Egypt’s supreme antiquities council has approved the rebuilding of the Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the World’s Seven Ancient Wonders.
The Lighthouse, which was built by the Ptolemaic Kingdom in 280 BC, once stood over 400 feet tall and was one of the world’s tallest man-made structures for hundreds of years.
Almost 1000 years after being badly damaged by a number of earthquakes in 1323, Egypt is seeking to revive the lighthouse at it’s original location.
“Members of the Permanent Committee of the Egyptian Antiquities have approved an old project, submitted previously by the Alexandria governorate, aiming to revive the lighthouse,” Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Dr. Mostafa Amin told Youm7, an Egyptian newspaper.
According to Dr. Amin, the full details of the final plan have been submitted to Alexandria’s governor for final approval.
The Lighthouse, known as the Pharos Lighthouse, was commissioned shortly after Alexander the Great died by the first Ptolemy and completed during the reign of the second Ptolemy.
Despite being destroyed in 1323, remnant stones of the structure were used to build the Citadel of Qatibay in 1480, which stands in Alexandria to this day.
Along with being one of the world’s tallest structures for hundreds of years, the Lighthouse was also the third longest surviving Ancient World Wonder after the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus and the Great Pyramid of Giza.
After years of protests and violence, Egypt is looking to rebuild its one flourishing tourism industry. Travelers are increasingly put off by violence against westerners in the country as well as tense condition with its neighbors Syria, Iran, Israel and Saudi Arabia.
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