Heptastadion
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The Heptastadion (Greek: Ὲπταστάδιον) was a giant causeway, often referred to as a
mole Mole (or Molé) may refer to: Animals * Mole (animal) or "true mole", mammals in the family Talpidae, found in Eurasia and North America * Golden moles, southern African mammals in the family Chrysochloridae, similar to but unrelated to Talpida ...
or a dyke built by the people of
Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...
,
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
in the 3rd century BC during the Ptolemaic period. The Heptastadion was created to link Pharos Island to the mainland coast and given a name based on its length (Heptastadion is Greek for "seven stadia"— ''hepta'' meaning seven, and a '' stadion'' being a Greek
unit of length A unit of length refers to any arbitrarily chosen and accepted reference standard for measurement of length. The most common units in modern use are the metric units, used in every country globally. In the United States the U.S. customary uni ...
measuring approximately ). Overall it was more than three-quarters of a mile long.


History

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...
founded of the city of Alexandria in April 331 BC on the site of the small fishing village of Rhacotis as the marine base for his fleet. The city was built on a narrow
limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
ridge opposite to Pharos Island where the Pharos lighthouse would later stand. Forces under Alexander's command cleared the sand and silt deposits which made the port unnavigable, and Alexander's engineer
Dinocrates Dinocrates of Rhodes (also Deinocrates, Dimocrates, Cheirocrates and Stasicrates; grc-gre, Δεινοκράτης ὁ Ῥόδιος, fl. last quarter of the 4th century BC) was a Greek architect and technical adviser for Alexander the Great. He i ...
linked the
port of Alexandria The Port of Alexandria is on the West Verge of the Nile Delta between the Mediterranean Sea and Mariut Lake in Alexandria, Egypt, and is considered the second most important city and the main port in Egypt. Alexandria port consists of two harbour ...
and the island of Pharos with a bridge long and wide, creating two harbour basins for commercial and military shipping. The northeast basin (currently the Eastern harbour) was designed for military vessels and the southwest basin (currently the main port of Alexandria) was for commercial use. In the Ptolemaic period the lighthouse was constructed on the orders of Ptolemy I and II. It is probable that Ptolemy I was also responsible for the building of the Heptastadion. The causeway formed a barrier further separating the two harbours of Alexandria's oceanfront. This arrangement had the advantage of protecting the harbours from the force of the strong westerly coastal current. The east side of the mole became the ''Portus Magnus'' (the Great Harbour or Royal Harbour), now an open bay. The west side became the ''Portus Eunostus'' (the commercial harbour), with its inner basin Kibotos, now vastly enlarged to form the modern harbour. Two channels with bridges above were let under the causeway to allow access between the two ports.
Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, ...
ordered these channels to be blocked during the
Alexandrian War Caesar's civil war (49–45 BC) was one of the last politico-military conflicts of the Roman Republic before its reorganization into the Roman Empire. It began as a series of political and military confrontations between Gaius Julius Caesar an ...
. The Heptastadion is also believed to have served as an aqueduct while Pharos was inhabited, and geophysical research indicates that it was part of the road network of the ancient city.


Later periods

Due to silting over the years, the former dyke now lies under several metres of accumulated silt and soil which form the Mansheya
isthmus An isthmus (; ; ) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea counterpart of an isthmus ...
, upon which the Ottomans built their town from 1517 onwards. Today's city development lying between the present Grand Square and the modern Ras el-Tin quarter is built on the silt which gradually widened and obliterated the mole.


References

{{Reflist 3rd-century BC establishments in Egypt Infrastructure completed in the 3rd century BC Causeways History of Alexandria Ptolemaic Alexandria Lighthouse of Alexandria