It's collections and where did they come from?

Aristotle, Plato and Socrates





The Library of Alexandria was considered to be the most important in the whole Hellenistic culture (Lerner, F. 1998, pg26) and its existence  had came about during one of the most intellectually creative periods of mankind when the Greeks were writing books that would become the foundations of Western philosophy, mathematics, history, medicine, science and literature(Fortunecity, [online], 9/09/2011).

It contained the greatest collection of scrolls and it’s believed the library held hundreds and thousands of them at one time including an authorative manuscript of the Iliad (Books and Writers, [online], 9/15/2011).

The scrolls in the main library totalled 490,000, in the “daughter library”, there were approximately 42,800 scrolls (Casson, L. 2001, pg 36). The original library’s collection covered over the whole extent of human knowledge as it was in Ancient times and the manuscripts it held where written on papyrus and stored in rolls (Fortunecity, [online], 9/09/2011).

For seven hundred years up until the 4th AD, as many as a hundred scholars at a time came to the library to seek information, to read, talk and write.  They initially wrote on Papyrus, then on parchment, the scrolls were stored in lined or in leather jackets and kept in racks in the hall or in the cloisters.  During Roman times, they wrote manuscripts in codex form, which were then placed in wooden chest where they could be stored (Macleod, R.M. 2004, pg 5-6).

This library collected classic books on Greek Poetry, and its scholars edited and arranged them eg: the master copies of Homer’s poems were edited by the Scholars of Alexandria.  These were made available for copying by the public, and were used as examples for professional scribes who produced copies for the book trade. There were books by native historians on the countries that Alexander had conquered as well as the translations of Hebrew Scriptures.  For example the Septuagint is the Hebrew bible which had been translated into Ancient Greek.  This was because at the time, Alexandria had a large Greek speaking Jewish community (Lerner, F. 1999, pg 27-28).

Also translated were Egyptian chronologies and the religious teachings of the first recorded monotheistic Faith; Zoroastrianism (Lerner, F. 1999, pg 27). This religion was founded in Persia or Modern day Iran as we now know it (Religious Tolerance, [online], 9/16/2011).

Among the libraries treasured possessions was a collection of important works from famous thinkers and scholars of that time; Plato, Aristotle, Thucydides, Sophocles, Euripides, Hippocrates and Euclid who were just a few of the geniuses who were either hard at work or not long dead (Fortunecity, [online], 9/09/2011).

In the beginning, the very first problem that the library faced was the acquisition of materials.  It’ first director and librarian; Zenodotos, began an inventory of the scrolls acquired by the Ptolemies for the Museum (Books and Writers, [online], 9/15/2011)

Even though Egypt had many books, they were all in Egyptian. The Ptolemy’s used their wealth to buy Greek books from Athens and Rhodes, and other established areas of Greek Culture (Casson, L. 2001, pg 34). They sent out agents, with money and orders to buy whatever books they could find and on any subject. Because they were so eager to complete their collection, they unfortunately became victims to forgers who found counterfeiting a very lucrative business at that time (Lerner, F. 1999, pg 27).

It’s reported that the Monarch, Ptolemy III borrowed the Athenians official copies of the plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides.  He gave the owners 15 talents which is the equivalent to over a million dollars in today’s money as security for their safe return.  Instead, he kept the manuscripts, returned copies of them back to Athens and happily forfeited his deposit. This same King ordered that all ships who docked in Alexandria be searched and any scrolls or manuscripts found on board would be brought straight to the library (Macleod, R. 2004, pg 65).

Some of the libraries books were also produced by the library itself as scholars of the museum had written many volumes by using ordinary written and spoken language especially when rewriting commentaries on earlier works, these were then included amongst the libraries collection (Lerner, F. 1999, pg 27-28).

During my research for this blog, i found alot of relevent and interesting information in two books: The Story of Libraries : from the invention of writing to the Computer Age by Fred Lerner, Libraries in the Ancient world by Fred Lerner. I also found them very easy to read and they went into great detail as to what was in the library's collection and how those items were obtained. The third book; The Library of Alexandria : centre of learning in the ancient world, gave me only brief information and i found the language used in this book difficult to follow.

The other two books, i felt were more user friendly.  I was amazed at what lengths the Ptolomies went through to obtain the scrolls for their library and how many the library contained.  I was also impressed at the fact that considering Ptolomy Soter I,  who first started the library was once a General under Alexander the Great.  He was clearly an intelligent man who wanted to not only positively transform the city of Alexandria, but in doing so, he was improving  the lives of the people he was ruling by giving them and opportunity to gain knowledge and become educated.

References:

Lerner, F. 1999, The Story of Libraries : from the invention of writing to the computer age, Continium Publishing Company, NY, USA.

Casson, L. 2001, Libraries in the Ancient World, Yale University Press, New Haven, USA.

MacLeod, R.M. 2004, The Library of Alexandria : centre of learning in the ancient world, I.B. Tauris, London.

Alexander's library rises from the ashes, available from:

http://www.fortunecity.com/emachines/e11/86/alexand.html

Information on the Zoroastrianism religion, available from:

http://www.religioustolerance.org/zoroastr.htm

Information about some of the libraries collection, available from :

http://kirjasto.sci.fi/callimac.htm 

Banerjee, S 2008, 'Socrates, Plato and Aristotle' [image] in soham_pablo's photostream, Flickr, viewed the 9th of September 2011, http://www.flickr.com/photos/soham_pablo/2251562747/

The Librarians

Jason with the Golden Fleece

The head of the library was a Director which was a post normally appointed by the court.  This person also had the duties of serving as a tutor to the royal children. The first person to gain this position was Zenodotus of Ephesus; he was the first person to establish a sound text of Homeric poems.  He was also a pioneer in library Science as it is believed that he was the one who developed the system that libraries used for shelving its holdings and the alphabetical order of organisation.  It is believed that Zenodotus used Aristotles own collection as a Model for the Library in Alexandria but expanded on it (Casson, L. 2001, pg 37). 

He also worked on establishing an Authorative text for Homer’s Iliad and the Odyssey which was a long project that was continued by two of his future successors, Aristophanes of Byzantium and Aristarkhos, who compared newly received Homeric Manuscripts with texts already kept in the library (Lerner, F. 1999, pg 28-29).

Achilles dragging Hector from Homer's The Illiad

In order for Zenodotus to put in place the library’s initial organization, he would have had to recruit other staff such as sorters, checkers, clerks, pages, copyists, repairers and so on. There would have been a lot of these workers helping out in the library but no information on these essential employees has ever been found.   Like so many white collar workers of the Greek and Roman world, the majority were very likely to have been slaves (Casson, L. 2001, pg 37-38).

The next in line to Zenodotus position was Apollonius of Rhodes (Macleod, R. 2004, pg 70). He wrote the Argonautica which is a Greek epic poem. It is a mythical story of the voyage of Jason and the Argonauts and their attempt to retrieve the Golden Fleece from the land of Colchis (Encyclopedia Britannica, [online], 9/22/2011).

The next person after Apollonius was Eratosthenes of Cyrene, the third chief librarian (Lerner, F. 1999, pg 29).  He was a poet, philologist, geographer and literary historian and Mathematician. He successfully calculated the circumference of the earth and whilst serving as head librarian, he wrote a comprehensive essay about the world called Geography. This was the first ever use of the word which means literally “writing about the earth” in Greek.  (About.com. Geography, [online], 9/14/2011).

Aristophanes of Byzantium became the 4^th chief librarian (Macleod, R. 2004, pg 70). He was a Greek Critic, grammarian and Lexicographer.  As a Lexicographer he accumulated collections of archaic and unusual words which included technical terms and proverbs.  He was also the producer of a text of Homer and was also responsible for arranging Plato’s dialogues in Trilogies (Academic Universalium, [online], 9/14/2011).

Aristarchus of Samothrace was the 5^th head of the Alexandria library who and lived during the rein of Ptolemy VI.  He was most renowned for his Homeric scholarship. He was also famous for producing other editions and commentaries on other poets and playwrights (Encyclopedia of the Ancient World, [online], 9/14/2011).

Another person who is worth mentioning who also made  important contributions to the library but was  not a Librarian; Callimachus; a Greek poet and one of the greatest Scholars to work in the library. Callimachus was the creator of the Pinakes which was a catalogue of Greek authors and their works, along with biographical and literary information (Books and Writers, [online], 9/15 /11).  Users of the library were able to determine the existence and location of a particular work; from his shelf-list which he created was a vital reference tool in the library (Casson, L. 2001, pg 41).

Whilst researching the information for this blog post, i was suprised to discover how inventive and tallented some of the librarians at this library were and how their new discoveries and inventions may have helped influenced future libraries from around the world. The books i used as a reference, gave me some information on the individual librarians who worked at the library of Alexandria.  But i wasn't really satisfied as i wanted to know more about the individual librarians, so i found websites such as the Encyclopedia Britannica more helpful.

References:

Casson, L. 2001, Libraries in the Ancient World, Yale University Press, New Haven, USA.

 

Lerner, F. 1999, The Story of Libraries : from the invention of writing to the computer age, Continium Publishing, NY, USA.

MacLeod, R.M. 2004, The library of Alexandria : centre of learning in the ancient world, I.B. Tauris, London.

Information about Apollonius of Rhodes, available at:

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/30062/Apollonius-of-Rhodes

Information about Eratosthenes, available at:

http://geography.about.com/od/historyofgeography/a/eratosthenes.htm

Information about Aristophanes of Byzantium, available at:

http://universalium.academic.ru/257296/Aristophanes_Of_Byzantium

Information about Aristarchus of Samothrace, available at:

http://www.enotes.com/aristarchus-samothrace-salem/aristarchus-samothrace

Information about Callimachus, available at:

http://kirjasto.sci.fi/callimac.htm

Lever, T 2007, 'Golden Fleece Anyone'' [image] in Tama Lever's photostream, Flickr, viewed the 14th of September 2011, http://www.flickr.com/photos/tamaleaver/689569580/

Ancientimages, 2004, 'Achilles dragging Hector' [image] in Ancientimages photostream, Flickr, viewed the 17th of September 2011,    http://www.flickr.com/photos/49503110044@N01/157177/

Its early beginnings and Museum..



Alexander the Great

 

The Ancient Library of Alexandria or as it is also known as “The Royal Library of Alexandria” was established at around the 3^rd century B.C in Alexandria, Egypt.  It is said to have lasted until the Roman Conquest in 30BC (Wikipedia.org, [online], 8/12/2011). During its time, it was considered to be the greatest of its kind and was the largest and most significant library of the ancient world (Casson, L. 2001, pg 31). One of its important contributions to libraries of today is that the scholars at the library of Alexandria invented the alphabetical order system as a mode of organisation (Casson, L. 2001, pg 37).

After founding the city of Alexandria, Alexander the Great instructed that a library in this new city should be build and that it was important that it should bear his name.   Alexanders   successors in Egypt, the first three Macedonian Kings; the Ptolemies obeyed his instructions and created an institution that would influence and leave a lasting legacy to the European intellectual Tradition (Macleod, R. 2004, pg 1).

The Library flourished under the patronage of the Ptolemaic Dynasty and was commissioned by Ptolemy I Soter who had been one of Alexander’s successful generals. He was handed the city of Alexandria along with the rest of Egypt as a reward for his role in helping Alexander the Great in some of his many conquests (Casson, L. 2001, pg 32).  During the early part of Ptolemy I rule, he became depressed by the ignorance of the barbarians he was governing. (Fortunecity, [online], 9/9/11).

This was in part because, during this time Alexandria being a new city, it’s population mainly consisted of soldiers, sailors of the Ptolemies armed forces, bureaucrats and clerks of their administration, all types of different traders, businessmen, craftsmen and swindlers (Casson, L. pg 30). So he began collecting works from the greatest Greek academics and scholars of that time in order to help educate his people and create a widespread interest in knowledge (Fortunecity, [online], 9/9/11).

Ptolemy I Soter who along with three other well educated members of the Ptolemy Dynasty, set out to encourage intellectuals to move to the city of Alexandria to help create a stellar community. As at the time, when compared to other Hellenic kingdoms of that day, Alexandria was considered a cultural and artistic wasteland.  Because the Ptolemies had a great deal of wealth, they were able to entice the very best intellectuals to the city of Alexandria.  From Athens, Ptolemy I was able to attract the likes of Euclid and Strato who were the main physicists of that age to relocate to Alexandria.  Ptolemy III got   Eratosthenes, a geographer who’s calculated the exact circumference of the earth, Herophilus, a pioneer in the study of Anatomy and Archimedes, a famous Greek mathematician, scientist and engineer who had also left his native Syracuse for a short stay in Alexandria (Casson, L. 2001, pg 33).

Ptolemy I, firstly established a museum, it was his first step in trying to Hellenise his Kingdom.  The word ‘museum’ was not the museum that we know today, but the word referred to for a temple of worship for thought or contemplation. It was a religious institution and Ptolemy I idea for his museum of Alexandria would be a figurative place for the muses in which the art works that had symbolised their ideas and beliefs could be collected and displayed.  Intellectuals such as note writers, poets, scientists and other scholars would stay there and live a carefree lifestyle with free meals, high tax free salaries, free lodging and servants. Ptolemy I also sought out a former student of Aristotle, Demetrius of Phaleron; who he put in charge of the organisation and the collections acquisitions for the future library (Lerner, F. 1999, pg 26).

With this group of cultured individuals and with the financial backing of Ptolemy I,   the Ancient Library of Alexandria was created. By the time of Ptolemy III, there were all ready two libraries in existence.  There was the first library, the main library of Alexandria which was built in the style of Aristotle’s Lyceum and located in the palace and mainly served members of the museum. The second library, known as the “daughter library” was located in a temple known as the Serapeum, not far from the palace in the sanctuary of the god Seraspis (Casson, L 2001, pg 34).

I enjoyed researching this blog post as i am interested in History and i found that most of my research materials not only covered the libraries early beginnings but also gave an insight to the Political situation of that time in Alexandria, but also also what the society was like.  I found the books listed in my references very useful and detailed.


References:


Casson, L. 2001, Libraries in the Ancient World, Yale University Press, New Haven, USA.


Macleod, R.M. 2004, The Library of Alexandria : centre of learning in the ancient world, I.B. Taurus, London.


Lerner, F. 1999, The Story of Libraries : from the invention of writing to the computer age, Continium Publishing company, NY, USA.


Library of Alexandria, available at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_at_Alexandria

Alexander's library rises from the ashes, available at:

http://www.fortunecity.com/emachines/e11/86/alexand.html

Gibbs, N 2008, 'Alexander the Great' [image] in Nathan Gibbs Photostream, Flickr, viewed 9th of September 2011, http://www.flickr.com/photos/nathangibbs/2822425743/

Introduction

 

Alexandria Library Manuscripts

My Research Topic: The Ancient Library of Alexandria

Areas to be researched:

      Early history: its early beginnings. When was it built and by whom?

      What did the library contain, it's collections and how they were obtained?

      Who ran the library during this time?

      The library’s Museum and what it contained.

      The burning and destruction of the library and the theories on who did it.

      The New library of Alexandria, its collections and what it means to Egypt?

  

 My aim in researching this topic is to utilise what information is readily available from the Swinburne University library such as books, websites and online resources such as databases, journals, etc...  I will then focus my attention to other Academic library’s and their collections especially libraries that have subject areas in Ancient History such the Monash or the Melbourne University Libraries and choose information that I feel is appropriate and relevant for my topic.  I will also check out my local library and State Library to see what’s on offer as well as look at the National Library of Australia’s website for more information.   

To keep my blog post’s interesting to the reader,  I will also source some documentaries and other videos which I feel  will be both interesting , informative and from reputable websites this is to ensure that  my blog site is not based purely on the theory that I have research from books  which  mainly deals  a lot of facts. I also intending to try and post some historic images related to my topic which I will try and get off of books and other resources without breaching any copyright regulations.

I hope you will enjoy reading my blog on the Ancient Library of Alexandria!

Petra Dressel


References:

McAdams, M 2009, 'Alexandria Library Manuscripts' [image] in macloo's photostream, 22nd of December, viewed on the 8th of September 2011, http://www.flickr.com/photos/macloo/4238477601/

SagansCosmos 2009, 'The Ancient Library of Alexandria' 12th of May, viewed 9th of September 2011,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVQs4B2jAW0

History Channel 2010, 'Ancient Mysteries - The Lost Treasure of the Alexandria Library 1/5', 2nd of January, viewed 9th of September 2011,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bwc_KmzFYDk

History Channel 2010, 'Ancient Mysteries - The Lost Treasure of the Alexandria Library 2/5', 2nd of January, viewed 9th of September 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRIPSyg3Mdg

National Geographic 2010, 'Alexandria Library' 25th of August, viewed 9th of September 2011,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AW8EWDW0vc