has been quoted, as giving it the name of his pillar. But the
erudite professor White has lately shown, that the passage in
Abulfeda was mistranslated; and with great probability ascribes
it’s erection to Ptolemy Philadelphus, whose reign was chiefly employed
in embellishing Alexandria, imagines the statue upon it to
have been that of Ptolemy Soter, and supposes it to have been
placed in front of the temple of Serapis.
From the circular cavity discovered by the english seamen
there can be little doubt, that a statue was intended to be placed
on the top of the column; but it may be questioned, whether any
statue were ever erected upon it. If there had, it could not very
easily have been removed; and we do not find the least mention
of a statue actually standing on the summit in any arabian or
other writer. From Mr. Bruce’s observation respecting the foliage
of the capital it is perhaps more probable, that the pillar was
unfinished at the death of Ptolemy Philadelphus; that his son
Euergetes, whose life was a succession of wars and conquests from
his ascending the throne, neglected to complete the design; and
that the rest of the race of the Ptolemies, for the most part tyrants,
cared little for the memory of their progenitor; so that neither
the metallic foliage, nor the statue of Ptolemy Soter, ever
graced the column.
There are some other remains of antiquity in the neighbourhood
of Alexandria, of which we have given a representation.