[88][82] Plutarch himself notes that his source for this anecdote was sometimes unreliable and it is possible that the story may be nothing more than propaganda intended to show that Mark Antony was loyal to Cleopatra and Egypt rather than to Rome. looked for the ultimate religious experience as an ecstatic vision of God, adhered to standards of personal purity that made the most ardent Christian envious and proclaimed that God is revealed in the material world in a trinity of manifestations. ), Clement (c. 150215 C.E. As a leading scholar has noted, The Western tradition of author as main entry may be said to have originated with Callimachuss Pinakes.20, The Pinakes identified each volume by its title, then recorded the name and birthplace of the author, the name of the authors father and teachers, the place and nature of the authors education, any nickname or pseudonym applied to the author, a short biography (including a list of the authors works and a comment on their authenticity), the first line of the work specified, a brief digest of the volume, the source from which the book was acquired (such as the city where it was bought or the ship or traveler from which it was confiscated), the name of the former owner, the name of the scholar who edited or corrected the text, whether the book contained a single work or numerous distinct works, and the total number of lines in each work.21, The Pinakes was the first great library catalogue of western civilization, just as The Bible of Gutenberg was the first great printed book. Most dependable sources agree on the organizational method utilized in the catalogue, which amply demonstrates the sophisticated character of the ancient library. [81] Members of the Mouseion were no longer required to teach, conduct research, or even live in Alexandria. The library opened on October 16, 2002, however the idea for the library dates back to 1974. Ernst Wilhelm Bentz, Christianity, in Encyclopaedia Britannica, Macropaedia, vol. 411412. [78] Many scholars began producing syntheses and reworkings of the commentaries of the Alexandrian scholars of previous centuries, at the expense of their own originalities. 4 (somewhat less recent). It appears that you dragged him into this article solely for the opportunity to smear him using questionable sources. Within little more than a year, Aristotle died in Chalcis and Demosthenes in Calaurie. [74] Consequently, many Greek scholars began to leave Alexandria for safer countries with more generous patronages. To this day, these three gigantic figures, more than any others, save Jesus and Plato perhaps, remain essential to the ideal of civilized life throughout the world. 5. So the ancient library of Alexandria rose like a phoenix from her own ashes. [88][82][8][90] Whatever devastation Caesar's fire may have caused, the Library was evidently not completely destroyed. After his fall from power in Athens, Demetrius sought refuge at the court of King Ptolemy I Soter (c. 297 bce) and became the kings adviser. [97][81][3] During the course of the fighting, Aurelian's forces destroyed the Broucheion quarter of the city in which the main library was located. By the sixth century, it was taken over by them. Samir Khalil, Lutilisation dal-Qif par la Chronique arabe dIbn al-'Ibr ( 1286), in: Samir Khalil Samir (d. Shubert, Oriental Origins, p. 144. In building this magnificent institution, one modern writer has noted, the Alexandrian scholars started from scratch; their gift to civilization is that we never had to start from scratch again.12, In 323 B.C.E., as summer was breaking upon the northern coast of Egypt, Alexander the Great died in Mesopotamia. established his capital at Alexandria and immediately began to build up the city.Ptolemys grandest project, begun in 306 B.C.E., was the Library of Alexandria, a research center that held one million books by the time of Jesus. [13][3] The earliest recorded archive of written materials comes from the ancient Sumerian city-state of Uruk in around 3400 BC, when writing had only just begun to develop. Philo lived much of his life in contemplation, authoring a large array of books. Indeed, the Alexandria Library was much more. He is still considered one of the greatest literary scholars because his recension of the works of Homer continues to be the standard text (textus receptus) upon which all modern versions are based. Its empirical standards were applied in one of the first and certainly strongest homes for serious textual criticism. You cannt imagine Ptolemy made Alexandria his capital, brought Alexanders body to the city for a royal entombment and quickly embarked upon a program of urban development.16. This period coincided with the consolidation of Roman influence in the Mediterranean basin. [108] In the 370s and 380s, the Serapeum was still a major pilgrimage site for pagans. In 323 B.C.E., as summer was breaking upon the northern coast of Egypt, Alexander the Great died in Mesopotamia. Gilbert Murray, A History of Ancient Greek Literature (New York: Scribner, 1897), p. 387. And to blame the fifth century barbarians in the far off west for something that had already failed to happen for over 600 years is doubly absurd. )gave the ancient books and their wisdom back to the Western world and taught Christian Europe to know again and prize its roots in ancient Greece. ), the Catechetical School of Clement and Origen (150350 C.E.) 32. One of the major acquisitions for the library was the books of Aristotle, concerning which there are two conflicting accounts. Maybe Origen advanced Clements ideas because it had been established Christian orthodoxy for over a century. ), the Greek poet and dramatist. The mystery exists not for lack of suspects but from an excess of them. [62][43][5][63] This story may also be construed erroneously to show the power of Alexandria over Athens during the Ptolemaic dynasty. Vitruvius, De Architectura 7.68. It seems to have reached the state of a largely completed and official Greek text between 150 and 50 B.C.E. [130] The late fifth-century writers Zacharias Scholasticus and Aeneas of Gaza both speak of the "Mouseion" as occupying some kind of a physical space. Aristarchus had been the teacher of Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II, and though the latter gained a reputation for being a monster, the two apparently remained friends. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. During the reign of Ptolemy III Euergetes, a daughter library was established in the Serapeum, a temple to the Greco-Egyptian god Serapis. F. Lyra (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. His writings include investigations of theology, philosophy, literary criticism, textual analysis, rhetoric, history, law, medicine and cosmology. It is believed that the Library of Alexandria held between 200,000 and 700,000 books. Byzantine Greek volume called the Suidas Lexicon. [109] Most of these philosophers were primarily interested in theurgy, the study of cultic rituals and esoteric religious practices. [16] It was out of this mixed heritage of both Greek and Near Eastern book collections that the idea for the Library of Alexandria was born. Very little is known about the Library of Alexandria during the time of the Roman Principate (27 BC-284 AD). In support of the latter understanding is Plutarchs remark that the Peripatetics no longer possess the original texts of Aristotle and Theophrastus, because they had fallen into idle and base hands., Fabulous stories circulated about the lengths to which the Ptolemies would go in their avid hunt for books. 562 BC). Lionel Casson (Triumphs from the Ancient Worlds First Think Tank, Smithsonian 10 [June 1985], p. 164) urges that the Pinakes was conceivably only an encyclopedia of Greek literary history. Press, 1972), p. 325. established the movement with his articulation of a new kind of Platonism. This makes the year of its destruction lies sometime between the years 642-644, since the fall of Alexandria in the Arab hands occurred in 642 AD. Historically, Ptolemy II was a devoted patron of the arts responsible . (v) The Romans were not even close to being near an industrial revolution. Philo Judaeus was surely one of the most prominent scholars in Alexandria at the turn of the millennium. As a Greek biographer, Plutarch is credited as the father of essay-writing and bio-historical documentation. [17] The earliest known surviving source of information on the founding of the Library of Alexandria is the pseudepigraphic Letter of Aristeas, which was composed between c. 180 and c. 145 BC. Thanks so much for posting this article! [32] The exact layout of the library is not known, but ancient sources describe the Library of Alexandria as comprising a collection of scrolls, Greek columns, a peripatos walk, a room for shared dining, a reading room, meeting rooms, gardens, and lecture halls, creating a model for the modern university campus. 9. Whether the Jesus of history actually visited the Library of Alexandria isof courseunknown. 90 BC) established a school on the Greek island of Rhodes. Nothing new here to see under the sun. Aristarchus was chief librarian for 30 years, from 175 to 145 B.C.E. Although Hypatia was brutally murdered by Cyril for advocating a philosophy he thought was antithetical to orthodox Christianity, her brand of Neoplatonism became increasingly attractive to Christian philosophers. Press, 1947). The primary question for Platonic-minded scholars and laypersons alike was how a transcendent, ineffable God of pure spirit could be linked to a material universe. After destroying the library, the Arabs preserved a large percentage of the ancient volumesas evidenced by the fact that they possessed, in Greek and Arabic translations, many of the works of the ancient poets, playwrights, scientists and philosophers, including Plato, Aristotle, Euclid and Eratosthenes. Eusebius Ecclesiastical History, p. 190. Fine Art Images/Getty Images . [46][45][9] The Pinakes has not survived, but enough references to it and fragments of it have survived to allow scholars to reconstruct its basic structure. [81] Eventually, the position of head librarian lost so much of its former prestige that even contemporary authors ceased to take interest in recording the terms of office for individual head librarians. [111] The teachers at the Serapeum took up arms and led their students and other followers in a guerrilla attack on the Christian population of Alexandria, killing many of them before being forced to retreat. They understood atomic theory in some coarse way. I dont believe in a Hell of any kind, but if one were to exist surely Cyril would deserve to be burning in it, and so, too, would those cretins who declared that monster to be a saint! Author of. [111] They gave some of the cult objects to Theophilus,[111] who had them paraded through the streets so that they could be mocked and ridiculed. The result was the rise of Gnosis and Gnosticism. [79] This book remained the primary grammar textbook for Greek schoolboys until as late as the twelfth century AD. [121] Hypatia was extremely popular with the people of Alexandria[122] and exerted profound political influence. [94] While the Mouseion still existed, membership was granted not on the basis of scholarly achievement, but rather on the basis of distinction in government, the military, or even in athletics. 15, cols. Definition by Joshua J. He was quite a character, and will certainly be missed by scholarly colleagues and friends. 110, 204205. [78][83][b] Other scholars branched out and began writing commentaries on the poetic works of postclassical authors, including Alexandrian poets such as Callimachus and Apollonius of Rhodes. The Ancient Library of Alexandria by J. Harold Ellens originally appeared in the February 1997 issue of Bible Review. Article. to continue his oppressive reign for another 14 years. Erksine, Andrew (1995). There is some indication that they employed it for powering siege guns. These halls were connected to other university buildings by marble colonnades. [14][3] A large library also existed in Babylon during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II (c. 605c. 14. . As this Judeo-Christian development unfolded, the seeds of the Alexandrian school were sown at the ancient library and its university. Many other scholars, including Dionysius Thrax and Apollodorus of Athens, fled to other cities, where they continued teaching and conducting scholarship. See also Gibbon, Decline and Fall, vol. ", "Who burnt the grand library of Alexandria", "Bibliotheca Alexandrina Egypt: Egyptian Library Building", "3. At the same time, task forces commissioned to acquire books were scouring the Mediterranean. [15] The most famous library of the ancient Near East was the Library of Ashurbanipal in Nineveh, founded in the seventh century BC by the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal (ruled 668c. [67], The librarianship of Aristophanes of Byzantium is widely considered to have opened a more mature phase of the Library of Alexandria's history. Considering the extensive accumulation of scientific data collected by the ancient Greeks and Romans, and their advanced methods of empirical research, it is surprising that they did not achieve some key breakthrough in chemistry or physics that would have precipitated an industrial revolution. [43], The Library of Alexandria was not affiliated with any particular philosophical school; consequently, scholars who studied there had considerable academic freedom. Cloistered Bookworms in the Chicken-Coop of the Muses: The Ancient Library of Alexandria", "What happened to the Great Library at Alexandria? Sophia was the understanding that God has and that humans acquire when they discover Gods Logos in all things. According to popular description, an inscription above the shelves read: "The place of the cure of the soul. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Miriamne-the-Magdala-The-First-Chapter-in-the-Yeshua-Miri-Novel-Series/206903979347028. ", "Introduction: Alexandria in History and Myth", "Demetrius of Phalerum: Who was He and Who was He Not? "[88], Very little is known about the Library of Alexandria during the time of the Roman Principate (27 BC 284 AD). The reports that Alexander had acquired survived after his death, and they motivated an unprecedented movement of scientific research and study of the Earth, its natural physical qualities, and its inhabitants. The aim was the same goal that I had in antiquity: to . [56][51][57] Eratosthenes also produced a map of the entire known world, which incorporated information taken from sources held in the Library, including accounts of Alexander the Great's campaigns in India and reports written by members of Ptolemaic elephant-hunting expeditions along the coast of East Africa. (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. April 2007 1 / 6 The statue of an Isis priest holding an Osiris jar. [25] By that time, Demetrius of Phalerum had fallen out of favor with the Ptolemaic court. Many thanks for sharing! Many of these myths are debunked in my article here: History for Atheists The Great Myths 5: The Great Library of Alexandria. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Macropaedia, 15th ed., vol. This involved a bit of scurrilous horse-trading: Ptolemy III approved an arrangement for borrowing these precious manuscripts from Athens, pledging the modern equivalent of $4 million as surety.27 With the documents in hand, Ptolemy III then forfeited his deposit, cavalierly retaining the original manuscripts for the Alexandria Library, and instructed the staff to make good copies on fine quality papyrus, which were then sent back to Athens. 35. By: Dave Roos | Apr 11, 2023 This illustration shows scholars using the Library of Alexandria. The article was first republished in Bible History Daily in May 2013. As a long-time subscriber to BAR, I felt this article was well prepared, presented, documented, and I learned much about the Library of Alexandria. In India Pantaenus discovered a community of Jewish Christians, disciples of the apostle Thomas, whose faith and life were built around their use of a Hebrew version of the Gospel of Matthew. Such personification of the Logos was not uncommon in the world of Philo, Clement and Origen. Many similarities can be seen between this Neoplatonism and Judaism and Christianity in the second and third centuries C.E. 16. [14] Scholarly curation of literary texts began in around 2500 BC. The fourth was the era of the Catechetical School, 150 to 350 C.E., and the fifth was the period of the philosophical movement known as the Alexandrian School, 350 to 642 C.E. The Athenians with both the money and the copies, one scholar has observed, also appear to have been satisfied with the deal.28. Eusebius (c. 260348), a church historian, refers to it as a school of sacred learning establishedfrom ancient times, which has continued down to our own times, and which we have understood was held by men able in eloquence, and the study of divine things.35. [1][137] Shibli Nomani published a research work in 1892 about this library named Kutubkhana-i-lskandriyya. Besides his two critical editions of Homer, he produced similarly erudite editions of Hesiod, Pindar, Archilochus, Alcaeus and Anacreon. Built by Eumenes II between 220 and 159 BCE and situated at the northern end of the Acropolis, it became one of the most important libraries in the ancient world. The statue is made from black granite. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). [62][43][5][63] Ptolemy III had expensive copies of the plays made on the highest quality papyrus and sent the Athenians the copies, keeping the original manuscripts for the library and telling the Athenians they could keep the talents. [91] Lionel Casson states that Didymus' prodigious output "would have been impossible without at least a good part of the resources of the library at his disposal. [119], Theophilus, the bishop involved in the destruction of the Serapeum, tolerated Hypatia's school and even encouraged two of her students to become bishops in territory under his authority. 990991. Philo was a member of a distinguished Jewish family in the influential Alexandrian Jewish community. In fact, judging from the scholarly work produced in Alexandria, it seems likely that the whole corpus of Greek literature was amassed in the library. [59] The doctors Herophilus (lived c. 335c. [121] Hypatia was later implicated in a political feud between Orestes, the Roman prefect of Alexandria, and Cyril of Alexandria, Theophilus' successor as bishop. "[100] Later scholarsbeginning with Father Eusbe Renaudot's remark in 1713 in his translation of the History of the Patriarchs of Alexandria that the tale "had something untrustworthy about it"are skeptical of these stories, given the range of time that had passed before they were written down and the political motivations of the various writers. [65][66] All six of the other judges favored one competitor, but Aristophanes favored the one whom the audience had liked the least. When the European Crusaders encountered the Arabic world in the 11th and 12th centuries, those venerable works became known again in Europe, giving rise to the Renaissance. [131], A single piece of writing might occupy several scrolls, and this division into self-contained "books" was a major aspect of editorial work. [144], This article is about the ancient library. [98][99] Bar-Hebraeus, writing in the thirteenth century, quotes Omar as saying to Yay al-Naw: "If those books are in agreement with the Quran, we have no need of them; and if these are opposed to the Quran, destroy them. According to Athenaeus, Philadelphus purchased that collection for a large sum of money, whereas Strabo reported that Aristotles books passed on in succession through different hands, until they were later confiscated in 86 bce by Sulla, who carried them away to Rome. The Greeks and Romans both understood, for example, the power of steam produced by heated water. This is unlikely because of the detailed bibliographical and critical material incorporated in each entry, including the indication that the book was purchased from some other library source or confiscated from some traveler. Stoa Poikile Excavations in the Athenian Agora., spiritual meaning of alexandria - CHURCHGISTS.COM, https://www.historyly.com/miscellaneous/ancient-civilizations/. This singularly attractive alternative to Christianity was championed in the fourth and fifth centuries in Alexandria by the notable Neoplatonist saints, Olympius and Hypatiabringing us back to where we started. [78] Meanwhile, Alexandrian scholarship was probably introduced to Rome in the first century BC by Tyrannion of Amisus (c. 100c. Two and a half centuries later, in the time of Jesus, it held one million volumes.23, It was officials with the conquering Arab army who last saw the library in its operational state. Steven Blake Shubert, The Oriental Origins of the Alexandrian Library, Libri 43:2 (1993), p. 143. [52], The third head librarian, Eratosthenes of Cyrene (lived c. 280c. [111] The pagans of Alexandria were incensed by this act of desecration, especially the teachers of Neoplatonic philosophy and theurgy at the Serapeum. Resident scholars numbering up to 100 conducted research as well translated and copied documents . [79] The Romans based their grammatical writings on it, and its basic format remains the basis for grammar guides in many languages even today. Demetrios set about this task with vigor, providing the course the library was to follow for a millennium. [19] Historian Roy MacLeod calls this "a programme of cultural imperialism. It was in that atmosphere that the great library and Mouseion saw the light of day in Alexandria. ), who served under four chief librarians but never rose to that position himself. [46] Zenodotus is known to have written a glossary of rare and unusual words, which was organized in alphabetical order, making him the first person known to have employed alphabetical order as a method of organization. The ancient city of Akrotiri is the main prehistoric settlement in the Eastern Mediterranean, thanks to its excellent state of preservation. Although the great fire of Alexandria was partially to . [9], After Zenodotus either died or retired, Ptolemy II Philadelphus appointed Apollonius of Rhodes (lived c. 295c. If a book was found, it was taken to the library for a decision as to whether to return it or to confiscate it and replace it with a copy made on the spot (with an adequate compensation to the owner). His genius lay in his conception of the library as something more than a receptacle for books; it was also to be a university where new knowledge would be produced. (New York: Co-operative Publishing Society, 1899). But in 175 B.C.E. Dig into the illuminating world of the Bible with a BAS All-Access membership. New York: Skyhorse Publishing, p.17. [23], The Library was one of the largest and most significant libraries of the ancient world, but details about it are a mixture of history and legend. II in Hippocraits Epidem. [88] Casson, however, argues that, even if the story was made up, it would not have been believable unless the Library still existed. Eratosthenes of Cyrene (275195 B.C.E. Ellens, Alexandria, p. 3; and F. J. Philo systematically addressed the full range of topics that had formed the categories of that great catalogue. [82] The emperor Claudius (ruled 4154 AD) is recorded to have built an addition onto the Library,[93] but it seems that the Library of Alexandria's general fortunes followed those of the city of Alexandria itself. and that Philo wished to counteract in order to refine and protect Jewish monotheism. One of his most memorable accomplishments was the invention of an accurate method for measuring the circumference of the earth (see the sidebar to this article). August 22, 2022 The Great Library of Alexandria is one of the ancient world's most renowned and popular libraries. [59] A scholar named Ptolemy Epithetes wrote a treatise on wounds in the Homeric poems, a subject straddling the line between traditional philology and medicine. ), a student of Callimachus who rose to become chief librarian, is a classic example of the Alexandrian scholar of the period. Pococke, p. 181, translation on p. 114. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Libraries and archives were known to many ancient civilizations in Egypt, Mesopotamia, Syria, Asia Minor, and Greece, but the earliest such institutions were of a local and regional nature, primarily concerned with the conservation of their own particular traditions and heritage. In this regard see, for example, Alan Segal, Two Powers in Heaven, Early Rabbinic Reports about Christianity and Gnosticism (Leiden: Brill, 1977); Maurice Casey, From Jewish Prophet to Gentile God, The Origins and Development of New Testament Christology (Louisville: Westminster/John Knox, 1991); Jarl Fossum, The Name of God and the Angel of the Lord, Samaritan and Jewish Concepts of Intermediation and the Origin of Gnosticism (Tbingen: Mohr, 1985); Gabrielle Boccaccini, Middle Judaism, Jewish Thought, 300 B.C.E.-200 C.E. Omissions? and Cyril of Alexandria (c. 375444 C.E.). [46][50][51] Philadelphus also appointed Apollonius of Rhodes as the tutor to his son, the future Ptolemy III Euergetes. He also produced the first critical editions of the Iliad and the Odyssey and set each of them up in the 24 books in which we have them today. See also Edward A. Parsons, The Alexandrian Library, Glory of the Hellenic World: Its Rise, Antiquities, and Destructions (London: Cleaver-Hume, 1952), p. 356. Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: science Leave a Comment 8 years ago: You deserve an A Its memories that Im stealing /* [], [] The Ancient Library of Alexandria [], [] piece on how ignorance loves company brought me to review the history of the Great Library of Alexandriaagain this morning. Its roughly 1,800 scrolls were located in the Roman city of Herculaneum in a villa that was most likely built by Julius Caesar's . (Show more) See all related content Library of Alexandria, the most famous library of Classical antiquity. [18] The Macedonian kings who succeeded Alexander the Great as rulers of the Near East wanted to promote Hellenistic culture and learning throughout the known world. [132] The library's index, Callimachus' Pinakes, has only survived in the form of a few fragments, and it is not possible to know with certainty how large and how diverse the collection may have been. Admission is free (except for special events), but donations are appreciated. As the tribute to Rome increased, and the material investment in the library and its scholarship suffered, the superior intellectual importance, prowess and productivity that had been standard under the early Ptolemies proved impossible to maintain: The dons were drawn into the political vortex, and those not so inclined were silent. [] The Ancient Library of Alexandria: The Wests most important repository of learning [], [] Example No. What held them back from utilizing it in steam-driven machinery, which would have enabled that giant leap from mere muscle to mechanical power? Both tell us very clearly that the Library of Alexandria was destroyed by the Arabs on direct instruction by the Second Muslim Caliph, Umar ibn al-Khattab (634 - 644 AD). Eratosthenes dated the Trojan War to about 1184 B.C.E., a date generally accepted in ancient times and respected by many modern scholars. [25][15][26] Nonetheless, the Letter of Aristeas is very late and contains information that is now known to be inaccurate. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Macropaedia, 15th ed., vol. [55] The work itself has not survived, but many fragments of it are preserved through quotation in the writings of the later geographer Strabo. However, Philo was not simply interested in objective scientific exploration. As a philologist, grammarian and author, Aristophanes produced poetry, dramas and critical editions of the works of his famous namesake, Aristophanes (c. 450c. [95], Meanwhile, as the reputation of Alexandrian scholarship declined, the reputations of other libraries across the Mediterranean world improved, diminishing the Library of Alexandria's former status as the most prominent. Updates? Built around 280 BC, this library held as many as 700,000 books and scrolls. . Near the end of his life, Aristophanes was imprisoned by Ptolemy V Epiphanes for entertaining an offer to move to the great library of Pergamum. Its relationship to Philo and his classical Greek predecessors has been described as follows: The first representatives of early church exegesis were not the bishops but rather the teachers (didaskaloi) of the catechetical schools, modeled after the Hellenistic philosophers schools in which interpretive and philological principles had been developed according to the traditions of the founders of the respective schools. DigitalVision Vectors/Getty Images For much of the late fourth century AD it was probably the largest collection of books in the city of Alexandria. [97], In 272 AD, the emperor Aurelian fought to recapture the city of Alexandria from the forces of the Palmyrene queen Zenobia. [36] Strabo called the group of scholars who lived at the Mouseion a (synodos, "community"). The Library quickly acquired many papyrus scrolls, owing largely to the Ptolemaic kings' aggressive and well-funded policies for procuring texts. The king, however, persuaded the governors of Athens to permit him to borrow them in order to have them copied. "[88][82][8] However, Florus and Lucan only mention that the flames burned the fleet itself and some "houses near the sea". [74] After the Battle of Raphia in 217 BC, Ptolemaic power became increasingly unstable. [76] Ptolemy VII was murdered and succeeded by Ptolemy VIII Physcon, who immediately set about punishing all those who had supported his predecessor, forcing Aristarchus to flee Egypt and take refuge on the island of Cyprus, where he died shortly thereafter. In other words, it does not come close to the category of historical plausibility, let alone probability. Hellenistic Jews were experimenting with various kinds of theologies.31 In Greco-Roman culture, mystery religions were popular, despite the prominence of the emperor cult. [73], During the early second century BC, several scholars at the Library of Alexandria studied works on medicine. 145, 166 n. 8, cites Galens Comm. There is a third possibility as to why Rome never developed the use of steam power: it would have destroyed Romes economy. Just as Philo had presented Judaism as the highest form of wisdom and the means by which humankind would come to see God, so Clement urged that Christianity was the end to which all current philosophy had been movingthe new melody superior to that of Orpheus.37. [12][3] A long tradition of libraries existed in both Greece and in the ancient Near East. 283 BC) and that it was initially organized by Demetrius of Phalerum, a student of Aristotle who had been exiled from Athens and taken refuge in Alexandria within the Ptolemaic court. Say no more. The roots of Jesus as God Incarnate/Man Divine are found not only in the Gospels but also in Paul, esp his letter to the Colossians. [81] The status of both the Library and the head librarian diminished. [74] There were uprisings among segments of the Egyptian population and, in the first half of the second century BC, connection with Upper Egypt became largely disrupted. Hypatia was slaughtered like an animal in the church of Caesarion, formerly a sanctuary of emperor worship.1 Cyril may not have been among the gang that pulled Hypatia from her chariot, tearing off her clothes and slashing her with shards of broken tiles, but her murder was surely done under his authority and with his approval. If you ask the Miriamne of my novels, she will give you a resounding, Yes . Launched in 288 BC by Ptolemy I (Soter) under the guidance of Demetrius of Phaleron, the temple to the muses, or Mouseion (in greek), or museum (in latin) was part academy, part research center, and part library. Dig into more than 9,000 articles in the Biblical Archaeology Societys vast library plus much morewith an All-Access pass. [77] Aristarchus' student Dionysius Thrax (c. 170c. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Almost immediately the library epitomized the best scholarship of the ancient world, containing the intellectual riches of Mesopotamia, Persia, Greece, Rome and Egypt. [46] A portion of one of Aristarchus' commentaries on the Histories of Herodotus has survived in a papyrus fragment. The time was pregnant with a new spirit that engendered a renaissance of human culture. [46][68][61] During this phase of the Library's history, literary criticism reached its peak[46][68] and came to dominate the Library's scholarly output. 179194. [55] Strabo quotes him as having sarcastically commented, "a man might find the places of Odysseus' wanderings if the day were to come when he would find the leatherworker who stitched the goatskin of the winds. ); the Hellenistic Neoplatonism of Plotinus (205270 C.E. The librarys initial design called for ten halls for housing the books. 142143. The author of this exceptional piece, Hal Ellens, unfortunately passed away a few months ago. 95, 100; and Tzetzes, a 12th-century scholar whose Prolegomena to Aristophanes, also known as Scholium Plautinum, may be found in R. Pfeiffer, History of Classical Scholarship (Oxford: Clarendon, 1968), p. 101. J. Harold Ellens is a retired scholar who researched at the University of Michigan and served as an occasional lecturer for the Institute for Antiquity and Christianity at the Claremont Graduate School in California. [94] Eventually, the word "Alexandrian" itself came to be synonymous with the editing of texts, correction of textual errors, and writing of commentaries synthesized from those of earlier scholarsin other words, taking on connotations of pedantry, monotony, and lack of originality. [109] It remained a fully functioning temple, and had classrooms for philosophers to teach in. In 391 AD, the bishop of Alexandria, Theophilus, supervised the destruction of an old Mithraeum. ), Actes du IIe symposium syro-arabicum (Sayyidat al-Br, septembre 1998). The reason these and other figures remain alive for us today is the ancient library and university of Alexandria.13, When Alexander died, his empire was divided among his three senior commanders. 190191, 217255; Schaff and Wace, eds., The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 2nd ser., vol. Watts. [79] Another one of Aristarchus' pupils, Apollodorus of Athens (c. 180c. [9] As a religious center, the Mouseion was directed by a priest of the Muses known as an epistates, who was appointed by the king in the same manner as the priests who managed the various Egyptian temples. Ptolemy I is said to have encouraged Egyptian priests to accumulate records of their past tradition and heritage and to render them available for use by Greek scholars and men of letters whom he had invited to live in Egypt. 2. I was disappointed, though, in the word(s) Arab and Arabs used in the last two paragraphs (Arabs-2X and Spanish Arab). The same claim was reiterated more than once: Irenaeus spoke of Ptolemys desire to equip his library with the writings of all men as far as they were worth serious attention. Undoubtedly, however, the largest amount of material was written in Greek. During his tenure as chief librarian, Eratosthenes brought to Alexandria the official Athenian copies of the three great Attic tragedians: Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides. The Library of Alexandria in fact was indirectly causal in the creation of writing on parchment, as the Egyptians refused to export papyrus to their competitor in the Library of Pergamum. Philo understood the Logos to be responsible for creating the material universe, supervising it providentially and redeeming it. His brother, Alexander the Alabarch, led that community. Saint Cyril of Alexandria, in Encyclopaedia Britannica, Micropaedia, 15th ed., vol. [46][75] In 145 BC, however, Aristarchus became caught up in a dynastic struggle in which he supported Ptolemy VII Neos Philopator as the ruler of Egypt. The daughter library in the Serapeum may have survived after the main Library's destruction. 6590. The enormous sum of 15 talents of silver was deposited in Athens as a pledge for their safe restitution. [46][47] Zenodotus' main work was devoted to the establishment of canonical texts for the Homeric poems and the early Greek lyric poets. (iv) The idea that it held one million volumes in the first century AD is total fantasy especially given that this was after the devastating fire of 47 BC. Sandys, A History of Classical Scholarship (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. [50] Apollonius of Rhodes is best known as the author of the Argonautica, an epic poem about the voyages of Jason and the Argonauts, which has survived to the present in its complete form. These two towering figures of early Christian theological development were headmasters of the Catechetical School of Alexandria, which flourished under them and quickly became famous throughout the Christian world. [44] The Library itself was directed by a scholar who served as head librarian, as well as tutor to the king's son. 26. Thank you! The Library was part of a larger research institution called the Mouseion, which was dedicated to the Muses, the nine goddesses of the arts. [128][129] Neoplatonism and paganism both survived in Alexandria and throughout the eastern Mediterranean for centuries after her death. It was the work of the foremost man of letters of his age. Read about recent agora excavations in the Bible History Daily feature Stoa Poikile Excavations in the Athenian Agora.. with its capital at Babylon.14 Antigonus I Monopthalmus (the One-Eyed) took possession of Macedonia, Greece and large parts of Asia Minor, where he established the Antigonid dynasty, which lasted until 169 B.C.E.15 A third commander, Ptolemy, assumed the position of satrap, or governor, of Egypt. This type is still amongst us today, hiding out as specialists and corporate gurus. The decline of the library most likely started following the purging of intellectuals from Alexandria in 145 BC during Ptolemy VIII Physcon. 110 BC), went to Alexandria's greatest rival, Pergamum, where he taught and conducted research. "Mouseion" means "House of Muses", whence the term "museum". 23. Demetrios was succeeded as chief librarian by Zenodotus of Ephesus (325260 B.C.E. [36] They dispatched royal agents with large amounts of money and ordered them to purchase and collect as many texts as they possibly could, about any subject and by any author. (i) Hypatia had nothing to do with the Library, which had long since ceased to exist before she was born. [106], The Serapeum is often called the "daughter library" of Alexandria. [96], By the second century AD, the Roman Empire grew less dependent on grain from Alexandria and the city's prominence declined further. Philo saw Greek tradition as simply another expression of the references to Wisdom in Job 28, Proverbs 19, The Wisdom of Ben Sirach, Baruch and other literature in the Hebrew tradition. [51], According to two late and largely unreliable biographies, Apollonius was forced to resign from his position as head librarian and moved to the island of Rhodes (after which he takes his name) on account of the hostile reception he received in Alexandria to the first draft of his Argonautica. 6869. The idea behind the library was to bring back some of the knowledge and cultural heritage lost with the ancient library. The empire was divided into three: the Antigonids dynasty controlled Greece; the Seleucids, who had their capitals at Antioch and Seleucia, controlled large areas of Asia Minor, Syria, and Mesopotamia; and the Ptolemies controlled Egypt with Alexandria as its capital. Of languages other than Greek, Egyptian had the largest section. The Library of Alexandria. 329330. [38][9][8][20] The Library particularly focused on acquiring manuscripts of the Homeric poems, which were the foundation of Greek education and revered above all other poems. For the library of Quebec in Montreal, see, Nineteenth-century artistic rendering of the Library of Alexandria by the German artist O. He appointed two assistant librarians: Alexander of Aetolia (born c. 315 B.C.E. History for Atheists The Great Myths 5: The Great Library of Alexandria. was a student of Pantaenus, and Origen (c. 185254) was very probably a student of Clement. Think of all that ancient wisdom! [78] This diaspora prompted the historian Menecles of Barce to sarcastically comment that Alexandria had become the teacher of all Greeks and barbarians alike. It was this significant North African theological perspective in the theology of Clement and Origen that dominated Christian thought from the Council of Nicea in 325 C.E. [118] According to classical historian Edward J. Watts, however, Theon was probably the head of a school called the "Mouseion", which was named in emulation of the Hellenistic Mouseion that had once included the Library of Alexandria, but which had little other connection to it. The second, from 150 B.C.E. "Tolomeo Filadelfo nella biblioteca di Alessandria", or "Ptolemy Philadelphus founds the Library of Alexandria", is an oil painting from 1813 by Italian artist Vincenzo Camuccini (1771-1844 CE).The painting portrays the Greco-Macedonian king and ruler of Egypt, Ptolemy II Philadelphus within the famous Library of Alexandria. 612, 5051; and the superbly objective and thorough treatment of the process of the librarys demise by Mostafa El-Abbadi, Life and Fate of the Ancient Library of Alexandria (Paris: UNESCO/UNDP, 1990), pp. The Pinakes consisted of 120 scrolls, in which all the works in the library were organized by discipline, with a substantial bibliographical description for each work.19 The encyclopedia of knowledge as it has been conceptualized since ancient times is derived from Callimachuss design. Dzielska, Hypatia of Alexandria, pp. ), Tertullian (c. 155225 C.E. Nor was Cyril above abusing his opponents by staging marches and inciting riots. According to one authority, she was by nature more refined and talented than her father.7 The extant texts of Ptolemys Almagest and Handy Tables were probably prepared for publication by her.8, Such scientific and philosophical enterprises were not new or surprising in Hypatias Alexandria, which already boasted a 700-year-old, international reputation for sophisticated scholarship. [115][116][114], The Suda, a tenth-century Byzantine encyclopedia, calls the mathematician Theon of Alexandria (c.AD 335c. In March of 415 C.E., on a sunny day in the holy season of Lent, Cyril of Alexandria, the most powerful Christian theologian in the world, murdered Hypatia, the most famous Greco-Roman philosopher of the time. This world has seen many great wonders come and go throughout history, but none was more revered than the Library at Alexandria. Philip Schaff and Henry Wace (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1957), p. 160. Within little more than a year, Aristotle died in Chalcis and Demosthenes in Calaurie. This lexicon cites the full name of the Pinakes and describes its size as 120 scrolls. Why? Heron supposedly proposed the development to his friend the emperor; the emperor dissuaded him by asking What about the slaves? Romes economy was based on slavery and steam power would have made the vast majority of the slaves redundant. Philo, on occasion, allegorically refers to Logos/Sophia as an angel and, rarely, as a second God. In his exposition of Genesis 17 (describing Gods covenant with Abraham), he characterizes God as a trinity of agencies.32, Between 150 and 180 C.E. Theon of Alexandria, in Encyclopaedia Britannica, Micropaedia, 15th ed., vol. [88] Edward J. Watts argues that Mark Antony's gift may have been intended to replenish the Library's collection after the damage to it caused by Caesar's fire roughly a decade and a half prior. [9] Ptolemy II is said to have jailed him and, after he escaped, sealed him in a lead jar and dropped him into the sea. You can still visit the ruins of the original Library of Alexandria. One method to which they reportedly resorted was to search every ship that sailed into the harbour of Alexandria. 28 (on the destruction of the library); and Parsons, Alexandrian Library, pp. [122] Theophilus respected Alexandria's political structures and raised no objection to the close ties Hypatia established with Roman prefects. 22. He could not treat even a purely scientific subject as the Pinakeswithout imparting to his work the rich stores of his scholarship, and thus the first world catalogue of knowledge became also the first literary and critical history of Hellenic literature, and also earned for its author the title of Father of Literary History.22, By the end of Callimachuss life, the library is purported to have contained 532,800 carefully catalogued books, 42,800 of which were in the lending library at the Serapeion. [74] Ptolemaic rulers also began to emphasize the Egyptian aspect of their nation over the Greek aspect. 16, cols. An English translation of the passage in Al-Qifti by Emily Cottrell of Leiden University is at the Roger Pearse blog here, Ed. If so, would he have been impressed by the teachings of Philo Judaeus, the great Hellenistic Jewish philosopher who maintained the Alexandria Library? . J.W. Philo Judaeus (30 B.C.E.50 C.E.) Author of Miriamne the Magdala-The First Chapter in the Yeshua and Miri Novel Series and Content Creator for The Miriamne Page [113] Instead, he seems to have rejected the teachings of Iamblichus[119] and may have taken pride in teaching a pure, Plotinian Neoplatonism. and the Neoplatonic School (350642 C.E. 2, cols. BIBLE HISTORY DAILY The Ancient Library of Alexandria The West's most important repository of learning J. Harold Ellens February 26, 2022 28 Comments 38971 views Share When Alexander the Great died in 323 B.C.E., the Ptolemaic dynasty was given control of Egypt. He had a wife but never mentions her name. Ptolemy I (c. 367283 B.C.E.) Another story (reported by Galen in the writings on Hippocrates) reveals how Ptolemy III managed to obtain the original texts of the great dramatic poets Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. Q: What made Alexandria such an important city? There is literary evidence of Greek individuals visiting Egypt especially to acquire knowledge: e.g., Herodotus, Plato (particularly in Phaedrus and Timaeus), Theophrastus, and Eudoxus of Cnidus (as detailed by Diogenes Lartius in the 3rd century ce). [47], Meanwhile, the scholar and poet Callimachus compiled the Pinakes, a 120-book catalogue of various authors and all their known works. a Stoic philosopher named Pantaenus was converted to Christianity and became the headmaster, if not the founder, of a Christian institution known as the Catechetical School of Alexandria. [33] A hall contained shelves for the collections of papyrus scrolls known as bibliothekai (). 1. to 200 C.E. Scholars were extended royal appointments with stipends to live and work in this university community. [111] In retaliation, the Christians vandalized and demolished the Serapeum,[113][114] although some parts of the colonnade were still standing as late as the twelfth century. ), but after 130 B.C.E. It is interesting in this regard that Anne Holmes (The Alexandrian Library, Libri 30 [December 1980], p. 21) suggests that the Pinakes may have been a list of authors and books that Callimachus wanted to acquire for the library rather than a catalogue of existing library holdings. [59][60] Bacchius of Tanagra, a contemporary of Eratosthenes, edited and commented on the medical writings of the Hippocratic Corpus. [43] As early as 283 BC, they may have numbered between thirty and fifty learned men. Ancient Libraries and Archives Quiz brought destruction on the temple and made war on its contentsonly the foundations they could not take away because of the magnitude of its stone blocks which they were unable to remove, but they spoiled and destroyed practically everything. [78][79] Dionysius Thrax wrote the first book on Greek grammar, a succinct guide to speaking and writing clearly and effectively. Von Corven, based partially on the archaeological evidence available at that time, Later schools and libraries in Alexandria. 2, chap. Wide is the way that leads to destruction. It is SOP for secular and religious leaders in Philos day and our own. Ptolemys grandest building project was the Alexandria Library, which he founded in 306 B.C.E. I believe from my own research that Philo Judaeus left Alexandria to join the Nazarenes of Galilee was baptized by Yohannan in the River Jordan and as was a Jewish custom changed his name to Yeshua which was Hebrew for Salvation or Liberation according to Philo. No other institution of this kind has proved to be so long-lived or so intellectually dominant of its world and subsequent history as Alexandrias library. Plutarch documents that the fire extended all the way into the city, and given the library's proximity to the coastline, it was inevitable collateral damage. published 14 March 2022 The famous library in Egypt flourished for six centuries and was the cultural and intellectual center of the ancient Hellenistic world before falling into ruin. [46][74], Aristarchus of Samothrace (lived c. 216c. [69] Aristophanes of Byzantium edited poetic texts and introduced the division of poems into separate lines on the page, since they had previously been written out just like prose. [8] It is unclear what happened to the Mouseion after Strabo's mention of it. This connection is, of course, very complex, and other forces also affected this development, such as the great variety of polytheistic theologies (which propose that there exist intermediary beings between God and creation) present in the Judaisms of 200 B.C.E. The zest to produce the things of culture was permanently interrupted.30. Wed, Jan. 19, 2022 The famous Library of Alexandria in Egypt was one of the most important repositories of knowledge in the ancient world, built in the fourth century BC, and flourished for about six centuries. [10] The idea of a universal library in Alexandria may have been proposed by Demetrius of Phalerum, an exiled Athenian statesman living in Alexandria, to Ptolemy I Soter, who may have established plans for the Library, but the Library itself was probably not built until the reign of his son Ptolemy II Philadelphus. [40], In addition to collecting works from the past, the Mouseion which housed the Library also served as home to a host of international scholars, poets, philosophers, and researchers, who, according to the first-century BC Greek geographer Strabo, were provided with a large salary, free food and lodging, and exemption from taxes. , Macropaedia, 15th ed., vol as late as the twelfth century AD it was in that that... 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