ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT—According to a report in La Brújula Verde, a bronze signet ring engraved with an image of the Lighthouse of Alexandria has been recovered from the submerged island of Antirhodos, in what was Alexandria’s Eastern Harbor, by a team from Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities and the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology. The ring could have been used to press a raised image of the lighthouse into wax or soft clay in order to seal letters or amphoras, or to validate documents. Hisham El-Leithy of the Supreme Council of Antiquities said that the image of the lighthouse resembles depictions of the landmark on coins dated to the second century A.D. Built of white marble between 297 and 284 B.C., the lighthouse is thought to have stood nearly 400 feet tall. It was destroyed by earthquakes in A.D. 1303 and 1323. Blocks from the structure remain on the other end of the harbor. To read about recent efforts to create digital model of lighthouse blocks that remain underwater, go to "Secrets of the Seven Wonders: Lighthouse of Alexandria."
