Editing Lighthouse of Alexandria (section)

==Height and description==
[[File:PHAROS_Scale_Comparison.jpg|thumb|A size comparison between a 1909 (inner shape) and a 2006 study (outer shape) of the building]]
Arab descriptions of the lighthouse are consistent despite it undergoing several repairs after earthquake damage. Given heights vary only fifteen percent from {{convert|103|to|118|m|abbr=on|disp=b|ft}}, on a {{convert|30|by|30|m|abbr=on|disp=b|ft}} square base.<ref name="McKenzie 2011 42"/>

The Arab authors indicate that the lighthouse was constructed from large blocks of light-coloured [[dimension stone|stone]]. The tower was made up of three tapering tiers: a lower square section with a central core; a middle octagonal section; and, at the top, a circular section.<ref>{{Cite web|title=lighthouse of Alexandria {{!}} History, Location, & Facts|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/lighthouse-of-Alexandria|access-date=2021-06-04|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</ref> [[Al-Masudi]] wrote in the 10th century that the seaward side featured an inscription dedicated to Zeus.<ref>{{cite book|author=Paul Jordan|title=Seven Wonders of the Ancient World|url=https://archive.org/details/sevenwondersofan0000jord|url-access=registration|year=2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-86885-9|page=[https://archive.org/details/sevenwondersofan0000jord/page/44 44]}}</ref> Geographer [[Muhammad al-Idrisi|Al-Idrisi]] visited the lighthouse in 1154 and noted openings in the walls throughout the rectangular shaft with [[lead]] used as a filling agent in between the masonry blocks at the base. He reckoned the total height of the lighthouse to be 300 dhira rashashl (162 m).<ref name=":13"/>

At its apex was a mirror which reflected sunlight during the day; a fire was lit at night. Extant Roman coins struck by the Alexandrian mint show that a statue of [[Triton (mythology)|Triton]] was positioned on each of the building's four corners, and a  statue of [[Poseidon]] or [[Zeus]] stood on top.<ref>Haas 1997, p. 144.</ref>

The fullest description of the lighthouse comes from Arab traveller Abou Haggag Youssef Ibn Mohammed el-Balawi el-Andaloussi, who visited Alexandria in 1166.<ref>Clayton & Price 1988, p. 153.</ref> Balawi provided a description and measurement of the interior of the lighthouse's rectangular shaft. The inner ramp was described as roofed with masonry at 7 shibr (189&nbsp;cm, 6.2&nbsp;ft), noted as to allow two horsemen to pass at once. In clockwise rotation, the ramp held four storeys with eighteen, fourteen, and seventeen rooms on the second, third, and fourth floors, respectively.<ref name=":13"/>

Balawi reported the base of the lighthouse to be 45 ba (30 m, 100&nbsp;ft) long on each side with connecting ramp 600 dhira (300 m, 984&nbsp;ft) long by 20 dhira (10 m, 32&nbsp;ft) wide. The octagonal section was 24 ba (16.4 m, 54&nbsp;ft) in width, and the diameter of the cylindrical section 12.73 ba (8.7 m, 28.5&nbsp;ft). The apex of the lighthouse's oratory was measured with diameter 6.4 ba (4.3 m 20.9&nbsp;ft).<ref name=":13">{{Cite journal|last=Behrens-Abouseif|first=Doris|date=2006-01-01|title=The Islamic History of the Lighthouse of Alexandria|journal=Muqarnas Online|volume=23|issue=1|pages=1–14|doi=10.1163/22118993-90000093|issn=0732-2992}}</ref>

Later accounts of the lighthouse after the destruction by the [[1303 Crete earthquake]] include [[Ibn Battuta]], a Moroccan scholar and explorer, who passed through Alexandria in 1326 and 1349. Battuta noted that the wrecked condition of the lighthouse was then only noticeable by the rectangle tower and entrance ramp. He stated the tower to be 140 shibr (30.8 m, 101&nbsp;ft) on each side. Battuta detailed Sultan [[An-Nasir Muhammad]]'s plan to build a new lighthouse near the site of the collapsed one, but these went unfulfilled after the Sultan's death in 1341.<ref name=":13"/>

<gallery>
File:PhareAlexandrie.jpg|The lighthouse on coins minted in [[Alexandria]] in the second century AD (1: reverse of a coin of [[Antoninus Pius]], and 2: reverse of a coin of [[Commodus]])
File:Leuchtturm von Alexandria.png|A 3D reconstruction of the Lighthouse of Alexandria
</gallery>