Library of Alexandria Essay example -- essays research papers

HOW WAS THE GREAT LIBRAY OF ALEXANDRIA ORGANIZED AND OPERATED? WHO OR WHAT CAUSED ITS ravaging?     For the extra credit assignment I acquire decided to pen as essay describing the long depository library of Alexandria. The library itself is wrapped up in a great mystery that has had more historians and archeologists heavily concerned in its existence for many years. It has been recorded that the library of Alexandria held many thousands, if non millions, of books, volumes and early(a) documents. The library is as well as believed to be one of the biggest libraries in compassionate history. Its significance is of invaluable knowledge. The mammoth size of such a bulky monument for the period of time that is existed is phenomenal. Even though it was significant in its time, the destruction of such a beautiful collection of thoughts, novels and other writings is some(a)what of a tragic occurrence that has baffled many for years.Alexandria was founded in Eg ypt by Alexandria the Great. His successor as Pharaoh was known as Ptolemy II Soter. He founded the Museum or Royal Library of Alexandria in 283 BC. The Museum was a inclose of the Muses modeled after the Lyceum of Aristotle in Athens. The Museum was a place of nurture which included lecture beas, gardens, a zoo, and shrines for each of the nine muses as salubrious as the Library itself. It has been estimated that at one time the Library of Alexandria held everywhere half a million documents from Assyria, Greece, Persia, Egypt, India and many other nations. Over atomic number 6 scholars and scribes lived at the Museum full time to perform research, write, lecture or iterate and copy documents (Hertzke 2004). The library got so large it actually had another offset printing or "daughter" library at the Temple of Serapis. There are many stories and rumors surrounding the real destruction of such a great library. It is still unknown exactly who are what destroyed the ent ire library but many stories and mortalal accounts that were put onto historical text such(prenominal) later on reveal clues to its possible real destruction. The first person blamed for the destruction of the Library is none other than Julius Caesar himself. In 48 BC, Caesar was pursuing Pompey into Egypt when he was suddenly cut off by an Egyptian fleet at Alexandria. Greatly outnumbered and in enemy territory, Caesar ordered the ships in the harbor to be set on fire. Sup... ...mar) all had an axe to manufactory and consequently must be seen as biased. Probably everyone mentioned above had some hand in destroying some part of the Librarys holdings. The collection may have ebbed and flowed as some documents were destroyed and others were added. For instance, Mark Antony was supposed to have given(p) Cleopatra over 200,000 scrolls for the Library long after Julius Caesar is accused of burning it (Luciano 2005).It is also quite likely that even if the Museum was destroyed with t he main library the far daughter library at the Temple of Serapis continued on. Many writers calculate to equate the Library of Alexandria with the Library of Serapis although technically they were in two different parts of the city. The real tragedy of course is not the uncertainty of wise to(p) who to blame for the Librarys destruction but that so much of ancient history, writings and learning was lost forever. Its importance and significance will never be resurrected, but will forever lay in a mystery. only dreams and images can be pondered about what actually existed in such a great library. Scholars, historians and educated individuals can only daydream about what might have been.