The loss of scientific understandings in that of physics and medicine, as well as the loss of cultural and historical documentation and knowledge, and much more, is unlike any other event in recorded history. Perhaps a mistake, the fire set in the library destroyed over 40,000 manuscripts. Library of alexandria library of alexandria the fate of the library of alexandria. Arab republic of jumhuriyat misr al arabiyah independant since july 23 1952.
It contained some 500,000 books and was a fabled repository of the w. It is most famous in antiquity as the site of the pharos, the great lighthouse, considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, for the temple of serapis, the serapion, which was part of the legendary library at. The serapeum was vandalized and demolished in 391 ad under a decree issued by coptic christian pope theophilus of alexandria, but it does not seem to have housed books at the time and was mainly. Greek and egyptian aesthetics mixed looks just sick man. The destruction of the great library of alexandria july 2, 2017 tim oneill comments 71 comments if there is a story that forms the heart of new atheist bad history, its the tale of the great library of alexandria and its destruction by a christian mob. The books that have exemption are those on medicine, divination, agriculture and forestry. In terms of knowledge that was lost, the destruction of the library of alexandria, which was actually a gradual process that took place over many centuries, was not particularly devastatingcertainly not nearly as devastating as popular culture li. Alexandria library facts library of alexandria history. The original copies of the homeric texts where presumed destroyed. Anyone who has failed to burn the books after thirty days of this announcement shall be subjected to tattooing and be sent to build the great wall. The library of alexandria was one of the bestknown of the libraries of the ancient world. Score a book s total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book. What was lost when the library of alexandria was burned. No other institution illustrates the spirit of hellenism better than the ancient library of alexandria, egypt.
By va mohamad ashrof ptolemy ii, who became the ruler of egypt after alexander the great in the third century bc, was a great patron of learning, and founded a library in alexandria, egypt, which contained about 5,00,000 books on. To them it was a bridge between mystical egypt and the more pragmatic west. Goodreads members who liked burning alexandria also liked. For the second time in the same week, i am addressing the subject of nabi daniel street in alexandria, first discussed its famous synagogue, and now i wish to write about its book market. Lost scientific research including physics and anatomy and. One of the great tragedies of ancient history, memorialized in myths and hollywood film, is the burning of the great library at alexandria. The library of alexandria is longgone and all around us.
The burning of the library of alexandria preston chesser the loss of the ancient worlds single greatest archive of knowledge, the library of alexandria, has been lamented for ages. Embracing the excellent, avoiding its fate gerald franz in the year 331 bc, alexander the great stood with some of his advisors in the small egyptian fishing village of rhakotis on the nile delta. The tragic burning of the great library of alexandria destroyed over 500,000 scrolls amassing the collective thought of the ancient greeks, egyptians, macedonians, babylonians, and unknown others, depriving these priceless items from future scholars. In the fifth century bce, the golden age of classical greece, book collecting was still very uncommon. For his own safety he had his men set fire to the egyptian ships, but the fire. In its prime, the library of alexandria housed an unprecedented number of scrolls and attracted some of the greek worlds. The library of alexandria was completely destroyed nearly 2000 years ago leaving no physical trace behind but its formative scholarship and. Its books were collateral damage in the civil war that turned the roman republic into an empire.
We know very little about the actual fate of the library we dont even have a complete consensus on when it met its demise, and no contemporary source actually says is so many words the library was destroyed on suchandsuch a day. Download the architecture of alexandria and egypt c pdf books pdfbooks the architecture of alexandria and egypt c mon, 27 apr 2020 23. The burning of library in alexandria, egypt, africa august 19, 2016 2 comments written by sola rey this library is most famous for having been burned down resulting in the loss of many scrolls and books. Egyptian restorer piecing together the remnants of a book destroyed in the fire. The destruction of the great library of alexandria has been lamented as one of the biggest losses of the ancient world. Book burning is the ritual destruction by fire of books or other written materials, usually carried out in a public context. His soldiers set fire to some of the egyptian ships docked in. The burning of the library of alexandria ranks among the worst crimes ever committed against humanity. The burning of the ancient royal library at alexandria ranks among historys greatest tragedies and depending on the era and bias of the historian recording its loss, blame has been very diverse. And, just as conceivably, it could have contained nothing. Rare books burn in egypt, only accusations remain mobylives. It was, the story continues, thereupon, decided that the books were contrary to the quran and the whole library was burned down without even opening the books. Fine art imagesheritageimagesage fotostock demetriushad at his disposal a large budget in order to collect, if possible, all the books in the world.
Nearly one million documents from across assyria, greece, persia, egypt, india and many other powerful civilizations at the time graced its shelves. Every scholar studied in this great library has left a copy of his written book. A notion of lost implies that the library of alexandria held the last and only remaining copy of a work, and with its destruction whether we mean the plundering of aurelian in c. One of the interesting facts about the ancient world that seems to be missing from many history books is that there were many great collections of books and literature in ancient times and most were open to any scholar from anywhere in the world. Many of these were only copies and the valuable information they held is forever lost. It was built by ptolemy ii, who became the ruler of egypt after alexander the great in the third century bc. It is both a commemoration of the library of alexandria that was lost in antiquity, and an. A brief history of book burning, from the printing press to internet archives as long as there have been books, people have burned. Events of burning the ancient alexandria library were as follows. What do you know about historys most mysterious book. In a fire the flames will be drawn floor to floor by the air flow thus ensuring the relatively easy destruction of a whole library rather than a small section. How devastating was the burning of the library of alexandria.
The earliest recorded incident of bookburning in history appears, however, to be emperor qin shi huangs order in 2 bc that all books of philosophy and history from anywhere other than qin. Why was the library of alexandria burned and by whom. Cairo egypt egyptian books burn julius caesar library of alexandria napoleon bonaparte. Download the architecture of alexandria and egypt c pdf. Here are 10 things you need to know about the ancient library of alexandria.
Egypt s president has long been targetting the muslim brotherhood in his country. Birthplace of the modern world pollard, justin, reid, howard on. Is the library of alexandria already found and why is it. What really happened to the great library of alexandria 19c illustration of the great library the great library of alexandria conjures images of bearded scholars strolling marble halls, studying rolls of papyri at large wooden tables, or arguing with colleagues under covered walkways. This great library combined both east and west civilizations. As part of a major clash between christians and pagans that theophilus had helped to start in 391 ad, a christian mob attacked and destroyed the serapeum, a building housing part of the library of alexandria that had survived two earlier disasters, including an accidental burning of the books by julius caesar. The ruins of ancient alexandria, a complete tour, what to see duration. The burning of the ancient royal library at alexandria ranks. The destruction of the great library of alexandria has been lamented as one of.
Even assuming there was anything left of the library despite the burning of the original library by julius caesars troops in 47bc, the book burning party of caracalla in 215 ad, and the leveling of the entire region of the city where the librar. And so alexandria s library, and its disappearance, remains one of the greatest enigmas of ancient history. In his book the vanished library, luciano canfora interprets the. One of the major acquisitions for the library was the books of aristotle.
The burning of the library of alexandria in ancient egypt ranks among the worst crimes committed against humanity in known history. The library of alexandria the crime that set human. The burning of the boats of the port did not burn the library. As part of the cultural heritage of egypt s second largest city, this street was the subject of a viciousand frankly barbaricassault from the new islamist governor. Cleopatra and ptolemy xiii, caesar set fire to the ships in the harbor. Once the largest library in the ancient world, and containing works by the greatest thinkers and writers of antiquity, including homer, plato, socrates and many more, the library of alexandria, northern egypt, is popularly believed to have been destroyed in a huge fire around 2000 years ago and its volumous works lost. It formed part of the research institute at alexandria in egypt that is known as the. The story of the burning of the library of alexandria is not mentioned by those who wrote the history of egypt and its conquest, who lived many centuries before those who wrote this story. It should be noted that cicero, strabo and lucano mention nothing of the burning of books. For centuries the main point of contention was whether or not the library or librariesas two sites existed survived until the arab conquest of alexandria in the 7th century. Here alexander decided to found a new city and name it after his favorite person, himself. The fate of that great wealth of books remains provocative and controversial. What did the world lose in the great library of alexandria.
The serapeum was vandalized and demolished in 391 ad under a decree issued by coptic christian pope 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. Alexandria, library ofillustration of the ancient library of alexandria, egypt. The burning of books represents an element of censorship and usually proceeds from a cultural, religious, or political opposition to the materials in question. Alexandria was founded in egypt by alexander the great. Find books like burning alexandria from the worlds largest community of readers. The burning of library in alexandria, egypt, africa sola rey. The great library at alexandria was destroyed by budget. The burning of the library of alexandria in egypt between 50 b. Many fires and a lot of earthquakes have caused a lot of damage to the city of alexandria and its library.