The Alexandria Connection Read Free Page A

long line of Ptolemys followed him. The island was completely paved, and divers have discovered the remains of a palace, along with a Sphinx bearing the image of King Ptolemy XII.’
    ‘Ah . . . Cleopatra’s father.’
    ‘Probably the only bit of Egyptology you remember, and I’m not talking about her father!’
    ‘Hurtful and unnecessary,’ O’Connor said, grinning broadly.
    ‘But true.’
    O’Connor had long ago conceded Aleta’s encyclopaedic knowledge of ancient civilisations, and he listened intently while she indicated the places where the harbour had already given up some of its secrets.
    ‘Over there, divers have found the remains of a port which in ancient times, was reserved for the king’s galleys,’ said Aleta, pointing toward the eastern breakwater, ‘and closer in, not far from this hotel, they’ve discovered another palace. Many scholars, myself included, think this was Mark Antony’s final retreat before he committed suicide.’
    ‘Cleopatra must have been a remarkable lady,’ O’Connor said, a wistful tone in his voice. ‘Just think: she’s the last pharaoh of Egypt, and to shore up her power, she gets into bed with Caesar, and then when he’s murdered, she hops into the cot with Mark Antony.’
    ‘Has it occurred to you that it might not have been just about power? She might have been attracted to them!’
    ‘I thought that might get a rise out of you – never fails.’ O’Connor let his hand slide down Aleta’s thigh.
    ‘When the teacher has finished her history lesson you might . . .
might
be able to entice her into bed, but until then, pay attention!’ Aleta’s dark eyes danced mischievously and she made no attempt to brush O’Connor’s hand away.
    ‘If you look beyond the palm trees down there to the far corner of Saad Zaghloul Square, that’s where the two obelisks that became known as Cleopatra’s needles were built to guide ships into the harbour. One obelisk now stands on the Thames Embankment in London, and the other’s in Central Park in New York. And this hotel was built on the place where Cleopatra likely committed suicide . . . This city has so much history.’
    ‘And the Pharos?’
    ‘Along with the Great Pyramid of Giza and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.’
    ‘High?’
    ‘Massive. The bottom storey of the lighthouse had over three hundred rooms, just for the mechanics and labourers. There was a second, octagonal storey and then a third, and on top of that a lantern with a seven-metre statue of Poseidon on top of it. The Pharos lighthouse was three times higher than the Statue of Liberty in New York harbour.’
    ‘Too big then to be powered by olive oil?’
    ‘Way too big . . . this one was wood-fired. The wood was stored in the bottom storey and hydraulic lifts were used to raise it to the fire at the top.’
    ‘And the mirror reflected the light from the fire?’
    ‘I’m not so sure,’ said Aleta. ‘There’s a lot about the ancients we don’t understand, and it’s quite possible that the Alexandrian mathematicians discovered the optical lens, although we’ll probably never know, because their discovery was lost to science when the lighthouse was destroyed by an earthquake in the fourteenth century.’
    ‘How do you know this papyrus goes back to Alexander’s time?’ O’Connor asked as they came in from the balcony. ‘How do you know it’s not a copy or a forgery?’
    ‘I’ve worked with ancient papyri before, and this one has all the look and feel of one that is centuries old, but I agree, we need to make sure. I have a colleague at the Alexandria University, and he can carbon-date this from a fragment, but if it’s genuine, it gives us a very accurate indication of all the areas of the ancient city that are now under water.’
    ‘Built by Alexander?’
    Aleta shook her head. ‘Alexander the Great might have founded this city when he invaded and kicked the Persians out of