He did this secretly, and then covered the face of the tablet with an artificial composition, made with lime, to imitate the natural surface of the stone.

On this outer surface he cut a new inscription, in which he inserted the name of the king.

In process of time the lime moldered away, the king's inscription disappeared, and his own, which thenceforward continued as long as the building endured, came out to view.
The Pharos was said to have been four hundred feet high.

It was famed throughout the world for many centuries; nothing, however, remains of it now but a heap of useless and unmeaning ruins.
Besides the light that beamed from the summit of this lofty tower, there was another center of radiance and illumination in ancient Alexandria, which was in some respects still more conspicuous and renowned, namely, an immense library and museum established and maintained by the Ptolemies.

The Museum, which was first established, was not, as its name might now imply, a collection of curiosities, but an institution of learning, consisting of a body of learned men, who devoted their time to philosophical and scientific pursuits.