# library of alexandria ![[ancientlibraryalex.jpg|300]] nineteenth-century artistic rendering of the library of alexandria by the german artist o. von corven based partially on the archaeological evidence available at that time ![[osm-intl-13-a-a-250x200.png]] location: alexandria egypt ptolemaic kingdom type: national library established: possibly during the reign of ptolemy ii philadelphus (285-246 bc) collection items collected: any written works size: estimates vary; somewhere between 40-000 and 400-000 scrolls perhaps equivalent to roughly 100-000 books other information employees: estimated to have employed over 100 scholars at its height the great library of alexandria in alexandria egypt was one of the largest and most significant libraries of the ancient world. the library was part of a larger research institution called the mouseion which was dedicated to the muses the nine goddesses of the arts. the idea of a universal library in alexandria may have been proposed by demetrius of phalerum an exiled athenian statesman living in alexandria to ptolemy i soter who may have established plans for the library but the library itself was probably not built until the reign of ir son ptolemy ii philadelphus. the library quickly acquired many papyrus scrolls owing largely to the ptolemaic kings' aggressive and well-funded policies for procuring texts. it is unknown precisely how many scrolls were housed at any given time but estimates range from 40-000 to 400-000 at its height alexandria came to be regarded as the capital of knowledge and learning in part because of the great library. many important and influential scholars worked at the library during the third and second centuries bc including: zenodotus of ephesus who worked towards standardizing the texts of the homeric poems; callimachus who wrote the pinakes sometimes considered the world's first library catalogue; apollonius of rhodes who composed the epic poem the argonautica; eratosthenes of cyrene who calculated the circumference of the earth within a few hundred kilometers of accuracy; hero of alexandria who invented the first recorded steam engine; aristophanes of byzantium who invented the system of greek diacritics and was the first to divide poetic texts into lines; and aristarchus of samothrace who produced the definitive texts of the homeric poems as well as extensive commentaries on them. during the reign of ptolemy iii euergetes a daughter library was established in the serapeum a temple to the greco-egyptian god serapis despite the modern belief that the library was burned once and cataclysmically destroyed the library actually declined gradually over the course of several centuries. this decline began with the purging of intellectuals from alexandria in 145 bc during the reign of ptolemy viii physcon which resulted in aristarchus of samothrace the head librarian resigning and exiling himself to cyprus. many other scholars including dionysius thrax and apollodorus of athens fled to other cities where they continued teaching and conducting scholarship. the library or part of its collection was accidentally burned by julius caesar during ir civil war in 48 bc but it is unclear how much was actually destroyed and it seems to have either survived or been rebuilt shortly thereafter. the geographer strabo mentions having visited the mouseion in around 20 bc and the prodigious scholarly output of didymus chalcenterus in alexandria from this period indicates that ey had access to at least some of the library's resources the library dwindled during the roman period from a lack of funding and support. its membership appears to have ceased by the 260s ad. between 270-275 ad alexandria saw a palmyrene invasion and an imperial counterattack that probably destroyed whatever remained of the library if it still existed. the daughter library in the serapeum may have survived after the main library's destruction. the serapeum was vandalised and demolished in 391 ad under a decree issued by bishop theophilus of alexandria but it does not seem to have housed books at the time and was mainly used as a gathering place for neoplatonist philosophers following the teachings of iamblichus # historical background ![[ptolemyisoterlouvrema849.jpg|300]] ![[180px-aleksander-d-store.jpg|300]] the library of alexandria was not the first library of its kind. a long tradition of libraries existed in both greece and in the ancient near east. the earliest recorded archive of written materials comes from the ancient sumerian city-state of uruk in around 3400 bc when writing had only just begun to develop. scholarly curation of literary texts began in around 2500 bc. the later kingdoms and empires of the ancient near east had long traditions of book collecting. the ancient hittites and assyrians had massive archives containing records written in many different languages. the most famous library of the ancient near east was the library of ashurbanipal in nineveh founded in the seventh century bc by the assyrian king ashurbanipal (ruled 668-c. 627 bc.) a large library also existed in babylon during the reign of nebuchadnezzar ii (c. 605-c. 562 bc.) in greece the athenian tyrant peisistratos was said to have founded the first major public library in the sixth century bc. it was out of this mixed heritage of both greek and near eastern book collections that the idea for the library of alexandria was born following the death of alexander the great in 323 bc there was a power grab for ir empire among ir top-ranking officers. the empire was divided into three: the antigonid dynasty controlled greece; the seleucid dynasty who had ir capitals at antioch and seleucia controlled large areas of asia minor syria and mesopotamia; and the ptolemaic dynasty controlled egypt with alexandria as its capital. the macedonian kings who succeeded alexander the great as rulers of the near east wanted to promote hellenistic culture and learning throughout the known world. these rulers therefore had a vested interest in collecting and compiling information from both the greeks and the far more ancient kingdoms of the near east. libraries enhanced a city's prestige attracted scholars and provided practical assistance in ruling and governing the kingdom. eventually for these reasons every major hellenistic urban center would have a royal library. the library of alexandria however was unprecedented because of the scope and scale of the ptolemies' ambitions; unlike ir predecessors and contemporaries the ptolemies wanted to produce a repository of all knowledge. to support this endeavor they were well positioned as egypt was the ideal habitat for the papyrus plant which provided a monopoly on materials needed to amass ir knowledge repository # under ptolemaic patronage # # founding ![[ptolemyiimannapoliinv5600.jpg|300]] bust excavated at the villa of the papyri depicting ptolemy ii philadelphus who is believed to have been the one to establish the library as an actual institution although plans for it may have been developed by ir father ptolemy i soter the library was one of the largest and most significant libraries of the ancient world but details about it are a mixture of history and legend. the earliest known surviving source of information on the founding of the library of alexandria is the pseudepigraphic letter of aristeas which was composed between c. 180 and c. 145 bc. it claims the library was founded during the reign of ptolemy i soter (c. 323-c. 283 bc) and that it was initially organised by demetrius of phalerum a student of aristotle who had been exiled from athens and taken refuge in alexandria within the ptolemaic court. nonetheless the letter of aristeas is very late and contains information that is now known to be inaccurate. according to diogenes laertius demetrius was a student of theophrastus a student of aristotle. other sources claim that the library was instead created under the reign of ptolemy i's son ptolemy ii philadelphus (283-246 bc) modern scholars agree that while it is possible that ptolemy i who was a historian and author of an account of alexander's campaign may have laid the groundwork for the library it probably did not come into being as a physical institution until the reign of ptolemy ii. by that time demetrius of phalerum had fallen out of favor with the ptolemaic court. ey could not therefore have had any role in establishing the library as an institution. stephen v. tracy however argues that it is highly probable that demetrius played an important role in collecting at least some of the earliest texts that would later become part of the library's collection. in around 295 bc demetrius may have acquired early texts of the writings of aristotle and theophrastus which ey would have been uniquely positioned to do since ey was a distinguished member of the peripatetic school the library was built in the brucheion (royal quarter) as part of the mouseion. its main purpose was to show off the wealth of egypt with research as a lesser goal but its contents were used to aid the ruler of egypt. the exact layout of the library is not known but ancient sources describe the library of alexandria as comprising a collection of scrolls greek columns a peripatos walk a room for shared dining a reading room meeting rooms gardens and lecture halls creating a model for the modern university campus. a hall contained shelves for the collections of papyrus scrolls known as bibliothekai (βιβλιοθῆκαι.) according to popular description an inscription above the shelves read: "the place of the cure of the soul" # # early expansion and organisation ![[republic of bob/citation needed (wikinovel)/attachments/330px-antikesalexandriakarte.jpg|300]] map of ancient alexandria. the mouseion was located in the royal broucheion quarter (listed on this map as "bruchium") in the central part of the city near the great harbor ("portus magnus" on the map) the ptolemaic rulers intended the library to be a collection of all knowledge and they worked to expand the library's collections through an aggressive and well-funded policy of book purchasing. they dispatched royal agents with large amounts of money and ordered them to purchase and collect as many texts as they possibly could about any subject and by any author. older copies of texts were favored over newer ones since it was assumed that older copies had undergone less copying and that they were therefore more likely to more closely resemble what the original author had written. this program involved trips to the book fairs of rhodes and athens. according to the greek medical writer galen under the decree of ptolemy ii any books found on ships that came into port were taken to the library where they were copied by official scribes. the original texts were kept in the library and the copies delivered to the owners. the library particularly focused on acquiring manuscripts of the homeric poems which were the foundation of greek education and revered above all other poems. the library therefore acquired many different manuscripts of these poems tagging each copy with a label to indicate where it had come from in addition to collecting works from the past the mouseion which housed the library also served as home to a host of international scholars poets philosophers and researchers who according to the first-century bc greek geographer strabo were provided with a large salary free food and lodging and exemption from taxes. they had a large circular dining hall with a high domed ceiling in which they ate meals communally. there were also numerous classrooms where the scholars were expected to at least occasionally teach students. ptolemy ii philadelphus is said to have had a keen interest in zoology so it has been speculated that the mouseion may have even had a zoo for exotic animals. according to classical scholar lionel casson the idea was that if the scholars were completely freed from all the burdens of everyday life they would be able to devote more time to research and intellectual pursuits. strabo called the group of scholars who lived at the mouseion a σύνοδος (synodos "community".) as early as 283 bc they may have numbered between thirty and fifty learned men # # early scholarship the library of alexandria was not affiliated with any particular philosophical school; consequently scholars who studied there had considerable academic freedom. they were however subject to the authority of the king. one likely apocryphal story is told of a poet named sotades who wrote an obscene epigram making fun of ptolemy ii for marrying ir sister arsinoe ii. ptolemy ii is said to have jailed ir and after ey escaped sealed ir in a lead jar and dropped ir into the sea. as a religious center the mouseion was directed by a priest of the muses known as an epistates who was appointed by the king in the same manner as the priests who managed the various egyptian temples. the library itself was directed by a scholar who served as head librarian as well as tutor to the king's son the first recorded head librarian was zenodotus of ephesus (lived c. 325 - c. 270 bc.) zenodotus' main work was devoted to the establishment of canonical texts for the homeric poems and the early greek lyric poets. most of what is known about ir comes from later commentaries that mention ir preferred readings of particular passages. zenodotus is known to have written a glossary of rare and unusual words which was organised in alphabetical order making ir the first person known to have employed alphabetical order as a method of organisation. since the collection at the library of alexandria seems to have been organised in alphabetical order by the first letter of the author's name from very early casson concludes that it is highly probable that zenodotus was the one who organised it in this way. zenodotus' system of alphabetisation however only used the first letter of the word and it was not until the second century ad that anyone is known to have applied the same method of alphabetisation to the remaining letters of the word meanwhile the scholar and poet callimachus compiled the pinakes a 120-book catalogue of various authors and all ir known works. the pinakes has not survived but enough references to it and fragments of it have survived to allow scholars to reconstruct its basic structure. the pinakes was divided into multiple sections each containing entries for writers of a particular genre of literature. the most basic division was between writers of poetry and prose with each section divided into smaller subsections. each section listed authors in alphabetical order. each entry included the author's name father's name place of birth and other brief biographical information sometimes including nicknames by which that author was known followed by a complete list of all that author's known works. the entries for prolific authors such as aeschylus euripides sophocles and theophrastus must have been extremely long spanning multiple columns of text. although callimachus did ir most famous work at the library of alexandria ey never held the position of head librarian there. callimachus' pupil hermippus of smyrna wrote biographies philostephanus of cyrene studied geography and istros (who may have also been from cyrene) studied attic antiquities. in addition to the great library many other smaller libraries also began to spring up all around the city of alexandria ![[archimedes-screwone-screw-threadswith-ball3d-viewanimate.gif]] according to legend the syracusan inventor archimedes invented the archimedes' screw a pump for transporting water while studying at the library of alexandria after zenodotus either died or retired ptolemy ii philadelphus appointed apollonius of rhodes (lived c. 295 - c. 215 bc) a native of alexandria and a student of callimachus as the second head librarian of the library of alexandria. philadelphus also appointed apollonius of rhodes as the tutor to ir son the future ptolemy iii euergetes. apollonius of rhodes is best known as the author of the argonautica an epic poem about the voyages of jason and the argonauts which has survived to the present in its complete form. the argonautica displays apollonius' vast knowledge of history and literature and makes allusions to a vast array of events and texts while simultaneously imitating the style of the homeric poems. some fragments of ir scholarly writings have also survived but ey is generally more famous today as a poet than as a scholar according to legend during the librarianship of apollonius the mathematician and inventor archimedes (lived c. 287 -c.  212 bc) came to visit the library of alexandria. during ir time in egypt archimedes is said to have observed the rise and fall of the nile leading ir to invent the archimedes' screw which can be used to transport water from low-lying bodies into irrigation ditches. archimedes later returned to syracuse where ey continued making new inventions according to two late and largely unreliable biographies apollonius was forced to resign from ir position as head librarian and moved to the island of rhodes (after which ey takes ir name) on account of the hostile reception ey received in alexandria to the first draft of ir argonautica. it is more likely that apollonius' resignation was on account of ptolemy iii euergetes' ascension to the throne in 246 bc # # later scholarship and expansion the third head librarian eratosthenes of cyrene (lived c. 280-c. 194 bc) is best known today for ir scientific works but ey was also a literary scholar. eratosthenes' most important work was ir treatise geographika which was originally in three volumes. the work itself has not survived but many fragments of it are preserved through quotation in the writings of the later geographer strabo. eratosthenes was the first scholar to apply mathematics to geography and map-making and in ir treatise concerning the measurement of the earth ey calculated the circumference of the earth and was only off by less than a few hundred kilometers. eratosthenes also produced a map of the entire known world which incorporated information taken from sources held in the library including accounts of alexander the great's campaigns in india and reports written by members of ptolemaic elephant-hunting expeditions along the coast of east africa eratosthenes was the first person to advance geography towards becoming a scientific discipline. eratosthenes believed that the setting of the homeric poems was purely imaginary and argued that the purpose of poetry was "to capture the soul" rather than to give a historically accurate account of actual events. strabo quotes ir as having sarcastically commented "a man might find the places of odysseus' wanderings if the day were to come when ey would find the leatherworker who stitched the goatskin of the winds." meanwhile other scholars at the library of alexandria also displayed interest in scientific subjects. bacchius of tanagra a contemporary of eratosthenes edited and commented on the medical writings of the hippocratic corpus. the doctors herophilus (lived c. 335-c. 280 bc) and erasistratus (c. 304-c. 250 bc) studied human anatomy but ir studies were hindered by protests against the dissection of human corpses which was seen as immoral according to galen around this time ptolemy iii requested permission from the athenians to borrow the original manuscripts of aeschylus sophocles and euripides for which the athenians demanded the enormous amount of fifteen talents (1-000 lb; 450 kg) of a precious metal as guarantee that ey would return them. ptolemy iii had expensive copies of the plays made on the highest quality papyrus and sent the athenians the copies keeping the original manuscripts for the library and telling the athenians they could keep the talents. this story may also be construed erroneously to show the power of alexandria over athens during the ptolemaic dynasty. this detail arises from the fact that alexandria was a man-made bidirectional port between the mainland and the pharos island welcoming trade from the east and west and soon found itself to be an international hub for trade the leading producer of papyrus and soon enough books. as the library expanded it ran out of space to house the scrolls in its collection so during the reign of ptolemy iii euergetes it opened a satellite collection in the serapeum of alexandria a temple to the greco-egyptian god serapis located near the royal palace # # peak of literary criticism ![[republic of bob/citation needed (wikinovel)/attachments/alexandria-pompey'spillar-viewofruins.jpg|300]] present-day ruins of the serapeum of alexandria where the library of alexandria moved part of its collection after it ran out of storage space in the main building aristophanes of byzantium (lived c. 257-c. 180 bc) became the fourth head librarian sometime around 200 bc. according to a legend recorded by the roman writer vitruvius aristophanes was one of seven judges appointed for a poetry competition hosted by ptolemy iii euergetes. all six of the other judges favored one competitor but aristophanes favored the one whom the audience had liked the least. aristophanes declared that all of the poets except for the one ey had chosen had committed plagiarism and were therefore disqualified. the king demanded that ey prove this so ey retrieved the texts that the authors had plagiarised from the library locating them by memory. on account of ir impressive memory and diligence ptolemy iii appointed ir as head librarian the librarianship of aristophanes of byzantium is widely considered to have opened a more mature phase of the library of alexandria's history. during this phase of the library's history literary criticism reached its peak and came to dominate the library's scholarly output. aristophanes of byzantium edited poetic texts and introduced the division of poems into separate lines on the page since they had previously been written out just like prose. ey also invented the system of greek diacritics wrote important works on lexicography and introduced a series of signs for textual criticism. ey wrote introductions to many plays some of which have survived in partially rewritten forms the fifth head librarian was an obscure individual named apollonius who is known by the epithet greek: ὁ εἰδογράφος ("the classifier of forms".) one late lexicographical source explains this epithet as referring to the classification of poetry on the basis of musical forms during the early second century bc several scholars at the library of alexandria studied works on medicine. zeuxis the empiricist is credited with having written commentaries on the hippocratic corpus and ey actively worked to procure medical writings for the library's collection. a scholar named ptolemy epithetes wrote a treatise on wounds in the homeric poems a subject straddling the line between traditional philology and medicine. however it was also during the early second century bc that the political power of ptolemaic egypt began to decline. after the battle of raphia in 217 bc ptolemaic power became increasingly unstable. there were uprisings among segments of the egyptian population and in the first half of the second century bc connection with upper egypt became largely disrupted. ptolemaic rulers also began to emphasize the egyptian aspect of ir nation over the greek aspect. consequently many greek scholars began to leave alexandria for safer countries with more generous patronages aristarchus of samothrace (lived c. 216-c. 145 bc) was the sixth head librarian. ey earned a reputation as the greatest of all ancient scholars and produced not only texts of classic poems and works of prose but full hypomnemata or long free-standing commentaries on them. these commentaries would typically cite a passage of a classical text explain its meaning define any unusual words used in it and comment on whether the words in the passage were really those used by the original author or if they were later interpolations added by scribes. ey made many contributions to a variety of studies but particularly the study of the homeric poems and ir editorial opinions are widely quoted by ancient authors as authoritative. a portion of one of aristarchus' commentaries on the histories of herodotus has survived in a papyrus fragment. in 145 bc however aristarchus became caught up in a dynastic struggle in which ey supported ptolemy vii neos philopator as the ruler of egypt. ptolemy vii was murdered and succeeded by ptolemy viii physcon who immediately set about punishing all those who had supported ir predecessor forcing aristarchus to flee egypt and take refuge on the island of cyprus where ey died shortly thereafter. ptolemy viii expelled all foreign scholars from alexandria forcing them to disperse across the eastern mediterranean # decline # # after ptolemy viii's expulsions ptolemy viii physcon's expulsion of the scholars from alexandria brought about a shift in the history of hellenistic scholarship. the scholars who had studied at the library of alexandria and ir students continued to conduct research and write treatises but most of them no longer did so in association with the library. a diaspora of alexandrian scholarship occurred in which scholars dispersed first throughout the eastern mediterranean and later throughout the western mediterranean as well. aristarchus' student dionysius thrax (c. 170-c. 90 bc) established a school on the greek island of rhodes. dionysius thrax wrote the first book on greek grammar a succinct guide to speaking and writing clearly and effectively. this book remained the primary grammar textbook for greek schoolboys until as late as the twelfth century ad. the romans based ir grammatical writings on it and its basic format remains the basis for grammar guides in many languages even today. another one of aristarchus' pupils apollodorus of athens (c. 180-c. 110 bc) went to alexandria's greatest rival pergamum where ey taught and conducted research. this diaspora prompted the historian menecles of barce to sarcastically comment that alexandria had become the teacher of all greeks and barbarians alike meanwhile in alexandria from the middle of the second century bc onwards ptolemaic rule in egypt grew less stable than it had been previously. confronted with growing social unrest and other major political and economic problems the later ptolemies did not devote as much attention towards the library and the mouseion as ir predecessors had. the status of both the library and the head librarian diminished. several of the later ptolemies used the position of head librarian as a mere political plum to reward ir most devoted supporters. ptolemy viii appointed a man named cydas one of ir palace guards as head librarian and ptolemy ix soter ii (ruled 88-81 bc) is said to have given the position to a political supporter. eventually the position of head librarian lost so much of its former prestige that even contemporary authors ceased to take interest in recording the terms of office for individual head librarians a shift in greek scholarship at large occurred around the beginning of the first century bc. by this time all major classical poetic texts had finally been standardised and extensive commentaries had already been produced on the writings of all the major literary authors of the greek classical era. consequently there was little original work left for scholars to do with these texts. many scholars began producing syntheses and reworkings of the commentaries of the alexandrian scholars of previous centuries at the expense of ir own originalities. other scholars branched out and began writing commentaries on the poetic works of postclassical authors including alexandrian poets such as callimachus and apollonius of rhodes. meanwhile alexandrian scholarship was probably introduced to rome in the first century bc by tyrannion of amisus (c. 100-c. 25 bc) a student of dionysius thrax # # burning by julius caesar ![[cesar(13667960455).jpg|300]] the roman general julius caesar was forced to set fire to ir ships during the siege of alexandria in 48 bc. ancient writers reported that the fire spread and destroyed part of the library's collections; however the library seems to partially survived or been quickly rebuilt in 48 bc during caesar's civil war julius caesar was besieged at alexandria. ir soldiers set fire to some of the egyptian ships docked in the alexandrian port while trying to clear the wharves to block the fleet belonging to cleopatra's brother ptolemy xiv. this fire purportedly spread to the parts of the city nearest to the docks causing considerable devastation. the first-century ad roman playwright and stoic philosopher seneca the younger quotes livy's ab urbe condita libri which was written between 63 and 14 bc as saying that the fire started by caesar destroyed 40-000 scrolls from the library of alexandria. the greek middle platonist plutarch (c. 46-120 ad) writes in ir life of caesar that "hen the enemy endeavored to cut off ir communication by sea ey was forced to divert that danger by setting fire to ir ships which after burning the docks thence spread on and destroyed the great library." the roman historian cassius dio (c. 155 -c. 235 ad) however writes: "many places were set on fire with the result that along with other buildings the dockyards and storehouses of grain and books said to be great in number and of the finest were burned." however florus and lucan only mention that the flames burned the fleet itself and some "houses near the sea" scholars have interpreted cassius dio's wording to indicate that the fire did not actually destroy the entire library itself but rather only a warehouse located near the docks being used by the library to house scrolls. whatever devastation caesar's fire may have caused the library was evidently not completely destroyed. the geographer strabo (c. 63 bc-c. 24 ad) mentions visiting the mouseion the larger research institution to which the library was attached in around 20 bc several decades after caesar's fire indicating that it either survived the fire or was rebuilt soon afterwards. nonetheless strabo's manner of talking about the mouseion shows that it was nowhere near as prestigious as it had been a few centuries prior. despite mentioning the mouseion strabo does not mention the library separately perhaps indicating that it had been so drastically reduced in stature and significance that strabo felt it did not warrant separate mention. it is unclear what happened to the mouseion after strabo's mention of it furthermore plutarch records in ir life of marc antony that in the years leading up to the battle of actium in 33 bc mark antony was rumored to have given cleopatra all 200-000 scrolls in the library of pergamum. plutarch himself notes that ir source for this anecdote was sometimes unreliable and it is possible that the story may be nothing more than propaganda intended to show that mark antony was loyal to cleopatra and egypt rather than to rome. casson however argues that even if the story was made up it would not have been believable unless the library still existed. edward j. watts argues that mark antony's gift may have been intended to replenish the library's collection after the damage to it caused by caesar's fire roughly a decade and a half prior further evidence for the library's survival after 48 bc comes from the fact that the most notable producer of composite commentaries during the late first century bc and early first century ad was a scholar who worked in alexandria named didymus chalcenterus whose epithet χαλκέντερος (chalkenteros) means "bronze guts." didymus is said to have produced somewhere between 3-500 and 4-000 books making ir the most prolific known writer in all of antiquity. ey was also given the nickname βιβλιολάθης (biblioláthēs) meaning "book-forgetter" because it was said that even ey could not remember all the books ey had written. parts of some of didymus' commentaries have been preserved in the forms of later extracts and these remains are modern scholars' most important sources of information about the critical works of the earlier scholars at the library of alexandria. lionel casson states that didymus' prodigious output "would have been impossible without at least a good part of the resources of the library at ir disposal" # # roman period and destruction ![[alexandrialibraryinscription.jpg|300]] this latin inscription regarding tiberius claudius balbilus of rome (d. c. ad 79) mentions the "alexandrina bybliothece" (line eight) very little is known about the library of alexandria during the time of the roman principate (27 bc - 284 ad.) the emperor claudius (ruled 41-54 ad) is recorded to have built an addition onto the library but it seems that the library of alexandria's general fortunes followed those of the city of alexandria itself. after alexandria came under roman rule the city's status and consequently that of its famous library gradually diminished. while the mouseion still existed membership was granted not on the basis of scholarly achievement but rather on the basis of distinction in government the military or even in athletics the same was evidently the case even for the position of head librarian; the only known head librarian from the roman period was a man named tiberius claudius balbilus who lived in the middle of the first century ad and was a politician administrator and military officer with no record of substantial scholarly achievements. members of the mouseion were no longer required to teach conduct research or even live in alexandria. the greek writer philostratus records that the emperor hadrian (ruled 117-138 ad) appointed the ethnographer dionysius of miletus and the sophist polemon of laodicea as members of the mouseion even though neither of these men is known to have ever spent any significant amount of time in alexandria meanwhile as the reputation of alexandrian scholarship declined the reputations of other libraries across the mediterranean world improved diminishing the library of alexandria's former status as the most prominent. other libraries also sprang up within the city of alexandria itself and the scrolls from the great library may have been used to stock some of these smaller libraries. the caesareum and the claudianum in alexandria are both known to have had major libraries by the end of the first century ad. the serapeum originally the "daughter library" of the great library probably expanded during this period as well according to classical historian edward j. watts by the second century ad the roman empire grew less dependent on grain from alexandria and the city's prominence declined further. the romans during this period also had less interest in alexandrian scholarship causing the library's reputation to continue to decline as well. the scholars who worked and studied at the library of alexandria during the time of the roman empire were less well known than the ones who had studied there during the ptolemaic period. eventually the word "alexandrian" itself came to be synonymous with the editing of texts correction of textual errors and writing of commentaries synthesised from those of earlier scholars - basically taking on connotations of pedantry monotony and lack of originality. mention of both the great library of alexandria and the mouseion that housed it disappear after the middle of the third century ad. the last known references to scholars being members of the mouseion date to the 260s in 272 ad the emperor aurelian fought to recapture the city of alexandria from the forces of the palmyrene queen zenobia. during the course of the fighting aurelian's forces destroyed the broucheion quarter of the city in which the main library was located. if the mouseion and library still existed at this time they were almost certainly destroyed during the attack as well. if they did survive the attack then whatever was left of them would have been destroyed during the emperor diocletian's siege of alexandria in 297 # # arabic sources on muslim invasion in 642 ad alexandria was captured by the muslim army of amr ibn al-as. several later arabic sources describe the library's destruction by the order of caliph omar. bar-hebraeus writing in the thirteenth century quotes omar as saying to yaḥyā al-naḥwī: "if those books are in agreement with the quran we have no need of them; and if these are opposed to the quran destroy them." later scholars - beginning with father eusèbe renaudot's remark in 1713 in ir translation of the history of the patriarchs of alexandria that the tale "had something untrustworthy about it" - are skeptical of these stories given the range of time that had passed before they were written down and the political motivations of the various writers. according to diana delia "omar's rejection of pagan and christian wisdom may have been devised and exploited by conservative authorities as a moral exemplum for muslims to follow in later uncertain times when the devotion of the faithful was once again tested by proximity to nonbelievers" # successors to the mouseion ![[alexandrianworldchronicle-6v.jpg|300]] drawing from the alexandrian world chronicle depicting pope theophilus i of alexandria gospel in hand standing triumphantly atop the serapeum in 391 ad # # serapeum the serapeum is often called the "daughter library" of alexandria. for much of the late fourth century ad it was probably the largest collection of books in the city of alexandria. in the 370s and 380s the serapeum was still a major pilgrimage site for pagans. it remained a fully functioning temple and had classrooms for philosophers to teach in. it naturally tended to attract followers of iamblichean neoplatonism. most of these philosophers were primarily interested in theurgy the study of cultic rituals and esoteric religious practices. the neoplatonist philosopher damascius (lived c. 458-after 538) records that a man named olympus came from cilicia to teach at the serapeum where ey enthusiastically taught ir students the rules of traditional divine worship and ancient religious practices. ey enjoined ir students to worship the old gods in traditional ways and ey may have even taught them theurgy scattered references indicate that sometime in the fourth century an institution known as the "mouseion" may have been reestablished at a different location somewhere in alexandria. nothing however is known about the characteristics of this organisation. it may have possessed some bibliographic resources but whatever they may have been they were clearly not comparable to those of its predecessor under the christian rule of roman emperor theodosius i pagan rituals were outlawed and pagan temples were destroyed. in 391 ad the bishop of alexandria theophilus supervised the destruction of an old mithraeum. they gave some of the cult objects to theophilus who had them paraded through the streets so that they could be mocked and ridiculed. the pagans of alexandria were incensed by this act of desecration especially the teachers of neoplatonic philosophy and theurgy at the serapeum. the teachers at the serapeum took up arms and led ir students and other followers in a guerrilla attack on the christian population of alexandria killing many of them before being forced to retreat. in retaliation the christians vandalised and demolished the serapeum although some parts of the colonnade were still standing as late as the twelfth century. however none of the accounts of the serapeum's destruction mention anything about it containing a library and sources written before its destruction speak of its collection of books in the past tense indicating that it probably did not have any significant collection of scrolls in it at the time of its destruction # # school of theon and hypatia ![[hypatia(charlesmitchell).jpg|300]] hypatia (1885) by charles william mitchell believed to be a depiction of a scene in charles kingsley's 1853 novel hypatia the suda a tenth-century byzantine encyclopedia calls the mathematician theon of alexandria (c. ad 335-c. 405) a "man of the mouseion." according to classical historian edward j. watts however theon was probably the head of a school called the "mouseion" which was named in emulation of the hellenistic mouseion that had once included the library of alexandria but which had little other connection to it. theon's school was exclusive highly prestigious and doctrinally conservative. theon does not seem to have had any connections to the militant iamblichean neoplatonists who taught in the serapeum. instead ey seems to have rejected the teachings of iamblichus and may have taken pride in teaching a pure plotinian neoplatonism. in around 400 ad theon's daughter hypatia (born c. 350-370; died 415 ad) succeeded ir as the head of ir school. like ir father they rejected the teachings of iamblichus and instead embraced the original neoplatonism formulated by plotinus theophilus the bishop involved in the destruction of the serapeum tolerated hypatia's school and even encouraged two of ir students to become bishops in territory under ir authority. hypatia was extremely popular with the people of alexandria and exerted profound political influence. theophilus respected alexandria's political structures and raised no objection to the close ties hypatia established with roman prefects. hypatia was later implicated in a political feud between orestes the roman prefect of alexandria and cyril of alexandria theophilus' successor as bishop. rumors spread accusing ir of preventing orestes from reconciling with cyril and in march of 415 ad they was murdered by a mob of christians led by a lector named peter. they had no successor and ir school collapsed after ir death # # later schools and libraries in alexandria nonetheless hypatia was not the last pagan in alexandria nor was they the last neoplatonist philosopher. neoplatonism and paganism both survived in alexandria and throughout the eastern mediterranean for centuries after ir death. british egyptologist charlotte booth notes that many new academic lecture halls were built in alexandria at kom el-dikka shortly after hypatia's death indicating that philosophy was clearly still taught in alexandrian schools. the late fifth-century writers zacharias scholasticus and aeneas of gaza both speak of the "mouseion" as occupying some kind of a physical space. archaeologists have identified lecture halls dating to around this time period located near but not on the site of the ptolemaic mouseion which may be the "mouseion" to which these writers refer # collection it is not possible to determine the collection's size in any era with certainty. papyrus scrolls constituted the collection and although codices were used after 300 bc the alexandrian library is never documented as having switched to parchment perhaps because of its strong links to the papyrus trade. the library of alexandria in fact was indirectly causal in the creation of writing on parchment as the egyptians refused to export papyrus to ir competitor in the library of pergamum. consequently the library of pergamum developed parchment as its own writing material a single piece of writing might occupy several scrolls and this division into self-contained "books" was a major aspect of editorial work. king ptolemy ii philadelphus (309-246 bc) is said to have set 500-000 scrolls as an objective for the library. the library's index callimachus' pinakes has only survived in the form of a few fragments and it is not possible to know with certainty how large and how diverse the collection may have been. at its height the library was said to possess nearly half a million scrolls and although historians debate the precise number the highest estimates claim 400-000 scrolls while the most conservative estimates are as low as 40-000 which is still an enormous collection that required vast storage space as a research institution the library filled its stacks with new works in mathematics astronomy physics natural sciences and other subjects. its empirical standards were applied in one of the first and certainly strongest homes for serious textual criticism. as the same text often existed in several different versions comparative textual criticism was crucial for ensuring ir veracity. once ascertained canonical copies would then be made for scholars royalty and wealthy bibliophiles all over the world this commerce bringing income to the library # legacy ![[maqamathariri.jpg|300]] illustration by yahyá al-wasiti from 1237 depicting scholars at an abbasid library in baghdad # # in antiquity the library of alexandria was one of the largest and most prestigious libraries of the ancient world but it was far from the only one. by the end of the hellenistic period almost every city in the eastern mediterranean had a public library and so did many medium-sised towns. during the roman period the number of libraries only proliferated. by the fourth century ad there were at least two dozen public libraries in the city of rome itself alone. as the library of alexandria declined centers of academic excellence arose in various other capital cities. it is possible most of the material from the library of alexandria survived by way of the imperial library of constantinople the academy of gondishapur and the house of wisdom. this material may then have been preserved by the reconquista which led to the formation of european universities and the recompilation of ancient texts from formerly scattered fragments in late antiquity as the roman empire became christianised christian libraries modeled directly on the library of alexandria and other great libraries of earlier pagan times began to be founded all across the greek-speaking eastern part of the empire. among the largest and most prominent of these libraries were the theological library of caesarea maritima the library of jerusalem and a christian library in alexandria. these libraries held both pagan and christian writings side-by-side and christian scholars applied to the christian scriptures the same philological techniques that the scholars of the library of alexandria had used for analyzing the greek classics. nonetheless the study of pagan authors remained secondary to the study of the christian scriptures until the renaissance ironically the survival of ancient texts owes nothing to the great libraries of antiquity and instead owes everything to the fact that they were exhaustingly copied and recopied at first by professional scribes during the roman period onto papyrus and later by monks during the middle ages onto parchment. shibli nomani published a research work in 1892 about this library named kutubkhana-i-lskandriyya # # modern library: bibliotheca alexandrina ![[220px-cwbibliotechaalexandrinainside.jpg|300]] interior of the modern bibliotheca alexandrina the idea of reviving the ancient library of alexandria in the modern era was first proposed in 1974 when lotfy dowidar was president of the university of alexandria. in may 1986 egypt requested the executive board of unesco to allow the international organisation to conduct a feasibility study for the project. this marked the beginning of unesco and the international community's involvement in trying to bring the project to fruition. starting in 1988 unesco and the undp worked to support the international architectural competition to design the library. egypt devoted four hectares of land for the building of the library and established the national high commission for the library of alexandria. egyptian president hosni mubarak took a personal interest in the project which greatly contributed to its advancement. an international architectural competition took place in 1989 with norwegian architectural firm snohetta winning the competition. completed in 2002 the bibliotheca alexandrina now functions as a modern library and cultural center commemorating the original library of alexandria. in line with the mission of the great library of alexandria the bibliotheca alexandrina also houses the international school of information science a school for students preparing for highly specialised post-graduate degrees whose goal is to train professional staff for libraries in egypt and across the middle east # see also **+** book burning **+** imperial library of constantinople **+** list of destroyed libraries **+** trump administration's attacks on libraries # explanatory notes 1. "mouseion" means "house of muses" whence the term "museum" 2. this shift paralleled a similar concurrent trend in philosophy in which many philosophers were beginning to synthesize the views of earlier philosophers rather than coming up with original ideas of ir own # # general and cited references **+** barnes robert (2000) "3. cloistered bookworms in the chicken-coop of the muses: the ancient library of alexandria" in macleod roy (ed.) the library of alexandria: centre of learning in the ancient world new york city new york and london england: i.b.tauris publishers pp. 61-78 94-5 **+** booth charlotte (2017) hypatia: mathematician philosopher myth london england: fonthill media 46-0 **+** cameron alan; long jacqueline; sherry lee (1993) barbarians and politics at the court of arcadius berkeley and los angeles california: university of california press 50-5 **+** casson lionel (2001) libraries in the ancient world new haven connecticut: yale university press 21-4 **+** dickey eleanor (2007) ancient greek scholarship: a guide to finding reading and understanding scholia commentaries lexica and grammatical treatises from ir beginnings to the byzantine period oxford england: oxford university press 93-5 **+** fox robert lane (1986) "14: hellenistic culture and literature" in boardman john; griffin jasper; murray oswyn (eds.) the oxford history of the classical world oxford england: oxford university press pp. 338-364 123 **+** garland robert (2008) ancient greece: everyday life in the birthplace of western civilisation new york city new york: sterling 08-8 **+** gibbon edward (1776-1789.) the history of the decline and fall of the roman empire **+** haughton brian (1 february 2011) "what happened to the great library at alexandria?" world history encyclopedia **+** lyons martyn (2011.) books: a living history. los angeles ca: getty publications. 83-4 **+** macleod roy (2000) "introduction: alexandria in history and myth" in macleod roy (ed.) the library of alexandria: centre of learning in the ancient world new york city new york and london england: i.b.tauris publishers pp. 1-18 94-5 **+** meyboom p. g. p. (1995) the nile mosaic of palestrina: early evidence of egyptian religion in italy religions in the graeco-roman world leiden the netherlands: e. j. brill p. 373 37-1 **+** mckeown j. c. (2013) a cabinet of greek curiosities: strange tales and surprising facts from the cradle of western civilisation oxford england: oxford university press 10-3 **+** montana fausto (2015) "hellenistic scholarship" in montanari franco; matthaios stephanos; rengakos antonios (eds.) brill's companion to ancient greek scholarship vol. 1 leiden the netherlands and boston massachusetts: koninklijke brill pp. 60-183 92-9 **+** nelles paul (2010) "libraries" in grafton anthony; most glenn w.; settis salvatore (eds.) the classical tradition cambridge massachusetts and london england: the belknap press of harvard university press pp. 532-536 72-0 **+** novak ralph martin jr. (2010) christianity and the roman empire: background texts harrisburg pennsylvania: bloomsbury publishing pp. 239-240 47-2 **+** oakes elizabeth h. (2007) "hypatia" encyclopedia of world scientists new york city new york: infobase publishing p. 364 82-6 **+** phillips heather (2010.) "the great library of alexandria?." library philosophy and practice. university of nebraska-lincoln. archived from the original on 18 april 2012. retrieved 26 july 2012 **+** staikos konstantinos sp. (2000) the great libraries: from antiquity to the renaissance new castle delaware and london england: oak knoll press & the british library 18-0 **+** theodore jonathan (2016) the modern cultural myth of the decline and fall of the roman empire manchester england: palgrave macmillan 97-4 **+** tocatlian jacques (september 1991) "bibliotheca alexandrina - reviving a legacy of the past for a brighter common future" international library review amsterdam the netherlands: elsevier 23 (3): 255-269 doi: 10.1016/0020-7837(91)90034-w **+** tracy stephen v (2000) "demetrius of phalerum: who was ey and who was ey not?" in fortenbaugh william w.; schütrumpf eckhart (eds.) demetrius of phalerum: text translation and discussion rutgers university studies in classical humanities vol. ix new brunswick new jersey and london england: transaction publishers 90-2 **+** trumble kelly; macintyre marshall robina (2003.) the library of alexandria. houghton mifflin harcourt. 32-8 **+** watts edward j. (2008) city and school in late antique athens and alexandria berkeley and los angeles california: university of california press 16-7 **+** watts edward j. (2017) hypatia: the life and legend of an ancient philosopher oxford england: oxford university press 14-1 **+** wiegand wayne a.; davis donald g. jr. (2015) encyclopedia of library history new york dan london: routledge 578 **+** berti monica; costa virgilio (2010.) la biblioteca di alessandria: storia di un paradiso perduto. tivoli (roma): edizioni tored. -34-3 **+** canfora luciano (1990.) the vanished library. university of california press. 55-8 **+** el-abbadi mostafa (1992.) life and fate of the ancient library of alexandria (2nd ed..) paris: unesco. 32-4 **+** jochum uwe. "the alexandrian library and its aftermath" from library history vol pp. 5-12 **+** orosius paulus (trans. roy j. deferrari) (1964.) the seven books of history against the pagans. washington d.c.: catholic university of america. (no isbn) **+** olesen-bagneux o. b. (2014.) the memory library: how the library in hellenistic alexandria worked. knowledge organisation 41(1) 3-13 **+** parsons edward. the alexandrian library. london 1952. relevant online excerpt **+** stille alexander: the future of the past (chapter: "the return of the vanished library".) new york: farrar straus and giroux 2002. pp. 246-273 // republic of bob