A Legendary Ancient Wonder Rises From the Seabed
For centuries, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, or Pharos of Alexandria, has been more myth than monument. Built during the Ptolemaic era and often described as soaring over 350 feet above the harbour, it guided ships into one of the Mediterranean’s busiest ports until earthquakes and later stone quarrying brought it down. Today, the Qaitbay Citadel stands where the ancient tower once shone, but most of the original structure has been scattered across Alexandria’s Eastern Port seabed. Now, 22 enormous stone blocks have been carefully lifted from that underwater graveyard. These are not random rubble: they include monumental lintels, door jambs, thresholds and base slabs, each one a surviving line in the lighthouse’s long-erased architectural blueprint. For Malaysians fascinated by Angkor or Bujang Valley ruins, this is a similar story—only here, the temple-like remains have been hiding under 6–8 metres of Mediterranean water.
The Granite Blocks Discovery: Engineering on an 80-Ton Scale
The newly recovered underwater archaeology blocks are astonishing in their scale and detail. Some individual granite pieces weigh up to about 80 tons, yet they were once cut, transported and positioned dozens of metres above sea level using only human and animal power, plus simple machines like ramps, levers and pulleys. Among the 22 pieces are massive door lintels, thresholds, pavements and fragments of an Egyptian-style pylon. These elements reveal that the Lighthouse of Alexandria was more than a simple tower. The monumental doorways point to internal corridors and vertical circulation, while pavements and thresholds suggest maintenance spaces or storage areas for fuel that fed the beacon’s flame. Surface analysis shows extremely precise stone-fitting techniques and the strategic use of Aswan granite, chosen for its durability against waves, salt and coastal erosion—an ancient engineering response to the same sea forces that now threaten modern coastal cities from Penang to Port Klang.
Greek Techniques, Egyptian Style: Rethinking the Pharos Design
The fragments of a pylon carved in Egyptian style, built with Greek construction methods, are among the most revealing finds. Historians had long suspected that the Pharos of Alexandria blended Greek engineering with Egyptian aesthetics, but until now, hard evidence was limited. The newly recovered blocks confirm this fusion: a monumental Egyptian-style doorway executed using Greek masonry techniques and local granite. This matters because it changes how we picture the lighthouse. Instead of a purely Hellenistic tower, the ancient wonder likely looked and felt like a hybrid landmark, visually linked to pharaonic temples while showcasing the technical ambitions of Greek-speaking rulers. For a cosmopolitan port city like Alexandria—much like today’s multicultural Kuala Lumpur or George Town—that mix makes sense. It also shows how architecture can be a diplomatic tool, projecting power and identity to every ship approaching the coastline.
From Seafloor to Screen: How Photogrammetry Rebuilds a Wonder
Instead of guessing from old texts, researchers are now turning the Lighthouse of Alexandria into data. As part of the PHAROS program led by France’s CNRS and Egypt’s Centre d’Études Alexandrines, each recovered block is digitally scanned using photogrammetry. High-resolution images from multiple angles are stitched into precise 3D models, creating a “digital twin” of every stone. More than 100 blocks had already been digitised underwater over the past decade, and by early 2020 at least 154 fragments were available for virtual reconstruction. Now, engineers and archaeologists—supported by La Fondation Dassault Systèmes—treat these models like a giant 3D puzzle, testing different ways the pieces might fit into the original tower. Because this work happens on screen, researchers can explore competing theories about the lighthouse’s architecture and even its collapse, without repeatedly moving fragile, 80-ton artefacts in a crowded harbour.
Why This Underwater Site Matters for Global Heritage
The Pharos of Alexandria site covers roughly four acres of seabed around Qaitbay Citadel, within a wider submerged zone of about seven acres packed with blocks, fragments and statuary. Working 6–8 metres underwater in a busy modern port is logistically complex. Teams must plan each lift around natural currents to avoid disturbing the seafloor or harming marine ecosystems, reflecting a new balance between heritage protection and environmental care. For global audiences, including Malaysian readers watching sea levels rise along our own coasts, this project is a glimpse of the future of heritage. As coastal erosion and warming seas threaten more ancient ports and cities, underwater archaeology blocks like those from the Lighthouse of Alexandria become frontline witnesses to long-term climate and geological change. By documenting and virtually reconstructing this ancient wonder, researchers are not only rewriting its history—they are also testing methods that may one day help safeguard drowned cities across the world.