Germans. He initiated the harshest and most organized persecution against Christians, which is known as the Great or Diocletianic Persecution. This campaign resulted in thousands of deaths, forced many into hiding, and targeted Christian gatherings, but it ultimately could not wipe out Christianity. Eventually, Christianity made a comeback, and they ended up destroying the Serapeum, but Pompey’s pillar remained intact since it wasn’t linked to the pagan religion of Serapeum.

This monument was built to celebrate Roman Emperor Diocletian’s victory over the Alexandria revolt and to secure the grain supply to Rome. Egypt’s land was heavily relied upon for food grain supplies to Rome, making it crucial since any uprising there posed a direct risk to the empire by potentially disrupting grain shipments. The Sphinx can be seen watching and guarding over the entire site, the job for which they are installed.

There’s an entrance door displaying ‘The Sanctuary’ sign. It’s a long hallway, and according to the guide, this was the daughter library. It was used either for overflow materials from the main library or to store secret texts and papyrus books. At the end, we find a large statue of a bull, symbolizing God Serapis.

It appears that the main temple of Serapeum was located outside, according to the site map, but the sacred statue of Serapis was kept inside the Sanctuary for rituals, accessible only to elite individuals through this gallery for ceremonies.

I see another board reading “the Piscion.” This is a stone-lined basin or tank utilized in religious rituals, primarily for water storage and purification. In Roman and Greco-Egyptian temples, water held sacred significance, representing purity, rebirth, and divine power.

In Egypt, there’s only one amphitheater, and it’s the one in Alexandria. It’s pretty surprising that the Romans concentrated on building temples and forts in places like Luxor and Cairo along the Nile, but didn’t create any entertainment venues like this one. Isn’t that odd? Or at least, we haven’t found any others in Egypt so far.

The archaeological department board states – “This is a semicircular marble-seated auditorium that could hold between 600 and 800 people. It was used for music, poetry, speeches, and council meetings. We don’t know exactly which Roman constructed it in the 4th Century AD, but it remained in use for 300 years.

Displayed above are the lecture halls, cistern, bathhouse, and museum. An interesting feature of this large cistern was that it was maintained for supplying water to the bathhouses. The water was drawn from underground wells using water-lifting devices operated by wheels and animals.

The historical sites of Alexandria aren’t the only things that matter to me. Experiencing the modern streets of Alexandria is essential, as it showcases the current mindset and daily life of the country.

Traveling 250 km by bus from Cairo to Alexandria was a great opportunity. The roads are well-maintained, resembling highways. Along the way, we mostly see desert and date palms scattered between small villages or towns. Greenery is quite rare. The houses are small and quite ordinary, with hardly any large ones in sight.

When we approach Alexandria, we notice some gas exploration setups and numerous salt production factories along the Mediterranean coast.

The hot, dry coastal climate of Alexandria is ideal for evaporating salt from the sea. Additionally, the natural saltwater Lake Mariout is a significant source of salt near the

city. Alexandria serves as an industrial hub, contributing to 40% of the country’s industrial output.
The historical monuments are located in a crowded part of the city, where the roads aren’t very clean and are surrounded by small shops and homes of less affluent people. There appears to be a significant divide between the rich and the poor in Egypt, similar to many other developing nations. The city has a railway, local trams, bus services, and auto rickshaws, much like India.

I didn’t interact much with the locals, aside from observing the hotel staff during lunch, the bus driver, and shopkeepers.
The people of Alexandria seem quite busy and don’t pay much attention to tourists, unlike those in Cairo. However, they do show curiosity towards Indians and generally welcome us in shops, restaurants, and hotels. It’s best to avoid any conflicts with them and be cautious while making purchases.
In Egypt, it’s the only place where I noticed a policeman always accompanying the tourist bus. This wasn’t too surprising, as I had heard similar stories from other travelers.
A tip for travelers: it’s better to avoid traveling in large groups and stick to a smaller group of 5-6 people. Don’t engage in disputes with shopkeepers, and only converse when you’re certain about making a purchase. While they don’t mean any harm, it’s wise to stay alert. It seems corruption is common, as in many places attendants expect tips for small services. You need to keep local currency, 20 Egyptian pounds (eq. Rs. 40), ready to pay for restrooms everywhere.

Epilogue

It’s not sad to check out the remains of the Serapeum temple and Pompey’s Pillar, but it is disappointing to see how poorly they’re kept. Thousands of people make the trip from Cairo to Alexandria just to see these ruins, the Roman Amphitheatre, and the Catacombs. But they have to navigate through crowded roads and run-down streets filled with locals. The government really needs to step up and at least clean up a one-kilometer area around these monuments and beautify the space with gardens to honor their history.

But of course, no trip is truly complete without a visit to Alexandria, the city that Alexander established as his capital. He picked this spot because back then, there wasn’t a city or port in Egypt to take advantage of the Mediterranean Sea’s power.
Later on, the Romans expanded the city, adding Pompey’s Pillar, the Serapeum, and the Catacombs. Though those landmarks today are in ruins, we can touch the Roman history and thereby also the history of mighty Egypt.

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