Alexandria Day Trip – Part 6 | Egypt Travel Blog: Day 1 (Part 11)

Pompey’s Pillar | The Temple of Serapeum

Egypt Travel Blog: 10 DAYS Egypt Explorer - Felucca Cruise & Red Sea

Pompey's Pillar, a massive 30m column made from red Aswan granite and 2.7m at its base, was originally part of the Temple of Serapeum, a temple dedicated to Serapis. Pompey’s Pillar rises out of the sparse ruins of the temple, which was also a magnificent structure in ancient times.

Pompey's Pillar is named after Pompey, a Roman general murdered by Cleopatra’s brother, but the pillar was not connected to Pompey.

Pompey's Pillar was built in 297 AD to celebrate the victory of Roman emperor Diocletian and to support a statue of the emperor. Diocletian ruled Rome between 284 to 305 AD.

Underneath the column lies the ruins of the temple of Serapis, now badly damaged. Serapis was the hybrid Greek and Egyptian god of Alexandria.

At the platform side, there was a basin, which was used for purification. Two galleries exist at the back of the temple. One is a black statue of basalt and the other is the Daughter Library, where scrolls and copies and overflow of texts found. The Daughter Library is also said to be a burial for the mummies of Anubis. 

Pompey’s Pillar on top is the only ancient monument surviving whole and standing in Alexandria today.

You will also see two other surviving monuments that are Roman copies of the Sphinx, but much smaller than the Great Sphinx at Giza.

Both Sphinxes, showing the body of a lion and the head of a man, are made from pink granite and of an earlier date than the pillar.