Where is the Library of Alexandria located?

The Library of Alexandria is in Alexandria City, Egypt, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. It was created in the Ptolemaic era and was then called the Royal Library or Museum.

Alexandria is a large city in Egypt, classified for its large area and population. Due to its distinct geographical location, Alexander the Great made it the capital of the Macedonian state of Egypt and his residence. The city of Alexandria is named after Alexander the Great. After the death of Alexander the Great and the division of his estate among his generals, Egypt fell to Ptolemy I, who made Egypt an independent kingdom known as the Ptolemies. He became interested in it and made it a center of Hellenistic commerce and civilization. He also began building the Lighthouse of Alexandria, considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

The interior design of Alexandria Library

The library’s height is ten floors, and all the lower levels are located under the water’s surface. The body of the building sinks under the ground to protect its precious contents from the factors of the external environment. The many open reading halls are the prominent feature of the Library of Alexandria, as it includes 2500 reading sections leading to seven balconies, and books have been stored below these balconies to facilitate access.

The library’s building took a long time, as archaeological research began in 1992, and it was impossible to determine any traces of the old library. In May 1995, the construction of the Library’s Neighbor’s Wall began, and the Library was inaugurated in October 2002; the new Library of Alexandrina took upon itself the responsibility of dedicating all its efforts to reviving the spirit of the original old library.

At the time of its opening, the Library contained a collection of books amounting to 200.000 The collections were revised and increased, and a special multimedia group was created for children and youth, as well as electronic resources were created where we can count more than 25.000 electronic magazines and about 20.000 e-books.

 

History and status of the Library of Alexandria

The Library of Alexandrina was established in the era of the Ptolemaic state and is part of the Macedonian Empire emanating from the Greek civilization. It was said that Alexander the Great was the first to order the construction of the Library of Alexandria. Then came the decision to build the Library of Alexandria in the era of Ptolemy I during the rule of the Ptolemaic state of Egypt.

The true founder of the library and the creditor of its renaissance and prosperity is Ptolemy II ‘Philadelphus,’ who ruled Egypt for thirty-nine years from 285 to 246 BC. He was the one who developed its system and brought scientists from the Greek world so that many scientists took the city of Alexandria as their home.

Languages also provided them with books from various sources, and the model taken by the libraries of the Mediterranean world became a beacon to follow. Hence, the Library of Alexandria was the starting point for consolidating science, facilitating it for lovers of knowledge, and documenting it for future generations.

 

The Library of Alexandrina is important because it is a field for scientific research and a cultural center that has enriched the scientific, cultural, and civilizational life in ancient times, so it is one of the largest and most prestigious libraries of the ancient world.

The Library of Alexandria continued to develop science and knowledge in ancient times, from which many scientists graduated over seven centuries.

This great library was the source of the most important scientific facts that were discovered about the universe, in which Aristarchus discovered the truth of the Earth’s rotation around the sun, Eratosthenes knew that the Earth was spherical, as well as the extraction of the Atlas of Stars by Hipparchus, and the first catalog of a book by Calimachus. And came out of it the most important mathematical, scientific, and philosophical theories.

Burning of the Library of Alexandria

Scholars still disagree on how the Library was destroyed, but there are three theories as to who caused the burning of the Library of Alexandria as follows:

• The first theory was Julius Caesar.

One of the most interesting stories, from the accounts of Roman writers according to several authors, is that Julius Caesar accidentally destroyed the Library of Alexandria during the siege of Alexandria in 48 BC.

The stories went when the enemy tried to destroy Julius Caesar’s fleet, Caesar was forced to repel the danger with fire launchers, and fire spread to shipyards and destroyed the great Library.

However, this isn’t certain because the Alexandria Museum, which was right next to the Library, was not harmed, as the geographer Strabo mentioned. About 30 years after Caesar’s siege of Alexandria, Strabo does not mention the Library of Alexandria itself.

The Library still existed during the Strabo period, or Strabo no longer needed to mention the Library, and there is another possibility that the warehouses near the port were where manuscripts were stored, which were destroyed by the fire of Julius Caesar.

• The second theory was the Christians.

The second possible culprit is fourth-century Christians in 391 AD when Emperor Theodosius issued a decree officially banning pagan practices. So, the temple of Serapis in Alexandria was destroyed and converted into a Christian church, and many documents are believed to have been destroyed in the process.

However, no evidence exists of the burning of documents in the Library of Alexandria or any library. No ancient sources mention the destruction of any library during this specific period. Therefore, there is no evidence that the Christians of the fourth century destroyed the Library of Alexandria.

 

• The third theory was Orientalists’ accusations of Muslims.

Emerged in this context was a set of accusations sent from the extremist orientalists to the Muslims who succeeded in opening Egypt without victims and amid a great welcome from the Egyptians who agreed with the new conquerors. These orientalists are based on what was written by John Gramatticus” (490-570), in the Middle Ages that the second caliph Rightly-Guided Omar Ibn Al-Khattab, according to his claim, ordered his governor of Egypt at the time, AmrIbn Al-Aas, to destroy all books and manuscripts that are incompatible with the Islamic religion.

These statements and allegations sent to the extremists of orientalists completely contradict the tolerance that Islam has known since the conquest of Amribn al-Aas. During the rule of the Muslim rulers, Egypt flourished in tolerance and coexistence between the owners of monotheistic religions. It established schools, temples, and libraries for the owners of religions, especially Judaism and Christianity. Alexandria became a haven for all the people of the Pact who lived in the custody of Muslims.

 

The Library in the past

The most important characteristic of the Library of Alexandrina in the past is its architecture and unique style, which was unparalleled in that era, as most of the library buildings were covered with marble in an era when buildings were left with stone only.

As for the library’s location, it overlooked vast streets decorated with monuments such as obelisks and statues such as sphinxes.

The library consisted of three buildings:

• The mother library, “Al-Musion,” is the museum and is the main library building.
• Serapeum: was a place dedicated to gods and worship, headed by the god Serapis.
• The additional annex was located in the port, and was used to store books.

 

The Library of Alexandria today

The Library of Alexandria has been revived in the modern era after it had been left in ruins for centuries and been considered a destroyed monument; a new Library was established on the same site as the old Library to commemorate the most famous Library in the history of antiquities. The idea of reviving the Library was put forward in the late eighties when UNESCO called for a contribution to the revival of the Library, and immediately Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak established the General Authority of the Library of Alexandria, where an international competition was held to design the Library awarded its first prize to Snohetta for architectural designs, based in Oslo, Norway, and the design of the new Library includes four underground levels and six upper floors from the highest point of the steep circular surface. A celestial dome and science museum have been built to complete a modern architectural masterpiece on the Mediterranean coast.