Scientists have managed to recover significant parts of one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World from the ocean, over 2,300 years after it was initially built.
With recognizable ancient human history stretching back thousands of years, it's only natural that many of the most famous monuments will have been lost to time, either through general decay or catastrophic accidents.
While you can still find certain buildings across the world that have aged over a thousand years, many of history's most famous buildings are no longer here and are often difficult or impossible for archaeologists in modern times to recover.
Among the most famous of these are the so-called Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, which include the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Temple of Artemis, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, and the Lighthouse of Alexandria.
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Of those seven, only the Great Pyramid of Giza remains in tact to this day, despite being by far the oldest stretching back over 4,000 years into the past.
Yet just recently have scientists and researchers managed to extract key elements of the legendary Lighthouse of Alexandria that could lead to a major archaeological breakthrough and digital regeneration efforts in the future.
What was the Lighthouse of Alexandria?
If you're unaware of why this particular structure holds such historical significance, the Lighthouse of Alexandria (sometimes referred to as the Pharos of Alexandria) was long considered the tallest building in the entire world.
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Built by Greek architect Sostratus of Cnidus to guide seafarers through the coastal waters of Alexandria, historians understand that the lighthouse stood taller than anything else on Earth from when it was constructed around 284 BC to the point at which it was toppled by an earthquake in 1303.
By 1477 most of the iconic building's stones had been repurposed and recycled into a fortress that resides in the exact location where the lighthouse once stood, but only recently have researchers been able to extract fragments from the ocean from nearly 1,000 years ago.
What have scientists found?
As reported by Archaeology News, the 'PHAROS' project, led by archaeologist Isabelle Hairy of the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), has managed to extract massive stone blocks from the ocean that are believed to be from the Lighthouse of Alexandria.
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A total of 22 blocks have been recovered, with many weighing up to 80 tons, alongside foundational paving slabs, and a previously unrecorded pylon featuring a blend of Egyptian and Greek construction techniques, representing evidence of Alexandria's multicultural history.
Engineers from the Dassault Systèmes Foundation are now going to scan and digitally analyze the stone blocks in order to reposition them into a recreation of the famous lighthouse, allowing people to get a closer and more accurate look at the ancient wonder in modern times.
Elements of the Lighthouse of Alexandria were first uncovered in 1994 by French archaeologist Jean-Yves Empereur, who documented over 3,300 objects in the ocean that included sphinxes, obelisks, and more.