The earliest lighthouses were simply bonfires built on hillsides to guide ships. Ancient peoples had long made a practice of banking fires on hills and mountainsides to bring their sailors home from the sea.

History's first great lighthouse was also its tallest. Built in about 280 B.C. on an island in the bustling harbor of Alexandria, the Pharos tower reached 450 feet into the skies of ancient Egypt. Its light, produced by a fire kept blazing on its roof, could probably be seen from up to twenty-nine miles out in the Mediterranean. Mariners needed the Pharos Light because Alexandria stood on the flat Nile Delta, and there were no mountains or other natural features to help them find the city.

With its artificial mountain, Alexandria pulled in seamen from the entire known world. The delta city became the busiest and most prosperous port in the world, and it remained so for almost 1,000 years. Trading ships from Greece, Carthage, and Rome flocked to the city's wharves to load up with the grain grown in wondrous abundance in fields along the banks of the Nile. The sight of the Pharos Light burning far up near the dome of the sky must have filled the breasts of countless sea captains with awe.

Today, from Alexandria to Hilton Head, from Cape Hatteras to Marblehead Point, lighthouses dot the world’s seacoasts and everyone has seen one or two in their lifetime. Some are tall and stately and can be seen hugging cliffs and rugged shorelines. Many others are not so picturesque, simply functional. What is your concept of a lighthouse? Be creative and functional. Post it here.

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