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The Royal Library of Alexandria, or Ancient Library of Alexandria, in Alexandria, Egypt, was probably the largest, and certainly the most famous, of the libraries of the ancient world. It flourished under the patronage of the Ptolemaic dynasty and existed, and functioned as a major center of scholarship, at least until the time of Rome's conquest of Egypt, and probably for many centuries thereafter.
Generally thought to have been founded at the beginning of the third century BC, the library was conceived and opened either during the reign of Ptolemy I Soter or during the reign of his son Ptolemy II. Plutarch (AD 46-120) wrote that during his visit to Alexandria in 48 BC, Julius Caesar accidentally burned the library down when he set fire to his own ships to frustrate Achillas' attempt to limit his ability to communicate by sea. According to Plutarch's account, this fire spread to the docks and then to the library.
However, this version of events is not confirmed in contemporary accounts of Caesar's visit. In fact, it has been reasonably established that segments of its collection were partially destroyed on several occasions before and after the first century BC. The best known include the decree of the Coptic Christian Pope Theophilus of Alexandria in 391, who called for the destruction of the Serapeum, and the Muslim sacking of Alexandria in 642.
The Ancient Library of Alexandria
According to the earliest source of information, the pseudepigraphic Letter of Aristeas, the library was initially organized by Demetrius of Phaleron, a student of Aristotle under the reign of Ptolemy Soter.
Built in the Brucheion (Royal Quarter) in the style of Aristotle's Lyceum, adjacent to and in service of the Musaeum (a Greek Temple or "House of Muses", hence the term "museum"), the library comprised a Peripatos walk, gardens, a room for shared dining, a reading room, lecture halls and meeting rooms. However, the exact layout is not known. This model's influence may still be seen today in the layout of university campuses. The library itself is known to have had an acquisitions department (possibly built near the stacks, or for utility closer to the harbour), and a cataloguing department. The hall contained shelves for the collections of scrolls (as the books were at this time on papyrus scrolls), known as bibliothekai. Carved into the wall above the shelves, a famous inscription read: The place of the cure of the soul.
The New Library of Alexandria
The New Bibliotheca Alexandrina is dedicated to recapture the spirit of openness and scholarship of the original Bibliotheca Alexandrina. It is much more than a library. It contains:
- A Library that can hold millions of books.
- An Internet Archive
- Six specialized libraries
- Four Museums
- A Planetarium
- An Exploratorium for children's exposure to science
- Culturama
- VISTA (The Virtual Immersive Science and Technology Applications system)
- Eight academic research centers
- Nine permanent exhibitions
- Four art galleries for temporary exhibitions
- A Conference Center for thousands of persons
- A Dialogue Forum
The New Library of Alexandria also hosts a number of institutions.
The number is growing and the Library of Alexandria is becoming the nerve center of many international and regional networks. Today, this vast complex is a reality receiving more than 800,000 visitors a year.
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