Alexandria was one of the most important cities of the ancient world, with achievements in the arts, sciences and religion. For the first time the author seeks to understand the wider and a literary and historical ideal. He does this by bringing together the disciplines of archaeology (including his own recent fieldwork), anthropology, history, geography, oral history, art and literature. As a result Alexandria is seen as a unique example of African urbanism, an Egyptian city facing the wider Mediterranean world, which became an archetype for social, religious and cultural cosmopolitanism. and Egyptian archaeology, historical geography, art history, oriental studies and general history.