A pilgrimage to the temples and tombs of Egypt, Nubia, and ...

26 ANCIENT ALEXANDRIA.
remains. The creation of the Macedonian Con-
queror, and the seat of government of the Greek
Sovereigns of Egypt, the ancient splendour of
Alexandria was of a mixed character, partaking
less of the enduring and stupendous majesty pe-
culiar to the constructions of the Pharaohs, than
of the lighter and more harmonious style of ar-
chitecture with which Grecian imagination and
Grecian art replaced the gloomy edifices of old
Egypt. The palaces and the temples of the Ptol-
emies, and of their Roman successors, were power-
less to resist the aggression of the Arab conquer-
ors of Egypt, and while the monuments of Thebes
and Carnac survived the assaults of the Persian
Cambyses, those of Alexandria disappeared before
the victorious arms of the Caliph Omar's Gene-
ral, Amr. It indeed held out an obstinate siege
of more than a year, owing to the difficulties pre-
sented to the besiegers by the canals of the Delta,
but it succumbed at last to the Saracen, and of
course fared the worse for its previous resistance.
Some idea of the wealth and magnificence of an-
cient Alexandria may be formed from the ac-
counts dispatched by Amr to the Caliph at Da-
mascus, in which he stated that the conquered
city contained 4000 palaces, 4000 baths, 400
theatres, 12,000 shops for the sale of food,