2 ms·
The ancient Library of Alexandria was lost to fire in the 3rd century BC. The the even-more-ancient Library of Ashurbanipal from the 7th century BC was not los
by andrewstuart 3y ago
The ancient Library of Alexandria was lost to fire in the 3rd century BC.
The the even-more-ancient Library of Ashurbanipal from the 7th century BC was not lost and was in fact found with over 30,000 texts. The irony being that it was preserved because it was burned, and most of the writings were clay tablets, thus were preserved even better in the fire.
- wrp 3y agoThere was no cataclysmic destruction of the Library of Alexandria. It declined slowly over several centuries. Wikipedia gives a decent overview. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_of_Alexandria https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_of_Alexandria) Jean-Yves Empereur discusses the archaeological evidence in "The destruction of the Library of Alexandria: An archaeological viewpoint" in the edited volume What Happened to the Ancient Library of Alexandria? (2008). In that same volume, Qassem Abdou Qassem and Bernard Lewis each discuss the origin of the quote mentioned above and dispute its authenticity.