Alexandria Library is regarded as one of the largest and most famous libraries in the world and the modern library of Alexandria acts as a commemoration of the ancient Alexandria library and to the ancient days of glory. It is an ancient reminder of a time of wonders and miracles where knowledge was seen as a gift from the gods that transformed the earth into a paradise. The ancient Egyptians honored this gift by building a temple called a library to honor and protect this marvelous present.
Facts About the Ancient Library of Alexandria
fThe ancient Alexandria library construction began in the reign of Alexander the Great and some believe that it was built by Ptolemy II at the beginning of the 3rd century B.C (285B.C – 247B.C). The library was viewed as the cultural center as it contained various works of great writers and thinkers in the world such as Plato, Homer, Herodotus, and Socrates of the ancient Greco-roman times. It contained about 400,000 to 700,000 parchment scrolls on countless subjects in many fields to the biggest scholars on the plant. It was located on the beautiful shore of the Mediterranean Sea and viewed as the first public governmental library in the ancient world which was public for everyone not only Priests like ancient Egyptians.
Alexandria Library History
The library was able to merge the cultural and scientific aspects of both Pharaonic and Greco civilization, every thinker, scholar, or writer that gave copies of all their own works in the library for safekeeping which made it one of the most important landmarks in that time. The great library was caught on a huge fire around 2000 years ago in 48 BC which lead to the destruction of this great edifice and its contents of documents to countless poets, historians, travelers, and scholars then it was unfortunately destroyed by a series of earthquakes between 11th and the 14th dynasty which led to the erase of any trace for the ancient construction.
The New Library of Alexandria
The new library of Alexandria is located on the Eastern Harbor on or near the site of the original. The project became a reality with the help of UNESCO and was inaugurated on 16 October 2002 for the cost of $220 Million US. It is quite famous for being the world’s sixth-largest Francophone library in the world. The main reading room covering 20,000 square meters (220,000 sq ft). The library is trilingual as it contains books in Arabic, English, & French and holds the largest depository of French books in North Africa and the Middle East. It contains six specialized libraries for arts and multimedia which are the library of Taha Hussein for the visually-impaired, the rare books and special collection, the children’s library, the young people’s library, and the microforms library. The Library had a copy of the internet archive, four Museums, High-tech digital collections, thirteen academic research centers, and four art galleries for temporary exhibitions.