Egyptian fishermen in two boats prepare to cast their nets in front of Qaitbey Fort, which was built in the 1480's by Sultan Qaitbey on the site of Alexandria's ancient lighthouse. PHOTO TASR/AP

Council for Antiquities, said the 13 classrooms dating from about 30 BC were found next to what had previously been thought to be an ancient theatre uncovered in central Alexandria 25 years ago. But the discovery by a Polish-Egyptian team of the classrooms, built of limestone and each surrounded by a row of steps for students to sit on, suggest the theatre was in fact an large auditorium for lectures, Hawass said.

The Alexandria library was set up after Alexander the Great established the city on Egypt's Mediterranean coast in 332 BC. The library became a beacon of learning in the ancient world until it was burnt down in 415 AD. "We do have texts telling us about this university (but) we never had any archaeological evidence," Hawass told Reuters. "The 13 classrooms, near this lecture hall that was found 25 years ago, in my opinion, is a part of the university, the rest of the university is buried underneath the modern buildings of Alexandria," he said.

The university was probably founded in the Greek period that pre-dated the Roman era, Hawass said, adding that it may have had 5,000 students though the exact size was not known. "I think the university maybe was abandoned (after) the burning of Alexandria library," he said. Hawass said the university classrooms uncovered in Alexandria were part of a long tradition of higher seats of learning in ancient Egypt, going back to what he said was the world's first university set up 5,000 years ago in On. Egypt has built a modern library, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, to replace the ancient seat of learning. The large disc-shaped building facing out into the Mediterranean sea was opened in 2002.

Reuters