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Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

ALEXANDRIA

Egyptian city established by Alexander the Great in 331 BC. Alexandria was the capital city of Egypt through the Hellenistic and Roman periods and, next to Rome, was the most important city in the ancient world. It was built at the western edge of the Nile River delta on a peninsula between the mainland of Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea. Its harbor was protected by the island of Pharos, site of a huge lighthouse (the Pharos of Alexandria), one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Pharos formed the top of a “T,” the stem of which was a long mole running out from the peninsula; on both sides of the “T” lay the ancient harbor.

Alexander built the city to provide a military base, harbor facilities, and trading center with which to control Egypt and the East. The city was laid out in a grid, with two tree-lined streets, about 200 feet (61 meters) wide, that intersected in the middle. It was divided into three districts: Jews in the northeast, Egyptians in the west, and Greeks to the south.

Alexandria was famous in antiquity for its architecture: the lighthouse; the Museum, greatest library and learning center of the Hellenistic age; the mausoleum of Alexander, built by Ptolemy, one of his successors; the Serapeum, a temple to Pan (in the shape of a pine cone, according to the geographer Strabo); and the commercial buildings. Archaeological evidence of these structures of the ancient city is remarkably scarce. An earthquake damaged the lighthouse in AD 796, and it was completely destroyed some 500 years later. Only one scroll holder and a statue have been found from the Museum.

Alexandria played a key role in the history of the Greco-Roman world. When Alexander the Great died in 323 BC, Egypt fell to Ptolemy, one of his four generals. Ptolemy established a dynasty that continued until Cleopatra. Because of Alexander’s destruction of Tyre, Alexandria became the Hellenistic center of commerce with the East and with central Egypt. Julius Caesar’s romance with Cleopatra led to the end of the Ptolemaic dynasty.

The Museum, not a museum in the modern sense, was actually a university and library. Founded by Ptolemy Philadelphus, it made Alexandria the intellectual center of the Greek world, with emphasis on grammatical studies, literary criticism, and textual preservation. Before its partial destruction by Egyptians and Julius Caesar’s forces in 47 BC, it reportedly housed 700,000 volumes, including carefully edited texts of the Greek classics. In the late Hellenistic and Roman periods, the Museum turned in the direction of the new sciences, exemplified by the building of a great lighthouse that could be seen by ingenious use of mirrors 20 miles (32 kilometers) at sea.

From its inception Alexandria had a large Jewish population. Under the patronage of the Ptolemies, Jewish scholars produced the Greek translation of the OT known as the Septuagint. Ethnic tension in the city grew as the Jewish populace increased and prospered. In AD 42 the tension erupted into riots by the Greeks and the expulsion of Jews from the gentile sections into which they had spread. Jewish commercial success, particularly in the wheat trade, led to intensified anti-Semitism.

There is little reference to Alexandria in Scripture. Stephen, who became the first Christian martyr, debated with “Jews from Alexandria” in Jerusalem concerning Jesus as the Messiah (Acts 6:9). Apollos, described as “an eloquent man, well versed in the scriptures,” was a native of Alexandria (Acts 18:24). The apostle Paul made his sea journey to Rome aboard two Alexandrian ships (Acts 27:6; 28:11).

The earliest emphasis in biblical studies at Alexandria was Gnostic, under Basilides and continuing under his son Isidore. Later, an allegorizing school developed, with regular support by wealthy patrons and an organized curriculum. Clement and Origen are the names most often associated with this school. The teaching emphasized three levels of meaning in the Scriptures: historical, ethical, and spiritual.

Arianism, a powerful heresy, was later formulated in Alexandria by Arius, presbyter of Alexandria. This school of thought denied the eternality of Christ, arguing that since he was begotten he therefore had a beginning. The chief opponent of Arianism, Athanasius, was also from Alexandria. It was primarily through his efforts that the heretical teaching was dissipated in the fourth century and the Symbol of Nicaea confirmed at the Council of Constantinople in AD 381.