The destruction of the great library of Alexandria has been lamented as one of the biggest losses of the ancient world.
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Venus Figurines – Fertility Symbols, Portraits, Dolls, or Upper Paleolithic Porn? Greek creation myths Dinner Invitations for Famous People from the Past The Green Sahara More Greek Mythology Suggested Books PARTNERS Updated 2 June, 2019 - 01:31 dhwty Who Destroyed the Great Library of Alexandria? Read Later Print The destruction of the great library of Alexandria has been lamented as one of the biggest losses of the ancient world. Nearly one million documents from across Assyria, Greece, Persia, Egypt, India and many other powerful civilizations at the time graced its shelves. No traces of the library have ever been found, but historic records speak of its devastating demise. The Rise of Alexandria Alexandria, one of the greatest cities of the ancient world, was founded by Alexander the Great after his conquest of Egypt in 332 BC. After the death of Alexander in Babylon in 323 BC, Egypt fell to the lot of one of his lieutenants, Ptolemy. It was under Ptolemy that the newly-founded Alexandria came to replace the ancient city of Memphis as the capital of Egypt. This marked the beginning of the rise of Alexandria. Yet, no dynasty can survive for long without the support of their subjects, and the Ptolemies were keenly aware of this. Thus, the early Ptolemaic kings sought to legitimize their rule through a variety of ways, including assuming the role of pharaoh, founding the Graeco-Roman cult of Serapis, and becoming the patrons of scholarship and learning (a good way to show off one’s wealth, by the way). It was this patronage that resulted in the creation of the great Library of Alexandria by Ptolemy. Over the centuries, the Library of Alexandria was one of the largest and most significant libraries in the ancient world. The great thinkers of the age, scientists, mathematicians, poets from all civilizations came to study and exchange ideas. As many as 700,000 scrolls filled the shelves. However, in one of the greatest tragedies of the academic world, the Library became lost to history and scholars are still not able to agree on how it was destroyed . The Great Library of Alexandria ( CC by SA 4.0 ) Theory 1: Julius Caesar Perhaps one of the most interesting accounts of its destruction comes from the accounts of the Roman writers. According to several authors, the Library of Alexandria was accidentally destroyed by Julius Caesar during the siege of Alexandria in 48 BC. Plutarch, for instance, provides this account: When the enemy tried to cut off his (Julius Caesar’s) fleet, he was forced to repel the danger by using fire, and this spread from the dockyards and destroyed the great library. (Plutarch, The Life of Julius Caesar, 49.6) This account is dubious, however, as the Musaeum (or Mouseion) at Alexandria, which was right next to the library was unharmed, as it was mentioned by the geographer Strabo about 30 years after Caesar’s siege of Alexandria. Nevertheless, Strabo does not mention the Library of Alexandria itself, thereby supporting the claim that Caesar was responsible for burning it down. However, as the Library was attached to the Musaeum, and Strabo did mention the latter, it is possible that the library was still in existence during Strabo’s time. The omission of the library can perhaps be attributed either to the possibility that Strabo felt no need to mention the library, as he had already mentioned the Musaeum, or that the library was no longer the centre of scholarship that it once was (the idea of ‘budget cuts’ seems increasingly probable). In addition, it has been suggested that it was not the library, but the warehouses near the port, which stored manuscripts, that was destroyed by Caesar’s fire. Theory 2: Christians The second possible culprit would be the Christians of the 4 th century AD. In 391 AD, the Emperor Theodosius issued a decree that officially outlawed pagan practices. Thus, the Serapeum or Temple of Serapis in Alexandria was destroyed and converted into a Christian Church. Many documents are thought to have been destroyed in the process. However, this was not the Library of Alexandria, or for that matter, a library of any sort, although it is believed that it held about ten percent of the library of Alexandria’s documents. No ancient sources mention the destruction of any library during this particular time period. Hence, there is no evidence that the Christians of the 4 th century destroyed the Library of Alexandria. Theory 3: Muslims The last possible perpetrator of this crime would be the Muslim Caliph, Omar. According to this story, a certain “John Grammaticus” (490–570) asks Amr, the victorious Muslim general, for the “books in the royal library." Amr writes to the Omar for instructions and Omar replies: 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. There are at least two problems with this story. Firstly, there is no mention of any library, only books. Secondly, this was written by a Syrian Christian writer, and may have been invented to tarnish the image of Omar. Mystery Remains Unfortunately, archaeology has not been able to contribute much to this mystery. For a start, papyri have rarely been found in Alexandria, possibly due to the climatic condition, which is unfavourable for the preservation of organic material. Secondly, the remains of the Library of Alexandria itself have not been discovered. This is due to the fact that Alexandria is still inhabited by people today and only salvage excavations are allowed to be carried out by archaeologists. While it may be convenient to blame one man or group of people for the destruction of what many consider to be the greatest library in the ancient world, it may be over-simplifying the matter. The library may not have gone up in flames at all, but rather could have been gradually abandoned over time. If the Library was created for the display of Ptolemaic wealth, then its decline could also have been linked to an economic decline. As Ptolemaic Egypt gradually declined over the centuries, this may have also had an effect on the state of the Library of Alexandria. If the Library did survive into the first few centuries AD, its golden days would have been in the past, as Rome became the new centre of the world. Top image: Ancient scroll burning ( Elena Ray / Adobe Stock) By Ḏḥwty References Empereur, J.-Y., 2008. The Destruction of the Library of Alexandria: An Archaeological Viewpoint. In: M. El-Abbadi & O. M. Fathallah, eds. What Happened to the Ancient Library of Alexandria?. Leiden; Boston: Brill, pp. 75-88. Newitz, A., 2013. The Great Library at Alexandria was Destroyed by Budget Cuts, Not Fire. [Online]Available at: http://io9.com/the-great-library-at-alexandria-was-destroyed-by-budget-1442659066[Accessed 8 May 2014]. Plutarch, Life of Julius Caesar ,[Perrin, B. (trans.), 1919. Plutarch's Lives. London: William Heinemann.] Wikipedia, 2014. Destructionn of the Library of Alexandria. [Online]Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destruction_of_the_Library_of_Alexandria[Accessed 8 May 2014]. Section: Ancient PlacesAfricaHistoryImportant Events Tags: Library of AlexandriascrollspapyriMuslimChristianCaesarromanOmarburntburningStrabo Wu Wu Mingren (‘Dhwty’) has a Bachelor of Arts in Ancient History and Archaeology. Although his primary interest is in the ancient civilizations of the Near East, he is also interested in other geographical regions, as well as other time periods.... Read More Login or Register in order to comment Comments Lee Wayne Wimberly wrote on 26 May, 2020 - 22:22 The comment is made that people who are familair with the burning of the library at Alexandia is a minority. It was in my History of Philosophy class at Metropolitan State University of Denver. In that historical account, the writings of Plato were available to European scholars, but those of Aristotle were lost because of the burning of the library. So Augustine’s incorporation of Plato’s worldview into Christian thinking dominated and shaped the priest to perishiners relationship. The writings of Aristotle made to Europe from the Muslim world, which then made inroads into Christian theology. Particularly Thomas Acquinas. It was the difference between metaphysics (Plato) and physics (Aristotle) that created the Philosophical foundation for the coming scientific age. Lee W Wimberly Lawrence M Neal wrote on 13 May, 2017 - 14:38 The Christian Bishop Cyril had the skin flayed from Hypatia, and her body dragged through the streets. He then burned the library as it was full of 'Pagan' texts. Scott Zema wrote on 10 July, 2016 - 00:44 One of the greatest acts of vandalism of ancient texts occured during the fourth Crusade in 1204, when Crusaders destroyed huge quanitities of books in their sack and conquest of Constantinople. Even so, after the restoration of the native emperors the Byzantines managed to accumulate another library, which, when the city was once again threatened in 1453 by the Ottomans, Constantine XI determined not to allow the same vandalism to happen, so he had the remaining library that was left of the Roman Empire packed up and sent north with the new Paleologus bride of the Russian czar Ivan III (married off to maintain the continuation of Roman Imperial rule in Moscow) in the last few weeks of the Byzantine Empire, where it was deposited in a masonry library under the Kremlin where it apparently remains. The only trouble is that no one has been able to locate the library after Ivan the Terrible killed everyone in the Kremlin who knew where it was, and he took the secret of its whereabouts to the grave. The Russians should contnue the search for the Liberia, as it is called, which was undertaken by Stalin but who put a stop to the search prior to WW II. Also, worth mentioning is the discovery and search for palimpsests in the books of medieval times, some of which have been found to contain lost Classical texts. George Vakos wrote on 6 January, 2016 - 17:33 The name Ptolemy derives from the Greek ΠΤΟΛΕΜΑΙΟΣ<Πολεμαιος<ΠΟΛΕΜΟΣ=war, Therefore the name means: "aggresive, warlike". George Vakos wrote on 6 January, 2016 - 17:00 Cleopatra was a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, a family of Macedonian Greek origin that ruled Egypt three centuries long during the Hellenistic era. Ptolemy the first (Soter) was Alexander the Great's half-brother, his classmate at Aristotle school in Mieza, Macedonia, Greece, and one of his generals during Alexander's campaign in Asia. Therfore Cleo was an Alexander the Great's distant descedant. The Ptolemies, throughout their dynasty, spoke Greek and refused to speak Egyptian, which is the reason that Greek as well as Egyptian languages were used on official court documents such as the Rosetta Stone. The name derives from the Greek components: ΚΛΕΟΣ -ΠΑΤΉΡ =father's glory. The name "Egypt" derives from the Greek components: ΑΙΓΑΙΟ-ΗΠΤΙΟ=behind (the) Aegean (sea). Pages1 2 3 4 next › last » (18 Comments) Related Articles on Ancient-Origins 7 October, 2022 - 20:42 micki pistorius The Aftermath Of The Achaemenid Empire Between 550 and 520 BC Cyrus the Great had unified the Medes and the Persians and founded an empire that stretched from the Indus River to North Africa and from the Aral Sea to the Persian Gulf... 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