THE ANCIENT LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIA

THE ANCIENT LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIA

The Great Library of Alexandria, Egypt, was one of the largest and most significant libraries of the ancient world. The Library was part of a larger research institution called the Mouseion, which was dedicated to the Muses, the nine goddesses of arts.

The idea of a universal library may have been of Demetrius of Phalerum, an exiled Athenian, to Ptolemy I Soter; but it was built in the reign of his son Ptolemy II Philadelphus.

The Library quickly acquired many papyrus scrolls. It is estimated that 40,000 to 400,000 scrolls were housed at any given time.

Despite the belief that the Library was burned and destroyed once, but it actually declined gradually over several centuries, starting with the exodus of intellectuals in 145 BC.





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