Yes--- the light house at Alexandria, one of the seven wonders of the
ancient world.(Um...ah...Statue of Artemis at Ephesus, Hanging Gardens
at Babylon, Great Pyramid, The big Mosoleum at Helicarnassus *sic?*,
the um other two....Colossus at Rhodes...Big Statue of Zeus Somewhere.
I just know someone is going to Google this and make me look like a
donkey!.)  Alexandria is the principal port of Egypt (where the Nile
comes out to the Mediterranean) The city of Alexandia was built on top
of a pre-existing city on that spot by Alexander the Great, who named it
after...himself.  (He is buried there, though he died young in Babylon.)
He named a lot of cities after himself.  He was an interesting fellow.
He had a horse that he really loved named Ox-Head.  (Bucephalus.) He
named a lot of cities after the horse, too.  He wept bitterly when
Ox-head died.
 
Anyway, the light house was the tallest building in the world for
centuries.  There was a fire that burned on top of it, and a polished
metal mirror behind the fire.  At night, the fire could be seen fifty
miles out to sea.  The building stood for centuries, but was eventually
destroyed by earthquakes.  Part of it lies in chunks in the water at the
base of the island, Pharos, that the light house stood on.(The Colossus
of Rhodes is in chunks in the water, too, in...um...Rhodes!  Yeah!
That's it.Greece.)
 
http://www.unesco.org/csi/pub/source/alex6.htm
This link shows you pictures of the chunks of the light house underwater,
and the building that stands on the site now, plus a drawing of the
original light house.
 
In French, to this day, (at least in Canada) the word 'phares' means
headlights on cars.  I remember driving in Quebec, and seeing a sign
that I was trying to translate that said "Lower your "phares".  I was
like "Huh?" Then it clicked, but only because I studied archaeology in
college.  I laughed like a hyena!  (And turned off my headlights in the
parking garage.)
 
It's a cool subject, and a *very* cool name for a white ferret.  Way to
go, Sean!  Bonus points for creativity.  Proof positive that it is a
*MYTH* that the autistic are all fundamentally incapable of abstract
thought.  Shine on, Pharos!
 
Alexandra in MA
(From the Greek Iskander--a helper of men.  Go figure.)
[Posted in FML issue 5120]