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I think the whole "public" library theory is a bit off. Just because it was a public building does not mean it was anything resembling what we would call a publ
by teilo 8y ago
I think the whole "public" library theory is a bit off. Just because it was a public building does not mean it was anything resembling what we would call a public library. More likely, it was a government library, like a registrar, or for tax documents, census data, or something similar.
- sandworm101 8y agoThat depends on perspective. Certainly any building that banned women would not sound very "public" today, but within the ancient context would fit the model. It may have been open to citizens, men, non-slaves, who could read. That would have been a very small group. Setting aside our modern notions of equality, that sounds like a public library to me.
- teilo 8y agoExcept all we know is that: 1) It was in a market area. 2) It was well built. 3) It had cubby holes that probably held scrolls. That's all. The rest is speculation.
- sandworm101 8y agoThat's all we have from digging up most historical buildings. People build careers on determining a building's use based on things like door width and wall thickness.