Alexandria, once an intellectual beacon 1 Apr, 2021 03:14 AM 4 minutes to read Modern Alexandria, Egypt. Photo / Getty Images By Fred Frederikse Millisphere: a discrete region inhabited by roughly one thousandth of the world population. Alexandria (5.2 million) was founded more than two millennia ago by Alexander the Great when he had a causeway built to Pharos Island, creating two harbours where the Nile Delta meets the Mediterranean. Famous for its lighthouse and library it became a centre for learning and the exchange of ideas - where classical Greece met animist Africa. Alexandrian geographers mapped the then-known world, observed that it was round and correctly estimated its diameter. Alexandria was where the Bible was translated from Hebrew into Greek and where Euclid wrote his treatise on geometry. Indian sadhus mixed with Jews and Greeks in the bazaar and trade goods from Africa, Asia and Europe changed hands.