Water for Alexandria
2007
Directed by Raymond Collet
Collection The Skills of Archaeology
Until the 19th century, Alexandria was a town of canals and cisterns. The underground city was almost as vast as that above, and without its year-round supply of drinking water, Alexandria would never have known such a remarkable history. Founded in the 4th century BC and soon the new capital of Egypt, the essential and regular provision of fresh water to the town was provided by a canal that was dug from the Nile to the gates of the city. Within the urban heart, a complex underground network guaranteed the daily needs for both domestic and industrial consumption. This film presents the solutions that were devised from the time of the city’s foundation, allowing it to become one of the largest metropolises in the ancient world.