Ancient Architect

Toward the end of the fourth and the beginning of the third century B.C. there was a very famous architect by the name of Sostratos. The king of Egypt used him in order to build the famous beacon light of Alexandria. The king's purpose in building this beacon light was that the ships might find their way into the safety of the port. When the building was completed, architect Sostratos chiseled his own name on a stone that was part of the building. He did not want it to be readily visible and so he covered it with mud and whitewash. On top of that he wrote with gold letters the king's name so that when the waves hit the mud it would wash it away and his own name would appear.