One of the seven wonders of the ancient world, according to traditional lists, the Lighthouse of Alexandria once loomed over the Mediterranean city’s harbor during Egypt’s Hellenistic age. At 460 feet tall, it was second only to the Great Pyramid of Gaza in height.

The lighthouse, also known as the Pharos of Alexandria, was commissioned by Ptolemy I Soter (c. 367–283 B.C.), a Macedonian Greek general under Alexander the Great who became pharaoh of Egypt; it was seen to completion by his son and successor, Ptolemy II Philadelphus. During the Ptolomaic dynasty, which lasted 300 years, Alexandria was a center of Greek culture in Egypt.