Pompey's Pillar, a towering Roman triumphal column erected around 297 AD in honor of Emperor Diocletian, rises dramatically above the ancient ruins of Alexandria's Serapeum hill. A granite sphinx statue rests on its pedestal in the foreground, one of two sphinxes guarding the site — originally part of the grand Temple of Serapis, one of the most celebrated temples of the ancient world. The warm, hazy light casts a golden tone over the limestone ruins, evoking the deep historical layers of this iconic Mediterranean city.