At a glance
- Region
- Egypt & Nile
- Review
- Completeness 3/5 · Help complete it
Overview
The lofty column outside Alexandria, with a base beneath it and a base above, said to have no equal among columns for height or roundness 2.
The stone
Al-Maqrizi says that the column is of red speckled stone, a hard flint-like stone 3.
The broken columns
Al-Maqrizi says that about four hundred columns once stood around it. Qaraja broke them in the days of Saladin and threw them onto the shore, to make the way hard for the enemy 3.
Aristotle's portico
Al-Maqrizi says that the column was one of the columns that carried the portico of Aristotle, where he taught wisdom, and that it was a house of learning with a library in it 3.
Connections
- Located in
- Alexandria
People and things also explored
The Conquest of Alexandria· The Roman Recapture of Alexandria and Its Recovery from Manuel· The Sicilian assault on Alexandria (569 AH)· Ibn Hurmuz al-A'raj al-Qari· the Hippodrome of Alexandria· Alexandria
Sources
- Masalik al-absar fi mamalik al-amsar — al-Umari (1924 printing) , p. 240
- Masalik al-absar fi mamalik al-amsar — al-Umari (1924 printing) , p.240
- Al-Maqrizi, al-Mawaiz wa-l-i'tibar bi-dhikr al-khitat wa-l-athar (al-Khitat al-Maqriziyya), ed. Muhammad Zaynhum and Madiha al-Sharqawi (Cairo: Maktabat Madbuli, 1998) , p.487
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Amud al-Sawari (Pompey's Pillar)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/building/amud-al-sawari/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-24.