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The making of maps and plans of Alexandria, is closely related to the use of its ports. As the great majority of the western travellers and merchants arrived in Alexandria by ship, their presence in the town denotes the traffic of its ports - the Eastern in particular, which was reserved for Christian vessels.
An exhaustive study of the commercial activities of the ports of Alexandria from the beginning of the Islamic period to modern times has never been attempted. Such an extended subject cannot be adequately exhausted in this paper. There are indications that can lead us reasonably to suppose that the ports of Alexandria have never stopped being active, unlike numerous other ancient harbours which in late antiquity and the Middle-ages ceased their activities. To mention only two examples: the ports of Corinth. Kenchrai on the Saronic gulf was submerged, while Lechaio on the Gulf of Corinth was completely silted up. During the middle ages Piraeus itself, with its three ancient ports, saw only Kantharos retaining some maritime activity while the renowned Zea and Mounichia were totally forgotten. There is certainly a gradual decline of Alexandria starting in late Roman times and culminating during the 15th century. The new sea route via the Cape of Good Hope was a serious blow to Alexandria's maritime activities, but the traffic of its ports, although greatly diminished, never ceased. According to L. Ashtor, twelve vessels were registered as calling at Alexandria in 1400: 1 Venetian, 6 Genoese, 2 Catalans, 1 Florentine, 1 Napolitan, 2 from Ancona. In 1401 there are 21 calls, 9 in 1402, 9 the following year, 13 in 1404, while in 1405 the number increases to 23. Twenty two years later in 1427 the number is 12, and in 1435 there are 14 entries. The Veneto-Ottoman treaty of 1517, without putting an end to the antagonism between East and West, marks an improvement in commercial relations. It is our belief that the presence of travellers is a good indication of the activity of a port. So we have compiled a list of authors who wrote about their visits to and from Alexandria by ship. We are aware of the limitation of this list, as we refer only to western authors who wrote on Alexandria and the period of our research was from the fall of Alexandria to Amr-el-el-Ass until the arrival of Bonaparte expedition. We count two traveller-authors during the 7th century, none during the 8th century, one during the 9th century, none from the 10th to the 13th centuries. From 8 travellers during the 14th and the 15th centuries, the number increases to 24 for the 16th century, 39 for the 17th century and 42 during the 18th century. Taking into consideration that this list includes only those few Western authors who wrote of their visits, we must assume that it represents only a very small percentage of those travellers who actually visited Alexandria. However, these descriptions throw light on the traffic of the ports where the coming and going of ships must have been continuous. We can thus speculate that the figures on our list include only an infinitely small portion of the number of Western ships that entered Alexandria. The setting of fondiques for the Christians in the centre of the walled town for the accommodation of travellers and the storage of their merchandise, as well as the presence of consular authorities from European states and of a customs service is an indication of trading activities. The few illustrations that follow, show how Alexandria and its shores looked at the end of the 17th and 18th century. The revival of the Western port of Alexandria started between 1818-1824. An important factor was also the reopening of the canal of the Nile, as in ancient times, which allowed communication between Alexandria and the towns of the Delta, Cairo and Upper Egypt. Further research is necessary. It is hoped that studies will be undertaken by the new generation of students to throw light on the over 2 millennia unbroken chain of maritime activities of the most prestigious port of the Mediterranean.
Harry E. Tzalas |