Establishment

The Alexandrian Library played an important role throughout history. According to Little (35), it contained the largest collection of wisdom that ever existed. The earliest documentation of the library is in the Letter of Aristeas which describes the legend of seventy translators of the Hebrew Bible that had worked in Alexandria during the reign of Philadelphus (Fraser 320). It was in this city that the library was established. Alexandria was founded by Alexander the Great in 331 BCE. It is located on the northern part of Egypt where the Nile meets the Mediterranean Sea. Alexander's empire stretched from Egypt to Asia. After his death at the age of 32, his empire was divided among several rulers. Ptolemy, a Greek general, made himself pharaoh over all of Egypt. He also made Alexandria the capital of Egypt.

Creation

The library was created when Demetrius, a former ruler of Greece, suggested to Ptolemy that he should gather books in the style of Plato's philosopher kings on the world's people and on kingship and ruling. Demetrius is also believed to have helped to inspire the founding of the Museum of Alexandria, a temple dedicated to the Muses (Brudige). Most libraries back in the times of the Alexandrian Library were collections of manuscripts owned by private individuals. According to Bevan (125), after Plato's death, most of his library had been passed on to the Alexandrian Library. The fire that destroyed in the library in 48 BCE destroyed much information that may never be known again.

Organization

The library consisted of two buildings, one was the main library and one was the daughter library. Only 50 years after the founding of the library, the main library contained 400,000 rolls and the daughter library had 42,800 rolls (Save-Soderberch 199). Of the total, 490,000 were "mixed" rolls, meaning each role contained several books, and 90,000 were "unmixed" roles (Bevan 125).

According to Save- Soderberch (199), the written rolls were kept in clay jars-- the first forerunners of bookshelves-- and each jar contained a list of contents. They also stored the rolls in wooden chests called armaria. Later on, cabinets started being used, more like the ones we use today.

First Librarians

The first recorded librarian was Zenodotus of Epesus, who worked from the end of Ptolemy I's reign until 245 BCE. The second librarian was thought to have been the poet Callimachus of Cyrene, who created a subject catalogue system called Pinakes or Tables. He was replaced by Eratosthenes of Cyrene in 235 BCE, a man who was very knowledgeable in geography and chronology. Ptolemy III used him as a tutor when he came to the throne. Next came Aristophanes of Byzantium who carried on the work of Zenodotus. His work was mostly directed toward Greek poets. After Aristophanes came Aristarchus of Samothrace. His work was directed toward the education of the royal children. He had been forced to leave Alexandria due to having tutored Ptolemy Philometor and his brother, Euegetes II. Euegetes had killed his brother Ptolemy when he had come to the throne, which made Euegetes pharaoh. Therefore Aristarchus was banished and considered an enemy for having tutored Ptolemy Philometor. He was believed to have died in Cyprus in 145 BCE. After Aristarchus, no man is known to have presided over the library (Bevan 126).

Contents of the Library

Alexandria was the publishing capital of the world at the time of the library. Every role printed was written by hand, therefore, each roll was very expensive. Yet, the Egyptians were very interested in learning new things. The Old Testament in the Bible came to us mainly from Greek translators who worked in the Alexandrian Library (Sagan). The library also varied in several other subjects. These subjects include:

• Mathematics
• Astronomy
• Mechanics (science)
• Medicine

Mathematics

Alexandrian mathematicians worked mostly with geometry. They were also fascinated with numbers, especially prime numbers. One of the librarians, Eratosthenes (275-149 BCE), calculated the circumference of the Earth, and after making some other observations, he deduced the calender to 365 1/4 days a year and was first to suggest that every four years there were 366 days. Another librarian, Archimedes, was the discoverer of "pi".

Astronomy

Astronomy was another highly studied subject. Greek scientists classified astronomy as a projection of three dimensional geometry into a fourth dimension, time. Eratosthenes, the third librarian, created a catalogue of 44 constellations an a list of 475 stars. Egyptian sailors while traveling across the Mediterranean Sea used the stars as a way of navigation.

Mechanics

The Egyptians were one of the first to explore mechanics. Hydraulics was an Alexandrian-born science, which was used in helping create pneumatics. Another invention, made by a man named Archimedes, was the "Archimedes screw", a hand-cranked device used for lifting water.

Medicine

The Egyptians demonstrated their knowledge of medicine with the way they mummified bodies. After death they preserved bodies by removing the internal organs and drying out the body using different types of salts and chemicals. They were also very interested in human anatomy. One scholar, Herophilus, was the first to distinguish the brain and the nervous system as a unit, and learned of the function of the heart (Brundige).

Cleopatra

Cleopatra, one of the Ptolemies, loved to go and study in the Alexandrian Library. Cleopatra and her brother Ptolemy, had been at war in order to get the crown of Egypt. Julius Caesar heard of the war and ended up getting involved in it helping Cleopatra. Caesar and Cleopatra grew fond of each other and visited the library together almost everyday (Hornblow 50). The people who were on Ptolemy's side of the war ended up destroying most of Alexandria with fire, including the library. Rome's forces joined Cleopatra's troops and helped to stop Ptolemy and his people. Caesar made the people reconstruct whatever was lost, but years of priceless information about Egypt and ancient history went up in flames. The entire library, however, was not destroyed.

After Caesar's assassination, Cleopatra met Mark Antony and fell in love with him. They got married. As a gift to Cleopatra, Antony gave her the library of Pergamum, which was a city not far from Alexandria. Weigall (341) notes that it contained 200,000 roles, not nearly as much as the library of Alexandria had been, but it was still a gift that she loved.

The Destruction

In 272 CE, what remained of the Alexandrian Library was broken apart even more, yet still not completely destroyed, when Lucius Domitius Aurelian, a Roman emperor who ruled from 270-275 CE, burned the Royal Quarter. Finally, in 640 CE, Alexandria was captured by the Arabs. The library was completely destroyed, after having survived for so long.

Importance

The Alexandrian Library played a very important role in history. It contained more information than any other library. It supplied knowledge for the thoughts and studies of Greek and Egyptian life. The information on math, astronomy, mechanics, and medicine helped other people to learn more about these things and expand on the ideas. This library probably contributed to the libraries of today. Its destruction was a great loss. It was one of the greatest libraries ever made.

• Bevan, Edwyn R.The House of Ptolemy: A History of Egypt Under The Ptolemaic Dynasty. Illinois: Argonaut, 1968
• Brundige, Ellen N. "The Library of Alexandria." 17 March 1997. Online. 20 October 1999
• Fraser, P.M. Ptolemaic Alexandria. Volume I. London: Oxford University, 1972.
• Hornblow, Leorna.Cleopatra of Egypt. New York: Random House, 1961.
• Little, Tom. Egypt. New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1958.
• Save-Soderberch, Torgny. Pharaohs and Mortals. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1958. Sagan,Carl. "Messiah."Online. 30 November 1999
• Weigall, Arthur. The Life and Times of Cleopatra. New York: Greenwood Press, 1968.