What is the Pompey’s Pillar?

The Pompey’s Pillar is an archaeological Roman column located in the city of Alexandria. It is one of the most famous monuments in it and was erected on the hill of Bab Sidra between the current Muslim burial area, known as the column burials, and the archaeological plateau of Kom Al-Shoqafa and its length reaches about 27 meters and is made of red granite stone. The Mast column was erected in memory of Emperor Diocletian in the third century AD. It is the last remaining monument from the Serapeum temple erected by Postomos. It is considered the highest monument in the world, and the exact date of the establishment of this column has not been specified. and it was just said that it dates back to the Roman era. It was said that this column was dedicated to Christianity after its victory in Alexandria.

The name of the column dates back to the Arab era, where it is believed that it came as a result of the height of this towering column between 400 other columns, which is similar to the masts of ships; therefore, the Arabs called it the pole of masts, which were later distorted into masts, and the column of masts has been known erroneously since the Crusades as the column of Pompeii. This error is due to the fact that some Europeans thought that the head of the Roman commander Pompey, who fled to Egypt to escape from Julius Caesar and was killed in Egypt, had been placed in a precious funerary jar and placed over the crown of the column.

Pompey’s Pillar.

Pompey’s Pillar has a lot of distinguishing characteristics to it as follows:

• Precision in sculpture.
• One-piece cylindrical body.
• The distinctive and ornate crown.
• Huge base with Greek inscriptions.
• There are two bases that can be reached by stairs.
• Two granite statues similar to the Great Sphinx.

Pompey’s Pillar.

The architecture of the Pompey’s Pillar

The body of the column consists of a single piece with a diameter at the base of 2.70 meters and a crown of 2.30 meters. The total height of the column, including the base, is about 26.85 meters, and on the western side of the column, there are two bases that can be reached by an underground ladder, and there are two similar statues of sphinxes made of pink granite dating back to the era of Ptolemy VI, one of which is an inscription of King Hor-Moheb of the Eighteenth Dynasty.

It is most likely that this column was erected by the Alexandrians to the Roman Emperor “Diocletian” to express their thanks to him and his generosity to them after he came to Egypt in the second half of the third century and put down the revolution in Alexandria by the Roman commander Domitianus nicknamed Achilles, so Diocletian returned calm, stability and prosperity to the city.

Description of Ibn Battuta to the Pillar

The Muslim traveler Ibn Battuta described it when he visited Alexandria in 1326 AD, saying: “One of the oddities of this city (Alexandria) is the huge marble column outside, called the pole of masts, which is medium in a palm forest, and it was distinguished from its trees in height and elevation, and it is one piece of court sculpture has been erected on the bases of square stones such as the great shops and do not know how to put it there and does not verify its status.”

The inspiring story of the Pillar’s building

The construction of Pompey’s Pillar on the hill of Bab Sidra was not a coincidence. Still, its construction was the culmination of an inspiring story when a revolution began in the city of Alexandria. After Diocletian besieged the city for a long period exceeding 8 months, this led to a great famine.

Diocletian, taking a very special position to stand with the Egyptians during the famine, began to sort out the share of Rome and then began to distribute it equally to the inhabitants of Alexandria instead of sending this share to Rome.

Hence, the column arose, which left a great imprint on the history of pharaonic antiquities as the highest monument in the world. What is distinguished in this column is that the western side has a group of inscriptions, which were written in Greek.

Pompey’s Pillar.

The inscriptions are written on the column.

As we mentioned in the previous paragraph, there is writing on the western side of the Pillar, a set of inscriptions in Greek. After translating these inscriptions, it was found that the column is written on it: “To the just emperor of Alexandria, Diocletian the invincible, the governor of Egypt erected this column.”

The Pompey’s Pillar is part of a great edifice.

Pompey’s Pillar does not exist alone, but a huge group of monuments surrounds it from all sides, and the most important of these aspects is the back part, as this part is considered one of the remains of the temple of the god Serapis.

This great tower was built during the reign of Ptolemy. The main reason for the deterioration of this part was the revolts carried out by the inhabitants of the city of Alexandria, and that was precisely during the reign of Emperor Trajan. Still, soon, the edifice of the Pillar was built again during the reign of Hadrian.

Pompey’s Pillar.

Things to Do in Al Sawari Area

There are many tourist activities that are located in the Sawari area, so when you go to visit Pompey’s Pillar, you can see the monument of the column, as well as you can take a look at its steadfast structure, as well as reading the inscriptions on the column is one of the distinguished tourist activities.

There are also two statues in the area of Pompey’s Pillar. These two statues are much like copies of the Sphinx found in Egypt in the pyramids area. Taking pictures with these statues is available if you want to document a wide range of fun moments when visiting the column.