Secrets of the Alexandrian Library. Fire in the Alexandrian Library

Alexandria is perhaps my favorite city in Egypt, given that I don't really like this country as a whole, because I feel uncomfortable here. Attractions of this ancient city can be described endlessly, but I have identified for myself the most interesting, which include the magnificent Library of Alexandria.

considered one of the largest libraries of antiquity. In those distant times, it numbered more than five hundred thousand papyri, divided by branches of knowledge. More than once this grandiose building suffered from fires and raids, and in 391 the library with its numerous manuscripts was completely destroyed, because Christian fanatics were sure that these works were heresy. In fact, the building that we see now is a new library built on the site of an old one. At present, it is called the library of Alexandrina, and the building is located on the shore of a warm mediterranean sea.

Modern Library of Alexandria on this moment- this is fully functional cultural center. The idea of ​​reviving such a grandiose historical heritage has been hatched for ten years, starting in the 1970s. Appealing to the Egyptian President and representatives of UNESCO, a group of professors and scientists from the University of Alexandria managed to convince them of the feasibility of building a new library.

The building of the new Library of Alexandria very much reminded us of the solar disk, and all because the inhabitants of ancient Egypt deeply revered Ra, the god of the Sun. In 1988, the foundation stone of the new building was laid, with the Norwegians winning the competition and the Austrian architect K. Capelle taking part in the construction process. Since the project of the Library of Alexandria was not only important and very significant, but also incredibly complex, many other foreign companies were involved in the construction. Experts began to erect a new building of the Alexandria Library in 1995, finishing work only in 2001. And already in October of the following year, its official opening took place, which was attended by the leaders of many foreign powers.

Interestingly, the construction of the new Library of Alexandria was financed not only by Egypt, but also by about thirty countries that voluntarily donated approximately $100 million. We were literally delighted with the impressive size of the Library of Alexandria: it is able to store more than 8 million books, and its huge reading room, whose area is as much as 70 thousand square meters. meters, located on eleven levels. There are special halls for people with disabilities, several galleries and museums, halls for children, a laboratory for working with ancient manuscripts, in which scientists restore ancient manuscripts and study history, and even a planetarium.

The architecture of the new Library of Alexandria, I think, delights even those who are not particularly interested in various buildings. In addition, the library building is recognizable all over the world. The main reading room is located under a glass roof with a diameter of 160 meters. And on the outside of the Library of Alexandria, various graphic symbols taken from 120 writing systems.

There is a sundial on the territory of the Library of Alexandria. Some of them are installed on a pedestal, while others are directly on the concrete surface. It was fun for us to determine the time by this watch, and it shows correctly!

Many consider the Library of Alexandria one of the most beautiful libraries in the world, and we join them!

November 12th, 2015

The works of all these and many other great scientists of antiquity have been collected in huge collection Library of Alexandria. According to various estimates, its fund contained up to 700 thousand papyrus scrolls. The Library of Alexandria was founded in 290 BC and accumulated all the most progressive knowledge of mankind for nearly seven centuries.

And it was not just a library. During its heyday, it was more of an academy: the greatest scientists of that time lived and worked here, who were engaged in both research and teaching, transferring their knowledge to students. AT different time Archimedes, Euclid, Zenodotus of Ephesus, Apollonius of Rhodes, Claudius Ptolemy, Callimachus of Cyrene worked here. It was written and kept here Full History World in three volumes.

Let's find out what could be stored there ...

1. Eratosthenes of Cyrene.

Greek mathematician, astronomer, geographer, philologist and poet. Pupil of Callimachus, from 235 BC e. - Head of the Library of Alexandria. It was Eratosthenes who coined the term "geography". He was noted for his extensive work in many scientific fields, for which he received the nickname "beta" from his contemporaries, that is, the second. And that is only because the first place should be kept for the ancestors. Eratosthenes is most famous for the fact that long before the advent of machines and satellites, he established the shape of our planet and calculated its circumference almost exactly.

He wrote three history books geographical discoveries. In his treatises "Doubling the Cube" and "On the Mean", he considered solutions to geometric and arithmetic problems. The most famous mathematical discovery of Eratosthenes was the so-called "sieve", with the help of which prime numbers are found. Eratosthenes can also be considered the founder of scientific chronology. In his Chronographies, he tried to establish dates related to the political and literary history Ancient Greece, compiled a list of winners of the Olympic Games.

2. Hipparchus of Nicaea.

Ancient Greek astronomer, mechanic, geographer and mathematician of the II century BC. BC, often called the greatest astronomer of antiquity. Hipparchus made fundamental contributions to astronomy. His own observations continued from 161 to 126 BC. Giparchus determined the length of the tropical year with high accuracy; quite accurately measured the precession, which is manifested in the slow change in the longitude of the stars. In the star catalog compiled by him, the positions and relative brightness of about 850 stars are indicated.

Hipparchus' work on the chords of a circle (according to modern concepts- sines), the tables compiled by him, which anticipated the modern tables of trigonometric functions, served as the starting point for the development of chordal trigonometry, which played an important role in Greek and Muslim astronomy.

Only one original work of Hipparchus has survived unchanged to this day. Very little is known about his other works, and the existing data differ in many respects.

3. Euclid.

Ancient Greek mathematician, author of the first theoretical treatise on mathematics that has come down to us. Known mainly as the author of the fundamental work "Beginnings", which systematically presents the theoretical core of all ancient mathematics, which includes two main sections - geometry and arithmetic. In general, Euclid is the author of many works on astronomy, optics, music and other disciplines. However, only a few of his works have survived to our time, and many of them only partially.

4. Hero of Alexandria.

Heron is considered one of the greatest engineers in the history of mankind. He was the first to invent automatic doors, an automatic puppet theatre, a vending machine, a rapid-fire self-loading crossbow, a steam turbine, automatic scenery, a device for measuring the length of roads (an ancient odometer), etc. He was the first to create programmable devices (a shaft with pins with a rope wound around it ).

He studied geometry, mechanics, hydrostatics, optics. Main works: Metrics, Pneumatics, Autopoietics, Mechanics (the work has been preserved in its entirety in Arabic translation), Catoptrics (the science of mirrors; preserved only in Latin translation) and others. In 1814, Heron's work "On the Diopter" was found, which sets out the rules for land surveying, which are actually based on the use of rectangular coordinates.

5. Aristarchus of Samos.

Ancient Greek astronomer, mathematician and philosopher. He was the first to invent the heliocentric system of the world and developed a scientific method for determining the distances to the Sun and Moon and their sizes. Contrary to the views generally accepted in his time, Aristarchus of Samos already then (mid-2nd century BC) argued that the Sun is motionless and is in the center of the universe, and the Earth revolves around it and rotates around its axis. He believed that the stars are motionless and located on a sphere of very large radius.

As a result of the promotion of his heliocentric system of the world, Aristarchus of Samos was accused of godlessness and was forced to flee Athens. Of all the extremely numerous writings of Aristarchus of Samos, only one has come down to us, "On the magnitudes and distances of the Sun and Moon."

Now more about the library itself.

Library idea.

The Library of Alexandria is perhaps the most famous of the ancients, but not the oldest of the libraries known to us. The idea of ​​a library is the idea of ​​preserving and transferring knowledge from past to future generations, the idea of ​​continuity and dedication. Therefore, the existence of libraries in the most developed cultures of antiquity is not at all accidental. Libraries of Egyptian pharaohs, kings of Assyria and Babylon are known. Some functions of libraries were performed by collections of sacred and cult texts at ancient temples or religious and philosophical communities, similar to the brotherhood of Pythagoras.

In ancient times, there were also quite extensive private collections of books. For example, the library of Euripides, which he, according to Aristophanes, used when writing his own works. The library of Aristotle is better known, which was created largely thanks to the donations of the famous student of Aristotle, Alexander the Great. However, the value of Aristotle's library many times exceeds the total significance of the books collected by Aristotle. For with absolute certainty we can say that the creation of the Library of Alexandria became possible in many respects thanks to Aristotle. And the point here is not even that Aristotle's book collection formed the basis of the Lyceum library, which became the prototype of the library in Alexandria. It is much more important that the followers or students of Aristotle were all those who, to a greater or lesser degree, lesser degree was involved in the creation of the Library of Alexandria.

The first among them, of course, should be called Alexander himself, who, implementing the theory of the philosophical act of his teacher, pushed the boundaries of the Hellenistic world so much that the direct transfer of knowledge from teacher to student became in many cases simply impossible - thereby creating the preconditions for the founding of the library, in which the books of the entire Hellenistic world would be collected. In addition, Alexander himself had a small traveling library, the main book of which was the Iliad by Homer, the most famous and mysterious Greek author, whose work was studied by all the first librarians of the Library of Alexandria. It should not be forgotten that the city itself was founded by Alexander, on the plan of which he drew the first five letters of the alphabet, which meant: “Alexandros Vasileve Genos Dios Ektise” - “Alexander the king, the offspring of Zeus, founded ...”, - signifying that the city will be very famous, including verbal sciences.

The founder of the dynasty of Egyptian kings, Ptolemy Lag, who, being a childhood friend of Alexander the Great, and then one of his generals and bodyguards, of course, shared the main ideas of Alexander and Aristotle, should also be attributed to indirect students of Aristotle.

A follower of Aristotle was the direct founder and first head of the Library of Alexandria, the student of Theophrastus Demetrius of Phaler. Perhaps the same can be said about Strato, who, together with Demetrius of Phaler, was one of the founders of the Alexandria Museum. And his pupil Ptolemy Philadelphus, after ascending the Egyptian throne, made great efforts to continue the work of his father, not only allocating significant financial resources, but also showing personal concern for the development and prosperity of the Museum and the Library.

Foundation of the Library of Alexandria.

The creation of the Library of Alexandria is most closely associated with the Alexandrian Museum, founded around 295 BC. on the initiative of two Athenian philosophers Demetrius of Phaler and Straton the physicist, who arrived in Alexandria at the invitation of Ptolemy I at the very beginning of the 3rd century. BC e. Since both of these men were also mentors to the royal sons, one of the most important functions, and perhaps the first task of the newly created Museumon, was to provide the very high level education for the heirs to the throne, as well as the rising elite of Egypt. In the future, this was fully combined with full-fledged research work in various branches of knowledge. However, both directions of the Muzeon's activities were, of course, impossible without the existence of scientific and educational libraries. Therefore, there is every reason to believe that the Library, as part of a new scientific and educational complex, was founded in the same year as the Museum itself, or after a very short time after the start of the latter. In favor of the version of the simultaneous foundation of the Museumon and the Library, the fact that the library was an obligatory and integral part of the Athenian Lyceum, which, no doubt, served as a prototype for the creation of the Alexandrian Museumon, can also testify.

We find the very first mention of the Library in the famous “Letter to Philocrates”, the author of which, close to Ptolemy II Philadelphus, reports the following in connection with the events of the translation of the sacred books of the Jews into Greek: “Demetrius Falireus, head of the royal library, received large sums to collect, if possible, all the books of the world. Buying up and making copies, he, to the best of his ability, brought to the end the desire of the king. Once, in our presence, he was asked how many thousand books he had, and answered: “More than two hundred thousand, king, and in a short time I will take care of the rest to bring them up to five hundred thousand. But I am told that even the laws of the Jews deserve to be copied and kept in your library.” (Letter of Aristaeus, 9 - 10).

Library device.

The figure of Demetrius of Phaler was the key not only in initiating the opening of the Library of Alexandria, but also in developing plans for the device, as well as the most important principles of its functioning. Without a doubt, the device of the Athenian Lyceum served as the prototype of the Alexandrian Museum and the Library. But here, too, the richest personal experience of Demetrius of Phaler, who, having gone from an ordinary student to the closest friend of the leader of the Lyceum Theophrastus, is extremely important, could appreciate all the advantages and disadvantages of the library of the Lyceum, the basis of which was the book collection of Aristotle.

No less valuable was the experience of the successful ten-year administration of Athens, during which Demetrius of Phalersky carried out large-scale construction work, and also made it possible for Theophrastus to acquire the garden and the Lyceum building itself. Therefore, the opinion of Demetrius of Phaler was no less important in the development of building plans and architectural solutions for the Library of Alexandria.

Unfortunately, no reliable information about appearance and the internal arrangement of the premises of the Library of Alexandria has not been preserved. However, some finds suggest that handwritten book scrolls were kept on shelves or in special chests arranged in rows; aisles between rows provided access to any unit of storage. Each scroll had a kind of modern catalog card in the form of a tablet attached to it, on which the authors (or author) were indicated, as well as the names (names) of their works.

The library building had several side extensions and covered galleries with rows of bookshelves. Apparently missing from the library reading rooms- however, there were jobs for scroll scribes, which could also be used by the Library and Museum staff for their work. Accounting and cataloging of acquired books were probably carried out from the day the library was founded, which is completely consistent with the rules at the Ptolemaic court, according to which records of all affairs and conversations were kept in the palace from the moment the king planned any business to its complete execution. It was thanks to this that the librarian at any time could answer the question of the king about the number of books already available in the vaults and plans to increase the number of storage units.

Formation of the book fund.

The initial principles for the formation of the book fund were also developed by Demetrius of Phaler. From the "Letter of Aristeas" it is known that Demetrius of Phaler was given the task of collecting, if possible, all the books of the world. However, at a time when there were no catalogs literary works and there was no understanding of world literature as a single process; only a librarian, relying on his own knowledge and horizons, could determine specific priorities. In this sense, the figure of Demetrius of Phaler was unique. Pupil of Lyceum and friend of Theophrastus, orator and legislator, ruler of Athens, who transformed the competition of rhapsodes into competitions of homers, comrade Menander, who had a complete understanding of contemporary and ancient tragedy and comedy, as well as access to the manuscripts of the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides in the repository at the theater Dionysus in Athens, Demetrius naturally identified following directions formation of the book fund of the new library:

1. Poetry, above all epic, above all Homer;

2. Tragedy and comedy, first of all - ancient: Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides;

3. History, law, oratory;

4. Philosophy, which included not only philosophical writings in modern understanding- but also works on all known branches of science: physics, mathematics, botany, astronomy, medicine, etc. etc.

The primary task was also the compilation of a complete canon of Greek literature of that time. But since the texts of Homer, Aeschylus, Sophocles and other authors went to many lists, it was first necessary to come to an agreement on a single version of the most important for Greek culture texts. That is why all available versions of the most authoritative works were purchased, which were stored in many copies in the Library of Alexandria.

At the same time, it was Demetrius of Phaler who began work on the identification and textual criticism of Homeric poems. It was on the basis of the Homeric texts collected by Demetrius of Phaler, as well as his critical works “On the Iliad”, “On the Odyssey”, “The Connoisseur of Homer”, that Zenodotus of Ephesus, the head of the Library of Alexandria following Demetrius, made the first attempt at a critical edition of Homer’s texts. It is Demetrius of Phaler that should therefore be considered the ancestor of scientific literary criticism.

It should be especially noted that from the very first years of its existence, the Library of Alexandria showed interest not only in Greek literature, but also in some books of other peoples. True, this interest existed in a rather narrow area and was dictated by the purely practical interests of ensuring the effective leadership of a multinational state, whose peoples worshiped various gods and were guided by their own laws and traditions. It was the need to write universal legislation and establish, if possible, a common way of life that dictated an interest in religion, legislation and the history of the peoples living in Egypt. That is why already in the first decade of the existence of the Library in Alexandria was translated into the Greek Law of the Jews, which became, apparently, the first book translated into the language of another people. Approximately in the same years, the adviser of Ptolemy Soter, the Egyptian priest Manetho, writes in Greek the History of Egypt.

The “Letter of Aristaeus” quite definitely speaks about the ways of forming the library fund, naming the buying and copying of books as the main of them. However, in many cases, the owners simply had no choice but to sell or rent books for copying. The fact is that, according to one of the decrees, the books that were on the ships that arrived in Alexandria were sold without fail by their owners to the Library of Alexandria or (apparently, in cases of failure to reach agreement on this issue) were handed over for mandatory copying. At the same time, quite often the owners of books, without waiting for the end of their copying, left Alexandria. In some cases (probably for especially valuable scrolls), a copy of the book was returned to the owner, while the original remained in the Library's collections. Apparently, the share of books that ended up in the library from ships was quite large - since books of this origin were later called books of the "ship's library".

It is also known that Ptolemy II Philadelphus personally wrote to the kings, with many of whom he was related, to send him everything that is available from the works of poets, historians, speakers, doctors. In some cases, the owners of the Library of Alexandria donated quite substantial amounts of bail - in order to leave in Alexandria the originals of especially valuable books taken for copying. In any case, this is exactly the story that came out with the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, lists of which were kept in the archives of the theater of Dionysus in Athens. Athens got a pledge of fifteen talents of silver and copies of ancient tragedies, the Library of Alexandria - the originals of priceless books.

However, in some cases, the Library also had to bear the losses - since over time, cases of acquiring quite skillful forgeries of ancient books became more frequent, and the Library was forced to keep an additional staff of employees involved in determining the authenticity of a particular scroll.

However, the attempt to collect all the books of the world was not completely successful. The most significant and unfortunate gap for the Library of Alexandria was the absence in its vaults of the original books of Aristotle; The library failed to acquire them from the heirs of Neleus, who inherited the books of Aristotle under the will of Theophrastus.

A separate part of the Library fund, apparently, was the royal archive, which consisted of records of daily palace conversations, numerous reports and reports of royal officials, ambassadors and other service people.

Rise of the Library of Alexandria.

Thanks to the vigorous and multifaceted activity of the first successors of Demetrius of Phaler, as well as the heirs of Ptolemy I Soter, the forecast of the first librarian regarding the number of books that would be collected in the royal library quickly came true. By the end of the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus, the Library contained from 400 to 500 thousand books from all over the world, and by the 1st century. AD the collection of the library consisted of about 700 thousand scrolls. In order to accommodate all these books, the premises of the Library were constantly expanding, and in 235 BC. under Ptolemy III Euergetes, in addition to the main library, located together with the Museumon in the royal quarter of Bruheion, a “daughter” library was created in the Rakotis quarter at the temple of Serapis - Serapeion.

The subsidiary library had its own collection of 42,800 scrolls, mostly educational books, including great amount doublets of essays that were in a large library. However, the main library also had a huge number of copies of the same works, which was due to several reasons.

First, the library quite deliberately acquired a huge number of handwritten copies of the most famous works Greek literature to highlight the most ancient and reliable lists. To the greatest extent this concerned the works of Homer, Hesiod, ancient tragic and comic authors.

Secondly, the very technology of storing papyrus scrolls involved the periodic replacement of books that fell into disrepair. In this regard, the Library, in addition to researchers and curators of texts, had a large staff of professional copyists of the text.

Thirdly, a significant part of the library collections consisted of books by the Museumon staff, who were engaged in the study and classification of ancient and contemporary texts. In some cases, work on commenting on texts, and then commenting on comments, took truly exaggerated forms. Known, for example, was the case of Didymos Halkenter, "the womb," which amounted to three thousand five hundred volumes of commentaries.

These circumstances, as well as the lack of a correct understanding of many ancient terms (for example, in distinguishing between “mixed” and “unmixed” scrolls) does not allow at least an approximate estimate of the number of original texts stored in the funds of the Library of Alexandria. It is only obvious that only a fraction of a percent of those literary riches that the ancient world had.

But if in some of its manifestations the desire to collect all the books of the world could seem like a painful passion, nevertheless the Ptolemies had a very clear idea of ​​​​what advantages the monopoly possession of knowledge gives. It was the creation of the Library, which attracted the best minds of its time to Egypt, that turned Alexandria into a center for several centuries. Hellenistic civilization. That is why the Library of Alexandria experienced fierce competition from the libraries of Rhodes and Pergamon. In order to prevent the growing influence of these new centers, a ban was even introduced on the export of papyrus from Egypt, which for a long time remained the only material for the production of books. Even the invention of a new material - parchment could not significantly shake the leading positions of the Library of Alexandria.

However, at least one case is known when competition from Pergamum turned out to be saving for the Library of Alexandria. By this event, we mean a gift of 200,000 volumes from the collection of the Pergamon Library, presented to Cleopatra by Mark Antony shortly after the fire of 47 BC, when Caesar, during the Alexandrian War, in order to prevent the capture of the city from the sea, ordered to set fire to the city located in harbor fleet, and the flames are said to have engulfed the coastal bookstores as well.

For a long time it was believed, however, that this fire destroyed the entire collection of the main library. However, a different point of view currently prevails, according to which the Library burned down much later, namely in 273 AD. together with Muzeon and Brucheion, during the reign of the emperor Aurelius, who waged war against the Empress Zenobia of Palmyra.

But we still do not know the true fate of the book fund of the Alexandria Library.

The destruction of the Library of Alexandria.

There are three versions of her death, but none of them is confirmed by reliable facts.

According to the first version the library burned down in 47 BC, during the so-called Alexandrian War, and historians consider Julius Caesar to be involved in its death.

These events really took place on the territory of Alexandria, during the dynastic struggle between Cleopatra the Seventh and her young brother and husband, Ptolemy Thirteenth Dionysius.

Cleopatra was the eldest daughter of Ptolemy the Twelfth Avlet, and according to his will, at the age of 17 she was appointed co-ruler of her minor spouse, but in 48 BC. as a result of the rebellion and palace coup lost power.

The revolt was raised by the Egyptian commander Achilles, as a result of which the younger sister of Cleopatra, Arsinoe, came to power.

However, shortly after this, Cleopatra, supported by the small army of Julius Caesar in Alexandria, who opposed the rebellious Achilles, managed to regain power.

Julius Caesar

According to existing legend, Julius Caesar, forced to fight on the streets of Alexandria against vastly superior enemy forces, in order to give strength to his troops, ordered the burning of the Roman fleet, which was already loaded, ready for evacuation to Rome, the values ​​​​and manuscripts of the Library of Alexandria.

From the pier, the fire spread to the city, while part of the book stock, located on the ships, burned down.

Roman troops from Syria, who urgently arrived to help Julius Caesar, helped to suppress the rebellion.

In 47 B.C. grateful Cleopatra gave birth to a son from Julius Caesar, who was officially recognized by him and named Caesarion.

To legitimize her power, she marries her younger brother, known as Ptolemy the Fourteenth.

In 46 BC. Cleopatra solemnly arrives in Rome, where she is officially proclaimed an ally of the Roman Empire. After the death of Julius Caesar and the Civil War that began in the vast Roman Empire, she takes the side of the triumvirate created by Antony, Octavian and Lepidus.

When dividing the provinces between the triumvirs, Mark Antony received the eastern regions of the Roman Empire and connected his fate with Cleopatra, falling under her full influence, which restored all of Rome against him.

And already in 31 BC. the Egyptian fleet suffered a crushing defeat from the Romans at Cape Actium, after which Antony and Cleopatra committed suicide, and Egypt was turned into a Roman province, and completely lost its independence.

Since that time, the Library of Alexandria officially becomes the property of the Roman Empire.

It is known that the funds of the Library of Alexandria, which burned down due to the fault of Julius Caesar, tried to restore in full (and, it seems, restored) Mark Antony, who, after the death of Julius Caesar, becoming the governor of Egypt, bought up all the books of the library of Pergamum, which contained almost all copies of books from Alexandria.

He made a truly royal gift to Cleopatra, presenting her with 200,000 volumes of unique books taken from the Pergamon Library, many of which were autographed and cost a fortune. Later they were placed in the funds of the subsidiary library of Alexandria.

The Library of Alexandria was badly damaged again during the capture of Egypt by Zenobia (Zinovia) Palmyra.

Zenobia Septimius, who professed Judaism, became August Palmyra in 267, declared Palmyra a kingdom independent of Rome, and, having defeated the legions of the Roman emperor Publius Licinius Ignacy Gallienus sent to suppress it, conquered Egypt.

In passing, we note that it was Gallienus who granted freedom of religion to Christians.

It was the most critical time for the Roman Empire.

Zenobia

Sent to pacify the rebellious Zenobia, the "restorer of the empire" Lucius Domitius Aurelian, in 273 defeated the seventy thousandth army of Palmyra and captured Queen Zenobia, annexing almost all previously lost regions to the Roman Empire.

During this war, part of the Library of Alexandria was burned and looted by Zenobia's supporters, but after her captivity, it was again almost completely restored.

It is curious that after the victory over Zenobia, Aurelian begins to assert the unlimited power of the emperor in the Roman Empire, and officially began to call himself "lord and god."

At the same time, the cult of the Invincible Sun was introduced everywhere in the Roman Empire, i.e. Aurelian also tried to restore in the Roman Empire the religion of Pharaoh Akhenaten, already forgotten by this time.

However, this was not the last fire of the Library of Alexandria.

Another, the most cruel and senseless destruction of the funds of the Library of Alexandria, occurred in 391, during the reign (375-395) of Emperor Theodosius the Great.

In this tragic year, crowds of Christian fanatics, fueled by the sermons of Bishop Theophilos of Alexandria, to assert the leading role Christian religion, literally destroyed the Library of Alexandria, with the goal of destroying all pagan and heretical books.

The pogrom ended in a fire that destroyed most of the manuscripts, some of which were worth fortunes.

This is the official version.

But there is another version: there is information about a tombstone in the crypt of a wealthy merchant, dating back to about 380, which states that during the year, twenty of his ships transported sacred texts from Egypt to the island of Rhodes and to Rome, for which he received thanks and blessings from the Pope himself.

It was not published in an academic publication, but it is reliably known that later, the “burnt and destroyed” books of the Library of Alexandria mysteriously began to appear in other collections, libraries and collections, so that over time they would again disappear without a trace.

But if priceless books worth fortunes “disappear without a trace”, it means that someone also needed it.

And it was in the papal library that Alonso Pinson, one of the captains of the legendary Columbus squadron, discovered the coordinates of the mysterious island of Sipango, which Columbus had been searching for all his life.

Meanwhile, despite the merciless pogrom and fire set by the possessed Theophilus, the main funds of the Library of Alexandria still survived, and the library continued to exist.

Historians again unreasonably associate her final death with the invasion of Egypt by the Arabs led by Caliph Omar the First, and even report the exact date this event - 641, when, after a fourteen-month siege, the troops of Caliph Omar captured Alexandria.

In my previous books I have already reported on beautiful legend associated with this event, which was born thanks to the book "History of Dynasties" by the thirteenth century Syrian writer Abul Faraj. The legend says that when the caliph's troops began to burn books in the square, the servants of the Library of Alexandria begged him on their knees to burn them better, but spare the books. However, the caliph answered them: “If they contain what is written in the Koran, they are useless, and if they contradict the word of Allah, they are harmful”.

The Library of Alexandria really suffered greatly during the legalized robberies of the victor's troops, to which, according to the traditions of that time, all fiercely resisting cities were given for three days after their capture.

However, the main part of the book fund survived again and became the most valuable military trophy of Caliph Omar, and a little later, its priceless book funds became an adornment and pride of the most outstanding libraries, collections and collections of the Arab East.

The Library of Alexandria is rightfully considered a unique object. ancient world but unfortunately lost. However, there are many mysteries associated with it. The reason for her disappearance is still a mystery.

In 332 B.C. A city was founded on the Mediterranean coast in the Nile Delta. Designed according to legend new town Deinocrates of Rhodes himself on behalf of the great commander Alexander the Great. The city was conceived as a center of science. Alexandria, this name was given to the city, was connected to the island of Pharos, on which there was a unique building for those times - the Lighthouse of Alexandria. During its heyday, the population of Alexandria reached about a million people, of which the majority were scholars of Greek and Jewish origin. Despite the glory of the Pharos lighthouse (it belongs to the "seven wonders of the world" of the ancient world), the Library of Alexandria eclipsed its glory.

One of the closest associates of Alexander the Great, Ptolemy the First (Savior), is considered the founder of this library. Ptolemy, after the death of Alexander the Great and the collapse of the empire of the great conqueror, became the king of Egypt and the founder of the Ptolemid Dynasty. He managed to make Alexandria the center and capital of the Egyptian state. Ptolemy the First invited many famous scientists to Alexandria, including Demetrius of Phalers, who was a student of Theophrastus. Theophrastus studied under Aristotle himself.

At one time, Aristotle was considered the most talented student of Plato. Aristotle began to collect his own library during the conquests of Alexander the Great. After the death of Aristotle, his library of more than forty thousand handwritten books passed to Theophrastus.

Demetrius of Phaler had extensive experience in government, having previously served as the ruler of Athens. It was he who offered Ptolemy to buy the library of the great Aristotle from Theophrastus. This collection of books was considered, at that time, the best. Thanks to Ptolemy, it was Aristotle's library that became the basis of the Library of Alexandria. On the advice of Demetrius of Phaler, the work of the Library of Alexandria was organized in the likeness of the Lyceum of Aristotle and the Academy of Plato. It was the scientists of the Library of Alexandria who translated the Pentateuch of the Old Testament into Greek. According to legend, the work was carried out by seventy of the best translators, so the translation was called the Septuagint. Ptolemy actively collected his library for 23 years. He made every effort to recruit Menander, one of the founders of the Attian comedy and a follower of Homer, to the Library of Alexandria.

The life work of his father Ptolemy the First was successfully continued by his son, Ptolemy Philadelphus. He ordered, regardless of cost, to buy or make copies of all books available in Greece and abroad. Ptolemy was especially interested in books from the famous sanctuaries of the island of Rhodes and Athens.

The Alexandria Scientific Center was a whole complex, which included a university, an observatory, a library and a botanical garden. More precisely, there were two libraries. The first was located next to the royal palace of Ptolemy, and the second - in the temple of Serapis. About 42 thousand special books were kept in the temple of Serapis, moreover, in its funds was most of copies of books from the main library. It was believed that the Serapis library was of great importance for the establishment of Christianity in the Roman Empire, therefore it had a religious focus. But the first library was considered secular. The library collections of both libraries were actively and constantly replenished. For this, missions and ships were sent to all ends of the earth to purchase manuscripts and books. The Egyptian ruling dynasty introduced a procedure according to which every ship that arrived in Alexandria was obliged to transfer to the library all the books on board for copying or sale. For comparison, at the time of Ptolemy Philadelphus, there were 400 thousand books in the Library of Alexandria, and after 200 years their number was already 700 thousand. Some of these books were copies made by numerous scribes in the Library of Alexandria. Sometimes these copies were sold, donated or traded with other collections. Copies of books were used and how study guides at Alexandria University.

At the same time, about a hundred talented students studied at the university. Teaching was carried out by the most prominent scientists of Alexandria. The position of custodian of the Library of Alexandria was very honorable, but it also imposed great obligations on the performer. At different times, famous scientists were the keepers of the library: Eratosthenes of Cyrene, Aristophanes of Byzantium, Zenodotus of Ephesus, Apollonius of Rhodes, Claudius Ptolemy. Each of them contributed huge contribution in the development of world culture and historical science and therefore they rightfully occupied such a high office. For example, Zenodotus of Ephesus created the most full version Homer's Odyssey and Iliad. Eratosthenes was the founder of geography. It was he who developed the method of constructing geographical maps, created a generalized map of the world, calculated the circumference of the Earth and developed the solar calendar, later called the Julian (put into circulation at the behest of Julius Caesar). Another library keeper, Claudius Ptolemy, created the geocentric system of the world.

The greatest scientists of antiquity made their discoveries in the Library of Alexandria: Euclid, Archimedes, Aristarchus of Samos, Theon of Alexandria and others.

The Library of Alexandria collected a huge number of written sources of antiquity.

But, as we mentioned above, the death of the library is an even bigger mystery. Until now, no one can reliably indicate the cause of the death of the book fund of the Alexandria Library. Of all the versions, three main ones can be distinguished.

The library was destroyed by fire in 47 BC. At this time, the territory of Alexandria was embroiled in the so-called Alexandrian War. A dynastic struggle between the eldest daughter of Ptolemy the Twelfth Cleopatra and her young brother led to a fierce confrontation. Julius Caesar took the side of Cleopatra, and with his help she received the throne of Egypt. According to available information, Julius Caesar fought on the streets of Alexandria with a small detachment of his, they were opposed by significant enemy forces. To deprive his troops of the opportunity to escape from the battlefield, he ordered to set fire to the Roman ships in the harbor of the city. And on these ships a significant number of manuscripts and valuables belonging to the Library of Alexandria had already been loaded - they were planned to be evacuated to Rome. From the pier, the fire spread to the city. Roman soldiers from Syria arrived to help Caesar, and the rebellion was crushed. Despite the fact that the Egyptian queen Cleopatra managed to win over the Roman military leaders Caesar, and then Mark Antony, Rome did not accept the defiant independence of Egypt. In 31 BC. The Egyptians suffered a crushing defeat from the Roman fleet. As a result, Cleopatra and Mark Antony committed suicide, and Egypt became one of the provinces of Great Rome. The Library of Alexandria became the property of the Roman Empire.

We must pay tribute to Mark Antony, who managed to restore the book fund of the library, lost as a result of a fire that occurred through the fault of Caesar. He bought the entire library of Pergamum, which contained almost all copies of the books of the library of Alexandria. Some of these books cost a fortune. All these books, in consequence, were transferred to the Alexandrian Library.

The library of Alexandria suffered again during the capture of Egypt by Zenobia Palmyra. The Roman Empire entered into a struggle with the troops of Zenobia. During this war, supporters of Zenobia destroyed and plundered part of the collection of the Library of Alexandria. But after the capture of Zenobia, the library was restored again.

Another wanton and brutal looting of the Library of Alexandria took place in 391 during the reign of Emperor Theodosius the Great. Crowds of Christian fanatics, inspired by Bishop Theophilos, broke into the library, destroying "all pagan and heretical books." The fanatics, who tried by their trick to prove the supremacy of Christianity, set fire to the library. According to another version, the library fund was previously taken to Rome and the island of Rhodes in a timely manner. This assumption is confirmed by the fact that soon the supposedly "burnt and destroyed" books of the library of Alexandria began to appear in private libraries and collections.

But, despite the pogrom organized by the obsessed fanatic Theophilus, the library of Alexandria was preserved and continued its work.

Having survived so many difficult moments, the Library of Alexandria perished as a result of an attack on Alexandria by an Arab army led by Caliph Omar the First. According to one legend, when the caliph's henchmen began to burn books from the library, the attendants, on their knees, begged to be burned, but not to touch the books. To which the caliph replied: “If they contain what is written in the Koran, they are useless, and if they contradict the word of Allah, they are harmful.”

The fund of the Alexandria Library was subjected to ruthless robbery and destruction. Despite the fact that the caliph sought to destroy any valuables of Alexandria, as his military trophy he took to the Arab East part of the priceless fund of the Library of Alexandria.

At the same time, despite so many theories, it is believed that the mystery of the disappearance of the Library of Alexandria still remains unsolved. It is possible that the main reason for the death of the unique scientific center of Alexandria was religious fanaticism and a large number of insane wars that took place in this difficult region.

Just imagine that priceless rarities of the Library of Alexandria are still stored somewhere that are not available to most earthlings. Or maybe this knowledge is so powerful that it should be hidden for the time being from people who cannot stop wars constantly breaking out in different regions our planet?

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Everything related to the Library of Alexandria haunts scholarly minds to this day. And if the veil over the mystery of its occurrence is at least a little ajar, then the history of the disappearance is based more on rumors and conjectures than on historical facts.

origins

Ancient Alexandria was incredibly beautiful and majestic. Founded by Alexander the Great, according to various sources, somewhere in 332-330. BC. and named after him, it was built entirely of stone. Alexandria was located on the Mediterranean coast not far from the Nile Delta and was connected by an isthmus to the famous Alexandria (Faros) lighthouse, considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. According to the plan, it was supposed to be a city of scientists and a center of world science. Everything in Alexandria was unusual and brilliant - and the tomb of its founder - Alexander the Great, and the palaces of the royal Ptolemaic dynasty, which was founded by Ptolemy Lag (nicknamed Soter), a friend and faithful companion of Alexander the Great, and the temple of Poseidon, and the theater. But the main attraction that attracted all learned minds here was the Library of Alexandria.

To date, there is no exact data either on the date of its foundation (somewhere at the beginning of the 3rd century BC), or on its location, or on its size, or on the device, or on the funds that made it up. According to various assumptions, there were from 700,000 to 1,000,000 papyrus scrolls in the funds of the Library of Alexandria, so the library building must have been large-scale and grandiose. It was built, most likely, as part of the palace complex in the royal quarter, called Bruheion.

The inspirer and creator of the Library of Alexandria, as can be judged from the information that has come down to us, was Demetrius (Demetrios) of Phaler. The person is extremely intelligent and iconic for her time. Thanks to his intelligence and charisma, he became a popular tribune in Athens, and then ruled Athens as a governor for 10 years (317-307 BC). He was an outstanding organizer and legislator who issued many laws, but was also considered a trendsetter. It is known, for example, that he was the first of the Athenian men who bleached his hair with hydrogen peroxide. Later, Demetrius of Phaler was removed from his post and began writing scientific and philosophical works.

Demetrius of Phaler was noticed by the Egyptian ruler - Ptolemy I Soter, who persuaded the scientist to come to Alexandria as an adviser and mentor to the royal offspring. It was Demetrius who convinced the pharaoh to create the Library of Alexandria. Apparently, it was part of the Museyon (Museion, the so-called "Palace of the Muses"), a kind of academic town for writers, researchers, scientists and philosophers of the time in which they worked and created, and in addition, those who who wished to master the wisdom of the book. One of the main purposes of Museyon was to give a brilliant education to the heirs to the royal throne and to bring up a worthy Egyptian elite. A university, an observatory, a library, and even a botanical and zoological gardens were specially built for the needs of Museyon.

Demetrius of Phaler directed the Library of Alexandria in 295-284. BC. In 283 BC, after the death of Ptolemy I, his heir, Ptolemy II, dismissed the custodian of the library and he died of a snakebite far from the capital. Demetrius of Phaler is credited with developing the concept of the formation and replenishment of book collections, the system for accounting and cataloging papyrus scrolls, as well as the organization of the library itself. In addition, he is considered the founder of scientific literary criticism, since it was Demetrius who successfully coped with the task of publishing critical works, dedicated to the works great Homer. They set a grandiose task for the library - to collect all the books of the world in its funds!

Prosperity

Since its foundation, the Library of Alexandria has firmly gained fame as the most complete and valuable book collection, competing with the libraries of Pergamum and Rhodes. It was believed that in the world there is not a single more or less valuable work, a copy of which would not be kept in this library. It is believed that it was based on books obtained as trophies during military campaigns by Alexander the Great.

On the advice of the custodian of the Library of Alexandria, Demetrius of Phaler, the pharaoh acquired the library of Aristotle, famous for its rarest manuscripts and considered the most valuable at that time.

For the most part, the library collections were represented by the works Greek authors, but there were also manuscripts with religious, historical and mythological texts of the peoples belonging to the Egyptian kingdom. For example, religious texts from the Pentateuch of the Old Testament, translated into Greek for the first time, were stored here. The collection of the book heritage of the peoples inhabiting Egypt was not a library priority, but at the same time it allowed taking into account national and religious subtleties and nuances when creating the laws of the Egyptian state and organizing a unified social order.

Pharaohs from the Ptolemaic family spent astronomical sums on the acquisition and copying of valuable manuscripts. Wanting to get the rarest manuscripts and valuable works, the rulers of Egypt did not spare any means. For example, a passionate connoisseur and collector of book rarities, Pharaoh Ptolemy II Philadelphus, without bargaining, bought up all the most famous Greek books. In addition, replenishment of funds was carried out in a fairly simple but effective way. According to one of the legends, the royal decree ordered all navigators who called at the port of Alexandria to sell or rent scrolls transported on ships for copying. There was even a special customs service that carefully checked all the ship's luggage and seized the found book values ​​to replenish the library collections.

Everything that could not be bought was copied by a special royal staff of scribes. The most valuable literary works brought to Alexandria for copying. But there were cases, moreover, quite frequent, when copies were returned to the owners instead of the originals. In support of this, there is a legend according to which the original tragedies of the famous Greek authors - Sophocles, Euripides and Aeschylus - were brought from Athens to Alexandria, on the security of a huge amount for that time - 15 talents of silver. But, in order to keep the original manuscripts, after copying, Pharaoh Ptolemy III returned their copies to Greece, sacrificing a fabulous cash deposit.

Manuscripts were not only bought up and copied, but also exchanged. A significant part of the library collections were copies (duplicates) of existing works. They were used to replace worn-out fixed assets, and were also exchanged for books that were not represented in the library.

Papyrus, which served as material for the manufacture of manuscripts, grew in a fair amount on the banks of the Nile. Therefore, the lion's share of the royal library was made up of papyrus scrolls. But waxed tablets, and letters carved on stone, and expensive folios made of parchment were also kept here.

In addition to storing, in fact, library collections, as was practiced in many libraries of that time, the Library of Alexandria also served as the royal archive. Records of the ruler's conversations, reports and reports of courtiers, and other important state documents were kept here. At the same time, all cases were meticulously and in detail grouped, as a result of which a chain of events was traced: from the idea or decision of the pharaoh on any issue - to its final implementation.

Over time, the library's funds became so extensive that under the pharaoh Ptolemy III Euergetes, in 235 BC, it was decided to establish its branch, the so-called "daughter" library. The library at Serapeon, a temple in honor of the god Serapis (Sarapis), served as such a branch. She was in the Alexandrian quarter of Rakotis. Its fund consisted of approximately 50,000 scrolls, the basis of which was religious literature, as well as duplicate papyri stored in the main library building.

Founded as part of a religious complex, the branch library itself was considered a religious building; before visiting it, it was even required to undergo a special rite of purification. This temple library, among other things, contained texts related to the formation of a new cult of the god Serapis, which was created to unite the religions of Greece and Egypt into one whole, and served as a prototype of a single world religion. Managed the "subsidiary" library High priest god Serapis.

Thus, in Alexandria, in fact, two libraries arose - one secular, and the other - religious.

decline

There are several versions that led to the decline and disappearance of the Library of Alexandria. But none of them has been fully confirmed or refuted officially.

The beginning of the end of the Library of Alexandria is considered to be a fire that broke out during the hostilities (48 BC) between Julius Caesar, who supported the young queen Cleopatra in her claims to the royal throne, and her brother and husband, the young Ptolemy XIII Dionysius, as well as sister Arsinoe. According to one version, Julius Caesar himself ordered the Roman ships ready to sail to be set on fire so that the Romans led by him would not be tempted to flee, according to another, the fire broke out unintentionally as a result of fierce street fighting. One way or another, but as a result of this terrible fire, both the ships and part of the ancient city burned down. But the most terrible loss was the destruction of tens of thousands of priceless papyrus scrolls, most of which were loaded onto ships to be evacuated to Rome, some were in port warehouses, some were in the library itself. Someone expresses doubts about the death of the most valuable rarities from the funds of the Alexandrian book treasury during this fire. There are a number of skeptics who are sure that the cunning and treacherous Julius Caesar managed to send all the most valuable book property on ships in a direction known to him, and to hide the theft of book treasures, he staged a fire. The fire deftly hid the traces of the crime, damaging the main building of the library and absorbing part of the book wealth that Caesar was not interested in.

Nevertheless, Queen Cleopatra, the heiress of the Ptolemaic family, was very upset by the loss that befell Alexandria. The library building damaged by the fire was rebuilt. Later, Mark Antony, madly carried away by her, presented 200,000 unique papyrus scrolls, delivered from the collections of the Pergamon Library, as a gift to the queen he adored. With this gift, he significantly restored the affected library collections.

As a result civil war, which stirred up the Roman Empire, Mark Antony and Cleopatra, who supported him, were defeated. In 31 BC Egypt lost its independence, becoming one of the Roman colonies. And the Library of Alexandria became the property of the Roman Empire.

The famous library suffered the next blow during the war with the Queen of Palmyra Zenobia (Xenobia, Zenobia). Zenobia Septimius, who dreamed of the sovereignty of her kingdom, declared the independence of Palmyra in 267, defeated the Roman legions sent to pacify her, and conquered Egypt. In 273, the army of the recalcitrant Zenobia was defeated by Lucius Domitius Aurelian. But as a result of hostilities, the Egyptian capital and the main library of the Egyptian pharaohs suffered from ruin and fire. Some sources blame the rebellious queen for this, while others, and most of them, blame Aurelian. After these events, some of the surviving scrolls were transferred to the affiliated temple library, and some were taken to Constantinople.

But this was not the last fire that happened to survive the world-famous library. The times when Christians were persecuted and persecuted are over. Now it is their time to dictate their terms to the Gentiles. After the signing of the edict by Emperor Theodosius I the Great on the prohibition of pagan cults, bloody skirmishes broke out in Alexandria in 391 between Christian fanatics, led by the Bishop of Alexandria Theophilus (Theophilus), and pagans. They turned out to be an irreparable blow to the Library of Alexandria, whose funds were bursting with works alien to the Christian ideology. Wanting to destroy all heretical books that contradicted Christian doctrine, the library was almost completely destroyed, and priceless manuscripts were destroyed and set on fire. It was the “daughter” library in Serapeon, along with the pagan temple of Serapis, that suffered the greatest destruction and destruction, since it contained sacred texts persecuted by Christians.

However, there are sources that claim that in this chaos cleverly created by Christians, some mysterious individuals seized and took out a huge amount of sacred scrolls of the greatest value. Rumor has it that some of these manuscripts repeatedly surfaced at different times in different places, only to disappear again no less mysteriously. Is this really so - no one knows, but the fact that the fish is best caught in muddy water- everyone knows!

During these pogroms, the library suffered irreparable losses, but did not cease to exist. But former glory and she never succeeded in resurrecting her greatness.

Finally, the death of the once majestic and most extensive library in the ancient world is associated with the Arab conquerors. According to information that has come down to us, this happened in 646, when Alexandria was captured by the troops of Caliph Omar (Umar) I. First, the library collections were plundered by the conquering Arabs, and then they were subject to destruction. According to legend, the victorious Caliph Omar was asked what to do with the great multitude of books stored in Alexandria. He, being a fierce Muslim fanatic who read a single book - the Quran, replied that if the manuscripts confirm the same thing that is written in the Quran, they are useless, and if they contain something that contradicts the only Divine Book, then they are extremely harmful. In both these cases, they must be destroyed. According to one version, following the order of their master, the Arab warriors burned the entire contents of the library in gigantic bonfires that blazed for more than one day. According to another, the manuscripts were folded into huge bundles and thrown into hot water in the city bath, which turned out to be irreparably damaged.

According to opposite reports, the conqueror Omar sent home as trophies a huge number of rare manuscripts from the funds of the Egyptian royal library. Later they appeared in the personal book collections of a number of respected representatives Arab world. Those who know the reverence of the Arabs for science and knowledge do not even think that any of the representatives of this enlightened people could destroy valuable manuscripts.

However, the mystery of the disappearance of the Library of Alexandria remains unsolved. Was it someone's well-planned action? Or did religious fanaticism and insane wars dispel the former glory of the book treasury that served as the Mecca of education and scientific thought of the ancient world? It is unlikely that we will ever find out. And if the ancient rarities that once were the pride of the Alexandrian Library are stored somewhere in a secluded place, then their owners are unlikely to reveal their secret to us. The treasures they keep are too valuable, the knowledge contained in fragile scrolls can be too powerful.