Synopses & Reviews
The last ten years have seen
some of the most remarkable archaeological discoveries ever made in
Alexandria, the legendary Egyptian city founded by Alexander the Great
in 331 B.C.
Presented here is a full account of these extraordinary
finds and of the exciting expeditions that led to their discovery.
Located on the northwestern end of the Nile River Delta, Alexandria was
the greatest of Hellenistic cities and was a major center of Jewish and
Christian culture. Athens' equal and political rival to Rome, Alexandria
awed ancient travelers with its wealth, size, and cultural prestige.
But unlike Athens and Rome, practically no visible trace of this
splendid city remains, and, despite over a hundred years of
archaeological efforts, the results have generally been considered
meager.
Recent excavations, however, have yielded an unexpected wealth
of information. Directed by the French archaeologist Jean-Yves Empereur
and conducted with the most modern methods, these digs have greatly
enriched our knowledge of the art and architecture of Alexandria and of
the lives and living conditions of its inhabitants.
About the Author
Jean-Yves Empereur (born 1952) is a French archeologist. He studied classic literature in the University Paris.
He is a former member (since 1978) and general secretary (1982–2000) of the École française d'Athènes. He conducted some excavations, including some submarine ones, in Greece, Cyprus and Turkey, on the sites Thasos and Amathus.
He is a researcher from the CNRS, director of the Centre d'études alexandrines (Alexandria Studies Center) that he founded in 1990, and since then he has led archeological research in Alexandria on earth and underwater.