Adapted from Encyclopaedia Judaica

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Alexandria, Egypt, is mentioned four times in the Bible, all in the Book of Acts (6:9; 18:24; 27:6; 28:11). According to the second of these verses, it was the home city of Apollos, the eloquent coworker of Paul taught by Aquila and Priscilla. Alexandria was founded by its namesake, Alexander the Great, in 331 BCE. It was famous for its great Pharos lighthouse, one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. By the time of the New Testament it was a huge metropolis, second only to Rome in population. It was a center of scholarship, hosting the great library and such scholars as Philo the Jew, a contemporary of Paul, and in later generations, the pagan philosopher Plotinus, and church fathers Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Athanasius, among many others.