The Arab Republic of Egypt (Miṣr in Arabic) links northeastern Africa and southwestern Asia with the land bridge of Sinai connecting the two continents. This position has made it an important crossroads of the world for the many millennia of its history. In modern times it became a particularly crucial crossroads in 1869 with the completion of the Suez Canal by a French company, linking Egypt's Mediterranean and Red Sea coasts. At that time Egypt was nominally a province of the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire but in fact it was ruled as a monarchy. British troops invaded and occupied the county in 1882 and it remained a de facto British protectorate until resuming its independence in 1922. Egypt is famous as the home of the prototype of all lighthouses, the Pharos of Alexandria, built in the early third century BCE. At nearly 120 m (390 ft) it was as tall as a modern skyscraper and much taller than any modern lighthouse. It remained in operation until after the Arab conquest of Egypt in 642 and stood for centuries more, finally collapsing after several earthquakes. Egypt is divided into 27 governorates and the governorates are subdivided into regions. This page includes lighthouses of the governates on Egypt's Mediterranean Sea coast; there are separate pages for the Sinai Peninsula and Gulf of Suez and for the Red Sea coast. Arabic is the official language of Egypt. The Arabic word for a lighthouse is mnarh or manara (منارة). Ra's is a cape, jaza'ir or jazirat is an island, shi'b is a reef, shira' is a bay, and marfa is a harbor. Transliteration of Arabic to Latin characters can be done in many ways, so alternate spellings are common. Coastal aids to navigation in Egypt are operated by the Egyptian Authority for Maritime Safely (EAMS), an agency of the Maritime Transport Sector. A private company, the Beacon Company of Egypt, maintains many of the lights under contract. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from volume N of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals (prior to 2013 the lights were in volume E with the same numbers). U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 113.
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Western Desert Lighthouses
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Al-Iskandariyya (Alexandria) Governorate Lighthouses
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![]() Great Pass Range Front Light, Alexandria, April 2017 (note 1894 light at lower left) ex-Google Plus photo by Wael Mamdoh |
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![]() Ra's el-Teen Light, Alexandria photo copyright Peter and Carolyn Vehslage; used by permission |
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Nile Delta Lighthouses
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Suez Canal Entrance Lighthouses
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Sinai Peninsula North Coast Lighthouses
Information available on lost lighthouses:
Notable faux lighthouses: |
Adjoining pages: East: Gaza | Southeast: South Sinai and Suez | South: Egypt Red Sea | West: Libya
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Posted July 25, 2006. Checked and revised July 30, 2024. Lighthouses: 48. Site copyright 2024 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.