The Great Library of Alexandria: A Library Whose Aim was to Contain A Copy of Every Book Ever Written Nazmi Tarım Follow Sep 5, 2019 · 4 min read

From its Gate of the Sun to its Gate of the Moon, temples and palaces lined its spacious streets. Marbled columns and glittering statues dazzled visitors. Alexandria witnessed not only the romance of Julius Caesar and Cleopatra but also the genius of the greatest mathematicians and boasted the world’s first and greatest public library, a library whose aim was to contain a copy of every book ever written.

Alexandria’s Pharos lighthouse was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Ancient City ofAlexandria, was founded by Alexander the Great. The city was linking Greece and Egypt. The city featured wide boulevards laid out in a grid, and buildings constructed of granite and marble. According to some sources, The city was planned by the Alexander The Great with his own hands.

The concept of a universal library, an institution containing all the intellectual works of the world. Alexander the Great, upon seeing the great library of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh, was inspired to combine all the works of the various nations he conquered, translate them into Greek, and collect them all under one roof. An indication of Alexander’s desire for his empire to be a multicultural empire. The city was a feasible place for becoming center of Hellenism. Alexandria was a place where many different people lived and through which trade passed.

Followers of Alexander was seemed determined to follow Alexander the Great’s plans to create a universal library. The very fact that they defined their institution as a “universal” library.

The 400,000 to 700,000 rolls attributed to its collection did not simply appear by magic; they must have been acquired through some means. They did not want only books, they wanted the best, most original, most authoritative copies of, “if possible, all the books in the world and they were willing to buy, borrow, or steal in order to get them. The Library borrowed Athens’ official versions of the plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, giving Athens an enormous amount of money; the modern equivalent of millions of dollars, as surety for their return. The scribes of the Library made fine copies of these books on the highest quality of parchment. The originals were kept for the Great Library and the copies were returned to Athens, causing the Alexandrians to forfeit their bond. It is said that during a famine in Athens, ambassadors from the Great Library forced the sale of valuable original manuscripts owned by that city in exchange for food. It is widely reported that upon entering the Alexandrian harbor, ships were inspected, and any books they were carrying were seized. A copy was made and given to the original owner, but the original was kept for the Great Library. Governors were sending people to seek out and buy books. Because older versions were preferred to newer copies (older versions were thought to be more authentic and less likely to contain mistakes), a miniature industry sprung up that manufactured “old” texts. Once obtained by the Library, any works written in a different language were subsequently translated into Greek.

There is various rumours about the destruction of library. First, is one that lays the responsibility for the Great Library’s destruction upon the head of Julius Caesar. Second one is during the Emperor Aurelian’s sack of Alexandria during his war with Queen Zenobia in 272 CE. Third one is that it was destroyed by religious riots in 391 CE. By this time, Christianity has been declared the official religion of the Roman Empire.

Hypatia of Alexandria, played by Rachel Weisz in the motion picture Agora (2009). [Original image by Focus Features, Newmarket Films, Telecinco Cinema. Under the following license: Copyright, fair use]

Fourth one is that begins with strife between the sizeable Jewish and Christian populations of Alexandria. In 415 CE, violence broke out between the factions, and the Christian prefect of Alexandria, Cyril, directed the Jews to leave. Renowned teacher, astronomer and mathematician Hypatia, who is often known as the last great scholar associated with the Great Library, protested and ordered her execution. The story recounts that she was then murdered by a mob’s followers, who then sacked the Great Library and burned it to the ground.

Carl Sagan said that if he could go back in time, he wanted to go to this library. If this library had not been destroyed, the world would have gone through the industrial revolution without experiencing the darkness of the Middle Ages. Perhaps mankind would have built cities on Mars planet right now. This is one of the best examples of how bigotry can hinder the development of humanity.

Source: Great Library of Alexandria, Phillips, Heather, https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-190807