Great Collapses Codexery

The Library of Alexandria

Ancient world's largest library, center of Hellenistic learning.

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In the ancient world, the collection of texts in Alexandria, Egypt, ranked among the most substantial and renowned.[1] This collection formed part of the Mouseion, a research establishment honoring the nine Muses, the goddesses of the arts.[1] The Ptolemaic rulers employed forceful and well-funded methods to obtain texts, enabling the library to rapidly amass a great number of papyrus scrolls.[2]

Key facts and history

The idea of a universal library may have been proposed by Demetrius of Phalerum to Ptolemy I Soter.[1] The library itself was probably not built until the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus.[1] Apollonius of Rhodes became the second head librarian and is best known as the author of the Argonautica.[3] In 48 BC, during Caesar's Civil War, his soldiers set fire to Egyptian ships, and the fire purportedly spread to parts of the city.[4]

The Mouseion's location was the Brucheion quarter, and the library was constructed there as a component of that institution.[5] Zenodotus, who came from Ephesus, is the earliest head librarian for whom we have a record.[6] Establishing authoritative versions of the Homeric poems was the central focus of Zenodotus's efforts.[6] A 120-volume catalog of authors and their writings, the Pinakes, was created by the poet and scholar Callimachus.[7]

What the cited sources add

The Byzantine writer Tzetzes recorded that the outer library had 42,800 volumes and the inner library had 400,000 mixed volumes and 90,000 unmixed single volumes.[8] Aulus Gellius wrote that nearly seven hundred thousand volumes were acquired in Egypt under the Ptolemies, but these were burned during the sack of the city in the first war with Alexandria.[9] The Samir Khalil source notes that Yaḥyā al-Naḥwī told Amr ibn al-As that Ptolemy Philadelphus collected the books of knowledge and stored them in special storehouses.[10] The same source indicates that John Philoponus likely died in the sixth century and could not have witnessed the Arab occupation in 642 AD.[10]

Galen further noted that the original texts were retained within the library's collection, while the newly made copies were given back to the individuals who had brought the books.[11]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Library of Alexandria" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Murray, "The Library: An Illustrated History", Skyhorse Publishing, 2009, p. 17 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Library of Alexandria" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Phillips 2010 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Library of Alexandria" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Dickey 2007; Montana 2015; MacLeod 2000; Montana 2015; Montana 2015; MacLeod 2000; Montana 2015; Dickey 2007 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Library of Alexandria" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Pollard, Justin, and Reid, Howard. 2006. The Rise and Fall of Alexandria, Birthplace of the Modern World.; Aulus Gellius. Attic Nights book 7 chapter 17.; MacLeod 2000; Haughton 2011; Aulus Gellius. Attic Nights book 7 chapter 17.; Watts 2008; Haughton 2011; MacLeod 2000; Watts 2008; Haughton 2011; McKeown 2013 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Library of Alexandria" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Wiegand Davis 2015, p. 20; David C. Lindberg, "Science in the Middle Ages", University of Chicago Press, 15 March 1980, p. 5; MacLeod 2000; Lyons 2011, p. 26 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Library of Alexandria" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Phillips 2010; Dickey 2007; Casson 2001; Dickey 2007; Casson 2001; Dickey 2007; Casson 2001; Casson 2001; Casson 2001; Casson 2001 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Library of Alexandria" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Phillips 2010; Dickey 2007; Staikos 2000; MacLeod 2000; Casson 2001; MacLeod 2000; Casson 2001; Casson 2001; Casson 2001; Casson 2001; Casson 2001; Staikos 2000; MacLeod 2000; Montana 2015; MacLeod 2000 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Tarn, W.W. (1928). "Ptolemy II". The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 14(3/4), 246–260. The Byzantine writer Tzetzes gives a similar figure in his essay On Come. facts only, no text reused. attalus.org
  9. Aulus Gellius. Attic Nights book 7 chapter 17.. facts only, no text reused. penelope.uchicago.edu
  10. Samir Khalil. . In Samir Khalil Samir, ed. {{lang|fr|Actes du IIe symposium syro-arabicum (Sayyidat al-Bīr, septembre 1998). Études arabes chrétiennes, Parole d. facts only, no text reused. roger-pearse.com
  11. Galen, xvii.a, p. 606.. facts only, no text reused. attalus.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Library of Alexandria (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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