| THE GREAT LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT.
The Great Library was founded in Alexandria by Ptolemy I (372-283 BCE). One of Alexander the Great's best generals, he became satrap of Egypt and then its king (pharaoh) after Alexander's death. He founded the XXXIInd Egyptian dynasty (Ptolemaic Dynasty which ends in 30 BCE with the death of Cleopatra, the last ruler of the Ptolemaic Dynasty). He rules from Alexandria, which he had made the capital of Egypt. There, around 295 BCE he delegated the task of creating both the Museum and the Library to Demetrius of Phaleron (an ex-Athenian polititian and scholar). Housed in the royal palace compound, it operated under the direct protection and supervision of the king who made available large sums of money for the acquisition of works. Demetrius became its first director and rapidly established its fame as a repository of knowledge, available for all scholarly study. What made this library so unique is that it was the first library conceived as a universal repository of human knowledge rather than a local or national one. In fact, the Ptolemies were intent on collecting all the books of the world. While undoubtedly most of the library was Greek, (and apparently included all of the Greek works), it also included most of Egyptian history and knowledge, Babylonian history, a two million line book on Zoroastrianism, works on Buddhism, and the translation of Hebrew sacred writings into Greek, the Septuagint. Within some 50 years, the collection had become so large that the royal compound had become too small and a second library branch was housed in the Serapium, in the southern part of the city, by Ptolemy III. Figures as to the extent of the library vary, but by the third century CE, one estimate places its content at 700,000 books. Likely, the majority of these books were mixed books i.e. books containing more than one work, so that the figure of over a million works is not out of the realm of possibilities. It attracted scholars of every branch of knowledge. Some were visiting scholars, others spent a lifetime there. They included Euclid and Archimedes, Eratosthenes and Claudius Ptolemy, the astronomer and geographer. The Royal library was accidentally destroyed by fire in 48 BCE when Julius Caesar set fire to Ptolemy XIIIth's ennemy fleet. The Serapeum Library survived intact until 391CE when the Easter Roman Emperor Theodosius orders the destruction of all pagan temples. It is at that time that the Serapeum Library, building and contents, were totally destroyed. (As an aside, the story that the library was destroyed during the Arab conquest of 642 is a propaganda lie fabricated by the Crusaders in the XIIth Cent.). For more info on Alexandria and the library connect
to this site
|