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Wasn't the Ptolemaic dynasty (300-30BC) Greek speaking and culturally Greek, presumably the Library at Alexandria had a full set of classic Greek texts.
by helsinkiandrew 5mo ago
Wasn't the Ptolemaic dynasty (300-30BC) Greek speaking and culturally Greek, presumably the Library at Alexandria had a full set of classic Greek texts.
- stevesimmons 5mo agoThere's a great article on the Ptolemaic dynasty in the latest issue of the London Review of Books. Tons of fascinating detail. https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v48/n09/robert-cioffi/pharaoh-in-all-but-name https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v48/n09/robert-cioffi/pharao... For instance, the Library of Alexandria had up to 500,000 scrolls (which of course were all handwritten). And it was partly stocked by confiscating all the books from any ship that happened to dock in the nearby port.