starozytnosc: Library of Alexandria

Evidence: 100 • authority: 72

The Library of Alexandria in 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 the arts. The idea of the 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 likely not built until the reign of his son Ptolemy II Philadelphus. The library quickly acquired many papyrus scrolls, owing largely to the Ptolemaic kings' aggressive and well-funded policies for pro…

Evidence: 59 • authority: 72

The Library of Pergamum (Greek: Βιβλιοθήκη του Πέργαμον) is an ancient Greek building in Pergamon, Anatolia, today located nearby the modern town of Bergama, in the İzmir Province of western Turkey. It was one of the most important libraries in the ancient world.

Evidence: 59 • authority: 72

The Pharos of Alexandria was a lighthouse built by the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, during the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (280–247 BC). It has been estimated to have been at least 100 metres (330 ft) in overall height. One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, for many centuries it was one of the world's tallest man-made structures. The lighthouse was severely damaged by three earthquakes between AD 956 and 1303 and became an abandoned ruin. It was the third longest-surviving ancient wonder, after the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus and the extant Great Pyramid of Giza, surviving in part until 1480, when the last of its stones was used to build the Citadel of Qaitbay on the sit…

Evidence: 49 • authority: 72

The history of Alexandria dates back to the city's founding, by Alexander the Great, in 331 BC. Yet, before that, there were large port cities just east of Alexandria, at the western edge of what is now Abu Qir Bay. The Canopic (westernmost) branch of the Nile Delta still existed at that time, and was widely used for shipping. After its foundation, Alexandria became the seat of the Ptolemaic Kingdom, and quickly grew to be one of the greatest cities of the Hellenistic world. Only Rome, which gained control of Egypt in 30 BC, eclipsed Alexandria in size and wealth. The city fell to the Arabs in AD 641, and a new capital of Egypt, Fustat, was founded on the Nile. After Alexandria's status as…

Evidence: 49 • authority: 80

Before Alexandria: Libraries in the Ancient Near East

Evidence: 49 • authority: 80

Cloistered Bookworms in the Chicken-Coop of the Muses: The Ancient Library of Alexandria

Evidence: 49 • authority: 80

Alexandria: The Umbilicus of the Ancient World