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In 642, Alexandria was captured by the Muslim army of Amr ibn al-As, a contemporary of Mohamet. Amr destroyed the library by order of Caliph Omar, who reportedl
by mkempe 9y ago
In 642, Alexandria was captured by the Muslim army of Amr ibn al-As, a contemporary of Mohamet. Amr destroyed the library by order of Caliph Omar, who reportedly stated: "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 the annual "UN Arab Human Development Report": 65 million Arab adults are illiterate; only about 300 books are translated from English to Arabic annually; even Greece translates 5x more books into Greek each year than are translated into Arabic (5x with a population ratio of 1/30).
Here is another, detailed report: Illiteracy in the Arab World. [1]
Aside: I just noticed some countries have incredibly low literacy rates. The worst is Niger with 19% [2].
[1] https://www.dvv-international.de/adult-education-and-development/editions/aed-662006/education-for-all-and-literacy/illiteracy-in-the-arab-world/ https://www.dvv-international.de/adult-education-and-develop...
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_literacy_rate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_literacy_...
- Nomentatus 9y agoThe destruction of the library of Alexandria is much more uncertain than you suggest. Most sources I've read suggest that Christians were most likely responsible. http://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-africa-history-important-events/destruction-great-library-alexandria-001644 http://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-africa-history...
- mkempe 9y agoThe final destruction was chronicled by multiple Moslem sources.
- cholantesh 9y agoMostly dating centuries after the fact.
- Nomentatus 9y agoThe destruction of a library in Alexandria was chronicled - but when was the original pile of texts destroyed? We are guessing, and there are other good bets.
- mkempe 9y agoYou're missing the point. Moslem chronicles attribute this to Caliph Omar: "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." Whether the Library was destroyed in stages, and by a variety of earlier parties, is completely irrelevant.
- Nomentatus 9y agoThe library of Alexandria was a uniquely expansive collection of ancient books, a vast literature vanished with it. No subsequent library, to my knowledge, held so many unique volumes. Which is the point you're missing. The loss not of a copy, but the last copy, of so many books of such age.
- mkempe 9y agoYou're still missing the point, in the context of the severe deficit of book translations in the modern Arab world: The Caliph's order --as chronicled-- reveals a certain attitude towards books other than the Koran.
- Nomentatus 9y agoWhich point is true and has nothing to do with the question of whether your claim re the library of Alexandria was false. You could have replied, earlier, that you didn't care one way or another about which library was burnt, and regretted if you had inadvertently spread misinformation about something you were not primarily concerned about. You didn't do that. I take it you are doing that now, just in a far less than civil manner. Please note that I do not use italics, here. If you are defended "final", last destruction of a rebuilt library intended to be as grand - I am unaware of support for this, but would be interested.