Library of Alexandria discovered

Library of Alexandria discovered

Archaeologists have found what they believe to be the site of the Library of Alexandria, often described as the world's first major seat of learning.

A Polish-Egyptian team has excavated parts of the Bruchion region of the Mediterranean city and discovered what look like lecture halls or auditoria.

Two thousand years ago, the library housed works by the greatest thinkers and writers of the ancient world.

news.bbc.co.uk...

Was just wondering if anyone knows about any recent updates to this discovery. This was an article written in 2004.


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[edit on Fri Dec 26 2008 by Jbird]

This is an absolutely amazing find, do you know if they found anything else?

Ask the Vatican what they're sitting on besides their whoopee cushions. Peter is alive and well and wreaking havoc.

Works by Plato and Socrates and many others were later destroyed in a fire.

Socrates never wrote anything. This reporter obviously just pulled out the first two Greek names he could think of.

That we know of, I suppose...

[edit on 25-12-2008 by Eleleth]

reply to post by Eleleth


"Socrates never wrote anything."

I demand access to your time machine!

It is not the original works of Socrates and Plato, Ancient Greece was an entirely oral history. The Library of Alexandria was a marvellous creation but fell victim to the Imperium of Rome.

A wonderful discovery.

Artist impression of the Library of Alexandria:











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[edit on Fri Dec 26 2008 by Jbird]

Since the discovery in 04, the subject seemed to go the way of the Library itself. Very little appears to have been written in the meantime. It's probably due to the dig being difficult and unconventional. Underwater digs are fraught with problems, require higher funding and are naturally vulnerable to seasons and weather.

Anyway, Raising Alexandria is more recent and contains far more information than the BBC example. If you find any more good links, please post them

Originally posted by Anonymous ATS
This is an absolutely amazing find, do you know if they found anything else?

Well the whole thing is that most of the city is apparently beneath the Ocean. check this site out in the Library of Alexandria section near the bottom www.egyptologyonline.com...

They are proposing an under water museum to view the submerged parts of Alexandria and also the ship wrecks and other assorted artifacts.

I heard about this on an episode of C2C when a guest remarked on them discovering a second library intact, that was hidden beneath the first and it was submerged underwater. As to the validity of this discovery I'm trying to find out now.

Originally posted by Kandinsky
Since the discovery in 04, the subject seemed to go the way of the Library itself. Very little appears to have been written in the meantime. It's probably due to the dig being difficult and unconventional. Underwater digs are fraught with problems, require higher funding and are naturally vulnerable to seasons and weather.

Anyway, Raising Alexandria is more recent and contains far more information than the BBC example. If you find any more good links, please post them

I figured as much but thanks for making it official. If they did indeed find such a library I wonder if any books or tablets survived the water erosion. It would be so cool even if we found one piece of literature that is not around today.

reply to post by infinite


Haha, I thought this was from Tomb Raider 4!
Or maybe the programmers just used somebody else's rendition, who knows?

reply to post by Quiintus

I think the Library would be on a 'to do list' of a lot of people, given a chance of time travelling The article describes how they could have such a vast and disparate knowledge store...

The first chief of the library, Eratosthenes, measured the earth's circumference to an accuracy within a few hundred miles. The library contained an unparalleled collection of scrolls thanks to a government edict mandating that foreign ships hand over scrolls for copying. And the ships arrived from all directions.

Some sailing on the monsoon winds imported silks and spices from the western coast of India via the Red Sea; the valuable cargo was then taken overland to the Mediterranean for transport to Alexandria. One ship alone in the third century b.c. carried 60 cases of aromatic plants, 100 tons of elephant tusks and 135 tons of ebony in a single voyage. Theaters, bordellos, villas and warehouses sprang up. Ptolemy granted Jews their own quarter, near the royal quarter, while Greeks, Phoenicians, Nabateans, Arabs and Nubians rubbed shoulders on the quays and in the marketplaces. Lest they be overrun, the Greek-speaking rulers periodically banished the far more numerous Egyptians to the countryside.

It sounds like a cosmopolitan Utopia of equality etc. All that shared knowledge! It also reminds me of net neutrality and file-sharing I've often read people speculating about where the Human race might be now if the Library hadn't had so many disasters. A lot of what was in there 2000 years ago took 1400 years for us to re-learn. We'll never know, but it's an interesting idea

reply to post by Kandinsky



It sounds like a cosmopolitan Utopia of equality etc. All that shared knowledge! It also reminds me of net neutrality and file-sharing I've often read people speculating about where the Human race might be now if the Library hadn't had so many disasters. A lot of what was in there 2000 years ago took 1400 years for us to re-learn. We'll never know, but it's an interesting idea

Every ship that docked there had to hand in their maps to be copied and added to the library. So imagine the maps they would have had at this place... So cool


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[edit on Fri Dec 26 2008 by Jbird]

Oh good, I have a book by Aristotle that is WAY overdue! I wonder how much they will charge me for a book I took out over 2000 years ago

After the fire some of the texts were rescued by librarians and it is rumored that many of the texts were taken to a secret vault underneath the Sphinx's paws.

reply to post by Quiintus


Is the Library of Alexandria underwater too?

The article gives little description of its location.

reply to post by infinite


Um... So where the F are the books/scrolls. Poor artist's impression of a library I must say.

Has anyone heard of a "hall of records" if you will...beneath the sphinx? Directly between the two front legs/paws? I hear it possibly contains vast amounts of knowledge..possibly the books of Alexandria and many other cultures.

reply to post by whatukno


I have heard that many kinds of scripts are being held secretely in the vatican.Now,i don't know if it's true or false but i'd definatelly love to "pay a visit" without anyone knowing about it and find out myself.

reply to post by FadeToBlack


You honestly think the Library of Alexandria was equivalent to modern libraries? It was, in fact, arguable the world's first university.

The Library of Alexandria was a large complex; that was the inner court yard. It housed over 5,000 students. The irony is, you are criticising the artists impressions of the Library when - judging by your comments - you've probably never been in one yourself.

Philistine.

[edit on 26-12-2008 by infinite]

reply to post by infinite


They always make it look like a modern library. It probably was cramped with shelves, dusty, dark, etc...