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About
Alexandria
The second largest city and the main port of Egypt,
Alexandria was built by the Greek architect Dinocrates
(332-331 BC) on the site of an old village, Rhakotis, at the
orders of Alexander the Great. The city, immortalizing
Alexander's name, quickly flourished into a prominent
cutural, intellectual, political, and economic metropolis,
the remains of which are still evident to this day.
It was the renowned capital of the Ptolemies, with
numerous monuments. It was the site of the Lighthouse, one
of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, as well as the
Great Library. It was along these shores that history took a
tragic turn at the time of Cleopatra, Julius Caesar, Mark
Antony, and Octavian.
Alexandria lies north-west of the Nile delta and
stretches along a narrow land strip between the
Mediterranean Sea and Lake Mariut (Mareotis). It is linked
to Cairo by two major highways and a railroad line. It is
one of the most notable summer resorts in the Middle East,
for, in addition to its temperate winters, its beaches, with
white sands and magnificent scenery, stretch for 140 km
along the Mediterranean Sea, from Abu Qir, in the east to
Al-Alamein and Sidi Abdul Rahman, in the west.
Founding cities was one of Alexander's favorite
activities. He founded seventeen of them and called them all
"Alexandria". While some of these, such as Alexandria
(Egypt) flourished, others did not survive to our present
day. Over the centuries, other communities followed suit and
named new cities after Alexandria (Egypt), or Alexander the
Great.
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Bibliotheca Alexandrina
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The ancient of
Alexandria
The ancient library of Alexandria is
perhaps the most famous library in history. it
was not only an important library, but the
center of learning and scientific research for
the ancient world, and a destination for
scholars from all over the Mediterranean and
beyond. Despite its demise and disappearance
1600 years ago, scholar and scientists remain
preoccupied with its legacy.The library wasn't
merely a repository for books, although its
collection was unrivaled.
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Foundation of the library and
the mouseion
The ptolemies wanted to distinguish
Alexandria above all other Hellenistic states.
Demetrius phalereus (a statesman, Athenian
philosopher and consultant to Ptolemy I) suggested a
great intellectual and scientific institution in
Alexandria. First establishing the mouseion (or,
shrine of the muses, the first center for scientific
research in the history of the world) ,and then the
library, the ptolemies attracted the best writers,
poets, artist, and scientists from all over the
world, making Alexandria the intellectual and
cultural capital of the world.
Within Alexandria's library and mouseion worked a
community of scientists of physics, linguistics,
medicine, astronomy, geography, philosophy,
mathematics, biology and geology. Genius flourished
in Alexandria, where scholars undertook the first
serious trails to understand the world.
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Foundation of the
daughter library
The library and the mouseion are believed to
have existed side by side, among the places of the
royal quarter, over looking the city's main harbour.
Eventually the library's holdings outgrew its
capacity, and so "daughter" library was built some
distance away below the temple of (the serapeum) .
the books, however, was still held at the great
library in the mouseion.as time passed the minor
library became more independence, and in the roman
age, it played a vital role in cultural life.
The library trustes
As one of the highest dignitaries in the
state, would have been appointed to the position by
the ptolematic ruler. The trustee was usually
selected from among the scientists and scholars
affiliated with the library. Historians have not
agreed upon the comprehensive list of trustees and
dates, but most credit Demetrius phalereus with the
idea of the library, and agree that he was likely
the first library administrator. Most historians
also accept the following list of names and dates as
accurate: Zenodotus of Ephesus (about 285-270
B.C.)Appollonius Rrhodius (about 270-245B.C.)
Eratosthenes of cyrene (245-204B.C.) Aristphones of
Byzantium (204-189B.C.) Apollonius Rhodium
(204-175B.C.)
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Rebuild The Library
The dream of rebuilding the Ancient Library
of Alexandria and of reviving the legacy of that
great center for learning has long enticed the
imagination of intellectuals and scientists all over
the world.
In 1974, Professor Mostafa El Abbadi, eminent
historian of Alexandria and author of a study on the
life and fate of the Ancient Library called for the
launch of a project to rebuild the Library of
Alexandria.
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