Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1941-05-24
Alexandra in Eqypt

ms VIC CdplIdi dilu VIC pIlIlClpdl
seaport of the Land of the Nile, the
city of Alexandria was worthy of it's
founder during more than a thou
sand years. Even now magic aura
clings to the name of the impetuous
young King of Macedonia who
sought to weld the world in one"
three centuries before the start Of
the Christian era. His legends, still
repeated include the story of how
he created the naval, commercial
and cultural center of Lower Egypt
in 1872 B. C.
1t was particularly as base for
his operations against Persia that
Alexander desired the northwest cor
ner of the Delta improved. He had
been informed that a current sweep
ing through the Mediterranean from
the Strait of Gibraltar eastward car
ried vast deposits OF silt into the
harbor of Potassium and along the
adjacent coast. A site in less con-
spicuously threatened place - and
nearer to the peninsula of Greece
was wanted. The little frontier viii
lage of Rhacobis was selected Del
nocrates marked out the lines of the
projected walls. Meanwhile, the
island of Pharos was occupied to
serve as a screen.
When the sponsor of the plan de-
parted in search of more worlds to
conquer" he left his viceroy, Cleo
meneS, to continue the work Alex
ander died, and his body was brought
back to Alexandria for burial. The
Ptolemies caught the vision of their
predecessor and strove toward the
fulfllment of it. Soon the Delta
metropolis had replaced Tyre and
surpassed Carthage. With no &C
knowledged superior save Rome, it
f1ourished in learning as in trade.
The richest libraries on earth were
assembled about the museum, the
university and the temple of Scraps.
Modern scholars owe to the Alex
andrlan curatorS, catalogers and
commentators the greater portion of
classic literature-and of the Scrip
lures preserved to contemporary
times. Much was destroyed by the
ArabianS when they took the city in
$40 A. D., but that is another story.
Men today are more concerned
with the consequence of Alexandria
as the focal point of British naval
power in the eastern half of the Med
iterranean basin. The French
stormed the defensive works in 1893
and held the forts and the town
until Sir John Moore and his Guards
won a decisive battle near Lake
Aboukir in 1901. Mehemet Ali, who
wanted deep port and naval station
for his viceregal dominion" was re-
sponsible for the modern renais-
sance" which led to the development
of the ancient capital as the control
ling factor of the Near East. The
British Navy has contributed to its
significance since 1882.
But the fleets of England never
are concentrated unwisely. The
threat of a German attack on Egypt
is comprehended as a threat against
the Suez Canal and the short route
to India. If the Nazi air arm were
to be successful at Alexandria, other
strategic assets might be imperiled.
The contest in Crete, then, assumes
an enlarged Importance in the light
of the effect it may have on distant
quarters as well as in the Delta and
its environs. Theoretically, Hitler
seeks to employ the home of the
Minotaur" as stepping stone to
more than Egypt. The British may
have anticipated him. Doubtless they
remember the fact that Alexandria
has been uselessly devastated again
and again by veritable masters of
destruction. 1t is key to a mystery
which never yet has been read by
. the wielder of a sword.