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The largest collection of handwritten books in antiquity (from 100 to 700 thousand volumes). Founded in the beginning 3rd century BC e. at the Alexandria Museion. part of the Library of Alexandria burned down in 47 BC. e., part destroyed in 391 AD. e., remains in the 7th-8th centuries... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

Library of Alexandria- ALEXANDRIAN LIBRARY, the largest collection of handwritten books in antiquity (from 100 to 700 thousand volumes) at the Alexandrian Museum. Part of the Library of Alexandria burned down in 47 BC; part was destroyed in 391 AD, the remains in the 7th-8th centuries... ... Illustrated encyclopedic Dictionary

The largest collection of handwritten books in antiquity (from 100 to 700 thousand volumes). Founded at the beginning of the 3rd century. BC e. at the Alexandria Museion. Part of the Library of Alexandria burned down in 47 BC. e., part destroyed in 391 AD. e. during the internecine... encyclopedic Dictionary

The most famous library in antiquity, founded in Alexandria (See Alexandria) at the Alexandria Museion (See Alexandria Museion) at the beginning of the 3rd century. BC e. under the first Ptolemies. Headed by A. b. major scientists: Eratosthenes, ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

This is the greatest and most famous book depository of the ancient world, founded by the Egyptian king Ptolemy II Philadelphus (see this next). Already under the first Ptolemy Soter, the Athenian Demetrius of Phalerum collected about 50 tons of books or scrolls, and during the greatest... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Ephron

Library of Alexandria- the most famous and largest library Ancient world. Basic at the beginning of the 3rd century. BC. in Alexandria (Egypt) during the reign of the Greek Macedonian Ptolemaic dynasty. Was part of one of the chapters. scientific centers the ancient world of Alexandria... ... Pedagogical terminological dictionary

Library of Alexandria- Events associated with the founding of the museum and library, and their consequences In the previous chapter, we showed a series of mutations in the traditional way of life of man and their reflection in new philosophical movements, and also mentioned the emergence of new centers ... Western philosophy from its origins to the present day

ALEXANDRIA LIBRARY- ALEXANDRIAN LIBRARY, one of the cultural institutions of the Hellenistic era. Founded in Alexandria of Egypt at the beginning of the 3rd century. BC e. It contained about 700 thousand papyrus scrolls, which included works of ancient Greek literature and... ... Literary encyclopedic dictionary

Library of Alexandria- this is the greatest and most famous book depository of the ancient world, founded by the Egyptian king Ptolemy II Philadelphus. Already under the first Ptolemy Soter, the Athenian Demetrius of Phalerum collected about 50 tons of books or scrolls, and during the greatest ... ... Complete Orthodox Theological Encyclopedic Dictionary

Books

• Series "Library of Ancient Literature" (set of 31 books), . "Library ancient literature"contains works of famous ancient masters: philosophical, historical and works of art. The series will be useful to students of philosophy and history,…
• Alexandrian philology and Homeric hexameter, V.V. Faier. Library of Alexandria Ptolemaic times - the birthplace of European philology. Zenodotus, Aristophanes and Aristarchus, who headed it in the 3rd-2nd centuries, were primarily engaged in textual criticism...

Two millennia ago, the largest educational and research center of the Ancient World operated in Egypt. Unique knowledge was concentrated in the Library of Alexandria and perfected greatest discoveries, which have survived to this day. Unfortunately, people themselves destroyed the great monument to science through their own stupidity. Today, history may repeat itself again.

Scientists and researchers of astronomy, anatomy, and zoology constantly lived here. Outstanding philosophers and scientists of Antiquity worked and experimented in Alexandria: Euclid, Archimedes, Ptolemy, Edesia, Pappus, Aristarchus of Samos. They had at their disposal not only an extensive collection of books and scrolls, but also thirteen lecture halls, classrooms, banquet dining rooms and beautiful gardens. The building was decorated with Greek columns, which have survived to this day. It was here that Euclid developed the doctrine of mathematics and geometry, Archimedes became famous for his work on hydraulics and mechanics, and Heron created the steam engine.

To protect their scrolls and improve conditions, Athenian scholars living in Alexandria began looking for the best place. And in 145 BC. Ptolemy VIII by his decree removed all foreign scientists from Alexandria.

After two millennia, the famous library was revived. Alexandrina opened in 2002 and now houses 8 million books from around the world, as well as a huge archive of electronic sources. Unfortunately, the political and religious intolerance of certain sections of the population of Arab countries threatens it again. Local residents work together to protect the library from fanatics. They are afraid of history repeating itself from the period when...

The reign of King Philip's son, Alexander, in small Macedonia at first, was marked by great battles and military campaigns, as a result of which the territories of Macedonia greatly increased in size due to the captured states. Among these states was Egypt. The Egyptians worshiped Alexander the Great as the son of the sun god. It was in the city of Alexandria, built in Egypt and so beloved by Alexander, that the Museum was erected, part of which was an amazing library. Until now, humanity asks the question: “Who burned

Alexandria of Egypt

The city of Alexander the Great, Alexandria of Egypt, was built on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Its port was always full of merchant ships from different countries. They brought here wood, silver, expensive wines, and purple-dyed wool. The sailors' guide was the famous Faros lighthouse, known in the world as one of the seven wonders of the world.

Ships of Egyptian merchants sailed from the piers of the port of Alexandria, exporting from Alexandria fine linen fabrics, grain, papyrus reeds and products made from it, ivory, silver objects, etc.

Near the port was the famous Ptolemaic palace, the luxurious interiors of which were decorated with various types of marble, expensive, sophisticated carved furniture, patterned carpets and carpets decorated with scenes from mythology.

The streets of Alexandria were straight. They intersected at an angle of 90 degrees. The length of the main highway reached 6 km. The street was so wide that several carts could travel along it at the same time. Troops of Greek and Macedonian soldiers marched through the streets throughout the day. There were so many people in the center that it was impossible to squeeze through, and onlookers gathered in the squares, contemplating the performances of street actors and circus performers.

Museum in Alexandria

But the main attraction in the city of Alexander the Great was a true temple of science and art, which was called the Museum. The literal translation of this word sounds like “Temple of the Muses” and is associated allegorically with the nine daughters of the supreme god Zeus - patronesses of art. Among them there are those that we now classify not as arts, but as sciences: astronomy, history.

The Alexandria Museum was built during the reign of the Ptolemaic dynasty. He occupied an entire district in the city. It consisted of a complex of buildings of different sizes and purposes. The area around was decorated with trees and flower beds.

Museum residents and library visitors

Famous scientists and poets invited by the king from different countries came to the Alexandria Museum. Here they lived, took part in joint meals, held classes, had meaningful and fascinating conversations in numerous porticoes, argued and shared their discoveries with each other. It was here that a scientist first suggested that the Earth revolves around the Sun, and Eratosthenes predicted the possibility world travels. It was based on the idea of ​​the Earth as a ball. Euclid wrote amazing book"Principia", which revolutionized mathematics and gave rise to the science of geometry, becoming the first textbook in this discipline.

It was here, in the Museum, that the new social views of pundits were expressed. Eratosthenes expressed his point of view on the attitude towards people of different nationalities from the standpoint of their level of intelligence and education: he stated that it is impossible to evaluate people by nationality, because just as among the Greeks there are people who are ill-mannered and uneducated, so among non-Greeks there are very educated and

Treacherous Ptolemy

The history of the Library of Alexandria - the history of the creation of its collections. This was one of the It can be classified as scientific, since the collection contained about seven hundred thousand papyrus scrolls. There were also manuscripts of Aeschylus and Sophocles, transferred for eternal storage by the Egyptian king Ptolemy III Evergerd. By the way, he got them in a not entirely honest way.

Known Interesting Facts about the Library of Alexandria. For example, that Ptolemy III Evergerd, having taken the scrolls as collateral from the Athenians to make copies, chose to lose a lot of money, but keep the manuscripts for himself. The king treated his guests no less insidiously: he strictly checked what books they brought to Alexandria. If such a copy was not in the collection of the Library of Alexandria, the original was confiscated in favor of the city and the Egyptian state, and the guest was given a copy of his book.

Library in Alexandria

The word "library" was originally literally translated as "bookcase". In the Library of Alexandria, scrolls were stored in huge bookcases from floor to ceiling, thereby justifying the name of the institution. Its founder is considered to be Ptolemy II Philadelphus. He also created the Museum. And the time of creation of the library and Museum is called the period from 309 to 246. BC e.

Organization of library work

The Library of Alexandria was headed by the Chief Librarian. His duties included determining the quality and authenticity of manuscripts. A strict record of books was kept. A catalog of handwritten treasures was compiled. Books in collections and catalogs were classified by topic, language and provided with special links. The special interests of readers in certain publications were also taken into account. The funds were replenished by purchasing books from small libraries and private collections.

The library employed special specialists who also ensured their “readability.” They double-checked the reliability of the information presented, and dubious points were marked with special icons so that any reader could understand which facts can be relied on and which information should be handled with caution.

In the Nile Valley, modern scientists have found large quantities of ancient papyri. These findings allowed them to conclude that the originals in the library were copied. And since Alexandria was a major center of book trade, it is possible that these copies from papyri were a popular commodity, exported by Alexandrian merchants to other countries and sold on the port market.

Historians have determined and sample list librarians of the Library of Alexandria - up to the 2nd century. BC e.

Especially in the Library of Alexandria they monitored the implementation of sanitary and hygienic standards and standards for the purpose of their greatest safety. The premises were well ventilated and protected from dampness. The scrolls were checked from time to time for damage, including from numerous insects, and were promptly put in order.

During the reign of Ptolemy III Evergert, a branch of the institution was opened at the Alexandrian Serapeum (temple of the god Serapius).

Who burned the Library of Alexandria?

History tells us of several events that damaged the famous library.

The first date is 48 BC. e., when a large number of The scrolls burned along with part of the library during the war with the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar. That’s when the famous fire happened in the Library of Alexandria, which broke out as a result of a city fire that arose from the burning of the city walls by Roman troops.

At that time, the number of members of the collection was replenished. But the qualitative composition of her treasures has changed. This happened in 41 BC. e. thanks to Mark Antony. He removed 200 thousand scrolls from the Pergamum collection and gave them to his beloved, the Egyptian queen Cleopatra. Later, the collection was plundered again by the Romans. However, this does not give us an answer to the question of who destroyed the Library of Alexandria.

During the period of Roman rule, when in the 4th century. Christianity was declared the main religion throughout the Roman Empire; the library in Alexandria was destroyed by order of the Egyptian bishop Theophilus, who fought with all his might against the “paganism” he hated. This happened during the reign of Emperor Theodosius. But this is not the final answer to the question of who burned the Library of Alexandria.

Alexandria was captured twice by the Arabs in the first half of the 7th century, and the eventual destruction of its library is often attributed to these invasions.

So the question of who burned the Library of Alexandria to become famous is unlikely to ever be answered accurately.

Library of Alexandria. The story of religious vandalism and attempts to cover up its tracks.

I think many people remember from their school days that in its first centuries Christianity became famous for its high-profile crimes, which bear little resemblance to what is presented as Christianity now. These are shameful pages of its history, comparable only to the shame of the Inquisition, which tortured and exterminated people accused of heresy and witchcraft. In 2002, Pope John Paul II apologized for the executions carried out by the Holy Inquisition and declared that the Church repented. But she is in no hurry to repent for other crimes. On the contrary, he tries in every possible way to present a different version of events based on the suppression of primary sources or their manipulation. For example, the destruction of the Library of Alexandria.

Let's take a look at the statements of clerical obscurantists, their arguments, and the facts that indicate clerical lies.

1) “The Library of Alexandria perished before the Christians (at the hands of pagans) or after the Christians (at the hands of Muslims). But certainly not at the time when Christians destroyed the temples of Alexandria and killed Hypatia. How can one even blame Christians if the library was destroyed before them by pagans, and after them by Muslims?”

ARGUMENTS allegedly confirming these words are as follows... Ammianus Marcellinus wrote that the library in the Serapeum was destroyed during a fire under Julius Caesar. Abdul Latif al-Baghdadi, Ibn al-Kifti, Bar-Ebrey, al-Makrizi, Ibn Khaldun report that “: Caliph Umar ibn Khattab ordered the commander Amr ibn al-As to burn the Library of Alexandria, saying: “If in these books say what is in the Koran, then they are useless. If they say anything else, then they are harmful. Therefore, in both cases they must be burned.”

COUNTERARGUMENTS proving the deceit of the clerical side:

Firstly, famous historian Caliphate V. O. Bolshakov (Chief Researcher of the Institute of Oriental History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Professor, Honored Scientist of the Russian Federation, Doctor of Historical Sciences) writes:

“...I would like to remove from Amr the accusation sometimes brought against him of a grave sin against world culture - the burning of the famous Library of Alexandria on the orders of Umar. Experts know well that this is just a pious legend that attributes to Umar a virtuous act - the destruction of books that contradict the Koran, but in popular literature this legend is sometimes presented as historical fact. However, neither John of Nikiou, who reports a lot about the looting and pogroms during the Arab conquest, nor any other Christian historian hostile to Islam, mentions the fire of the library. Most likely, the great library itself no longer existed at that time - it quietly faded away under the pressure of the struggle of Christianity with pagan science over the previous three centuries."

Bolshakov, History of the Caliphate, vol. 2

Those. The destruction of the books of the Alexandrian library by Muslims is a very big question.

And secondly, the very fact of a crime does not negate the fact that a similar crime with the same victim could have been committed earlier or later. The fact that the library previously suffered at the hands of pagans, and later could be finished off by Muslims, does not in the least cancel the “contribution” that ancient Christians made to the destruction of the scrolls. As in modern law, the justification for a robber is not the fact that the victim was previously robbed by another person, the fact that the victim was seriously ill, etc.

2) “The Christians destroyed only the pagan temple of Serapis (Serapeum), and nowhere is it said that the library was there. In addition, nowhere is it said about the destruction of even the temple of Serapis. And yet, there is no evidence that Christians took part in the destruction of the temples of Alexandria.”

ARGUMENTS – “Orosius, Rufinus of Aquileia, Sozomen, Socrates Scholasticus, Eunapius and Ammianus Marcellinus. None of these authors mentions that any books were destroyed when the temple was destroyed. Orosius talks about empty cabinets, describing events from the time of Julius Caesar (the first fire in a library, half a century before the advent of Christianity). Marcellinus, in 378, 13 years before “the destruction of the library by Christians!!!” I already wrote about her in the past tense.”
From the above quote from Orosius it also does not follow “DESTRUCTION OF THE ALEXANDRIAN LIBRARY BY CHRISTIANS!!!”:
Firstly, it speaks of theft (direptis, exinanita), and not of destruction (exitio).<…>
Secondly, the text does not say that Christians took part in the theft. “People of our time” (nostris hominibus nostris temporibus) became Christians only in the imagination
Third, the text does not specifically refer to the temple of Serapis. “The temples that we ourselves saw” (templis extent, quae et nos uidimus) became the temple of Serapis again only in the imagination.”

(I took the liberty of quoting so as not to be held responsible for possible mistakes opponents - approx. Skrytimira)

COUNTERARGUMENTS.

About the destruction of the Library of Alexandria by Christians. Socrates Scholasticus, in his book " Church history", writes:
"CHAPTER 16

About the destruction of pagan temples in Alexandria and the battle between pagans and Christians that took place for this reason

At that same time, a similar turmoil occurred in Alexandria. Bishop Theophilus was busy, and the king issued an order to destroy the pagan temples, and in Alexandria he entrusted the responsibility for this matter to Theophilus. Relying on this authority, Theophilus used everything to cover the pagan sacraments with disgrace: he tore down the Mithrian temple, destroyed the temple of Serapis, put the bloody Mithrian mysteries on display and showed all the ridiculous absurdities of the rituals of Serapis and other gods, ordering images of Priapus to be carried around the market place. Seeing this, the Alexandrian pagans, and especially the people called philosophers, could not bear such an insult and added even greater ones to their previous bloody deeds; inflamed by one feeling, they all, according to the agreement made, rushed at the Christians and began to commit murders of all kinds. Christians, for their part, paid the same, and one evil was increased by another. The struggle continued until her satiety with killing ceased."

Just in case (otherwise the clerical side likes to read through their fingers), I will repeat: “destroyed the temple of Serapis.”

In case of habitual illiteracy of representatives of a monotheistic confession: a branch of the Alexandria Library was located in the Temple of Serapis (Alexandria).
("The scientists of the Alexandria Museum transported the remains of the library to the Serapeum temple, where they continued their work. In 391, the Serapeum was destroyed by Christian fanatics"
Lit.: Derevitsky A. N., About the beginning of historical literature. classes in Dr. Greece, X., 1891; Lurie S. Ya., Archimedes, M.-L., 1945)

Well, to follow up: Socrates Scholasticus - Byzantine historian of Christian orientation

Destruction of the library - Orosius, description Christian denomination Vandals - from Scholastic. This is enough to add up the facts. Pagans could destroy pagan temples, but not in the presence of such a bloodthirsty enemy as the early Christians. In a situation of armed confrontation between Christians and pagans, the description of the destruction of a pagan temple at the hands of pagans looks as true as the pogrom now Orthodox Cossacks some Orthodox cathedral. Plus - a moment of psychology. If a new god has appeared, what should be the reaction? Pagan intellectual: “A new god! I’ll find out more and write a book about this interesting phenomenon!” Pagan commoner: "A new god! Well, okay!" Pagan crowd: "New god! Great, new holidays!" Now the other side. Christian intellectual: “A new god! We urgently need to write a book that this is not god, for there is no god except our god!” Christian commoner: “A new god! No, all this is the devil’s machinations! We must be on our guard!” Christian crowd: “New God! All this is a devilish abomination! Burn! Smash! Fill with dirt!” Well, if you remove the lyrics, then fact number one, mentioned in many sources (Scholastic, Rufinus, etc.) - it was Christians who acted as pogromists. Fact number two, mentioned by a number of historians - in the temple of Serapis there was a branch of the Library of Alexandria (for example - Tertullian: “So books translated into Greek are hitherto proven at the temple of Serapis in the library of Ptolemy with the most Jewish books.” Apologetics, chapter 18). Fact number three, combining the previous two: Christian vandals destroyed the library at the temple of Serapis (Orosius).

And of course, the clerical side modestly kept silent about such a 10th century primary source as “Suda” or “Svida”. It contains very interesting evidence about Theon of Alexandria, who is named as the last manager of the library. He lived in 335-405, i.e. exactly during the destruction of the Temple of Serapis (a curious coincidence?).
He was also the father of that very Hypatia - a woman killed by Christians who was a famous mathematician, astronomer and teacher. But we’ll talk about this amazing woman who embodies the wisdom of the pagan world in another article.

Let's try to arrange the facts in a slightly different order:

Fact number one. Orosius writes: “one should rather believe that other books were collected there that were not inferior to the old works, rather than think that some other library existed then.” Those. There were no other libraries in Alexandria. And, most likely, in light of the turmoil of subsequent years, they did not appear, but there were attempts to restore the book depository. Apparently, they were successful. Because –

Fact number two: two centuries later, the Library of Alexandria was again damaged by the Roman Emperor Aurelian. It is unlikely that the empty cabinets that Orosius writes about stood from Caesar to the time of Orosius himself (i.e., about three and a half hundred years. CONCLUSION: THE LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIA EXISTED BY 391.

Orosius writes: “Why, even today in churches, as we ourselves have seen, there are bookcases, which, looted, remind us in our time that they were devastated by the people of OUR time (which is absolutely true).” Fact number three : the library of Alexandria suffered already during the time of Orosius himself, i.e. at the end of the 4th - beginning of the 5th century. This exactly coincides with the events of 391.

Tertullian (who, by the way, lived after Caesar, about half a century) and Epiphanius of Cyprus (a contemporary of Orosius) write that the library of Alexandria (or its branch) was located in the Serapenum. Fact number four: the library of Alexandria was located in the temple of Serapis.

Again, I will refer to the “Judgment”: Theon of Alexandria is named as the last manager of the library. And he lived from 335 to 405, i.e. the destruction of the library at the end of the 4th century is confirmed. This is fact number five.

CONCLUSION: THE LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIA WAS DESTROYED IN 391.

Socrates Scholasticus and Rufinus of Aquileia write that in 391 the temple of Serapis was destroyed by Christian fanatics.

CONCLUSION: THE CHRISTIANS DESTROYED THE ALEXANDRIA LIBRARY.

GENERAL CONCLUSION: BY THE END OF THE 4TH CENTURY, THE ALEXANDRIAN LIBRARY EXISTED AS A BOOK DEPOSITE AT THE TEMPLE OF SERAPISIS, AND WAS DESTROYED BY CHRISTIAN OBSCURANTS IN THE ALREADY MENTIONED 391 YEAR.

As you can see, no matter in what order the facts are arranged, they testify to one thing - the Christ-loving vandalism of ancient obscurantists.

3) “In general, Christians did not destroy the library, but only plundered it”

ARGUMENTS – see quote above.

COUNTERARGUMENTS.
The professional who translated the text of Orosius preferred the term “devastation” (which is actually the translation of the word “exinanition”), which implies both theft and destruction. Some translators also prefer “plunder”, as for example here:

By the way, “exinanition”, in addition to devastation, has in modern times English language Another rarely used meaning is “abuse, humiliation.” So Orosius’s bookcases could have been not only emptied, but also desecrated and destroyed.

(And there is no need to scream that ancient Latin and modern English are two different languages. I know this very well. It is also known that modern English contains many words borrowed from Latin. This is what James Bradstreet Greenough and George Lyman Kittredge write about the 6th century in their book “Words and Their History in English speech": "In those days, "every educated Englishman spoke and wrote Latin as easily as in his own native language" And it often happens that a word borrowed in ancient times from a foreign language retains its original meaning in the new environment, which may be lost in the original. In general, I would highly recommend reading many articles about Latin borrowings in English, since they are very interesting, but here this will be a digression from the topic.)

4) Primary sources like “Svida” cannot be objective: they lag behind the events described by half a thousand years.”

There is no argument. Issued as the opinion of last resort.

The counter-argument on my part is simple due to the fact that the clerical blogger, questioning the validity of Svida due to its time gap from the events described, himself tried to refer to the words of the Arabs who lived in the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries (Abdul Latif al-Baghdadi, Ibn al -Kifti, Bar-Ebrey, al-Makrizi, Ibn Khaldun) that it was Muslims who destroyed the Library of Alexandria on the orders of Caliph Umar ibn Khattab. In short, based on the argumentation of this cleric, it should be considered that a source that directly or indirectly testifies to the crimes of Christians in antiquity cannot be valid if it lagged behind those events by about six centuries, while sources that directly or indirectly defend Christianity , are considered wealthy, even if they lag behind the events they describe by five, six or even seven centuries. Those. the author of the argument simply showed the standard tendency for double standards for a modern Christian cleric. Therefore, his argument should not be taken into account.

5) “In general, the Library of Alexandria was transported to Constantinople even before the events described”

ARGUMENTATION - “In foreign historical literature, one often encounters the opinion that after the riots, the books were simply dispersed to the monastery libraries of the “obscurantists,” while most of them ended up in the library of Constantinople, the then world center of “obscurantism.”

(Every " foreign literature", and without the names of the authors, I didn’t read it, so I’m leaving the argument with a quote - note from Skrytimir)

COUNTERARGUMENTATION:
But here we are dealing with gross fraud. Because there is very specific evidence of the transport of any scrolls from Alexandria to Constantinople in the 4th century. Namely, Emperor Julian II the Apostate (331 – 363, emperor in the period 361-363) delivered part of the books of the Alexandrian Patriarch George of Cappadocia to Constantinople. And, although this event could not have happened later than 363, the defenders of clerical lies roughly transfer these events to the year 391 and presented to the world as a peaceful transfer of books from the Library of Alexandria. Moreover, they are not even at all surprised that Orosius clearly regrets the loss of the books, which would have been impossible if the scrolls of the Library of Alexandria had simply moved to the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire.

6) “And in general, is it worth calling several scattered scrolls a library?”

ARGUMENTS - “The existence of the library in 391 is not denied if the remains of books damaged under Caesar (Plutarch generally wrote that the library ceased to exist under Caesar) and Aurelian are considered a “library.” This is indicated by the Christian Orosius, noting that “OTHER books were collected there, which were not inferior to the old works,” and the pagan Marcellinus, generally speaking about it in the past tense (before the events of 391).”

(Again I allowed myself to quote – Skrytimir’s note)

COUNTERARGUMENTS:
In antiquity, a library was called a library, regardless of the opinion of one or another blogger, authoritative in narrow circles. And I will again refer to Svida, who nevertheless calls a library what people suffering from cerebral clericalism stubbornly call “several scattered scrolls.”

And one more thing... In Alexandria there was once a lighthouse, considered one of the wonders of the world. And amazing mechanisms in the form of statues were placed on it. By different stories, one of them seemed to always point her hand at the Sun along the entire path of its movement across the sky and lowered her hand when it set. The other chimed every hour day and night. There was also a statue that pointed its hand to the sea if an enemy fleet appeared on the horizon, and uttered a warning cry when enemy ships approached the harbor. The lighthouse has long been destroyed. But I have been wondering for many years what kind of statues they were. Were they mechanisms that simply transformed human work, or were they one of the first automata in history? Were they entirely mechanisms or did they transform any natural factors into their actions? There is no answer to these questions. Perhaps the description of these statues was in those very “several scattered lists” destroyed by Christians. And it would be much more interesting for me to read these very “few lists” than to see numerous “stone him to death, for he tried to turn you away from the Lord” and “there is only one God”, pulled out from scattered scrolls of a much lower grade.

The Library of Alexandria was one of the largest in Ancient world. Founded by the successors of Alexander the Great, it maintained its status as an intellectual and educational center as early as the 5th century. However, throughout its long history were there time after time the mighty of the world this, trying to destroy this beacon of culture. Let us ask ourselves: why?...

Chief Librarians

The Library of Alexandria is believed to have been founded by Ptolemy I or Ptolemy II. The city itself, which is easy to understand by its name, was founded by Alexander the Great, and this happened in 332 BC.

Alexandria of Egypt, which, according to the plan of the great conqueror, was destined to become a center of scientists and intellectuals, became, probably, the first city in the world built entirely of stone, without the use of wood. The library consisted of 10 large halls and rooms for researchers to work.

There is still debate about the name of its founder. If we understand by this word the initiator and creator, and not the king who reigned at that time, the true founder of the library, most likely, should be recognized as a man named Demetrius of Phalerum.

Demetrius of Phalerum appeared in Athens in 324 BC as a tribune of the people and was elected governor seven years later. He ruled Athens for 10 years: from 317 to 307 BC. Demetrius issued quite a lot of laws. Among them was a law that limited the luxury of burials.

In his time, Athens had 90 thousand citizens, 45 thousand admitted foreigners and 400 thousand slaves. As for the personality of Demetrius of Phalerum himself, he was considered a trendsetter in his country: he was the first Athenian to lighten his hair with hydrogen peroxide.

He was later removed from his position and went to Thebes. There, Demetrius wrote a huge number of works, one of which, which has a strange name - “On a beam of light in the sky,” is believed by ufologists to be the world’s first work about flying saucers.

In 297 BC, Ptolemy I persuaded him to settle in Alexandria. That's when Demetrius founded the library. After the death of Ptolemy I, his son Ptolemy II exiled Demetrius to the Egyptian city of Busiris. There the creator of the library died from the bite of a poisonous snake.

Ptolemy II continued to work on the library and was interested in the sciences, mainly zoology. He appointed Zenodotus of Ephesus as the keeper of the library, who performed these functions until 234 BC. The surviving documents allow us to extend the list of the main custodians of the library: Eratosthenes of Cyrene, Aristophanes of Byzantium, Aristarchus of Samothrace. After this, the information becomes vague.

Over the centuries, librarians expanded the collection, adding papyri, parchments and even, according to legend, printed books. The library contained simply priceless documents. She began to have enemies, mainly in Ancient Rome.

The first plunder and secret books

The first plunder of the Library of Alexandria was carried out in 47 BC by Julius Caesar. By that time, it was considered a repository of secret books that gave almost unlimited power.

When Caesar arrived in Alexandria, the library contained at least 700 thousand manuscripts. But why did some of them begin to inspire fear? Of course, there were books in Greek, which were treasures classical literature, lost to us forever. But there shouldn't have been any dangerous ones among them.

But the entire legacy of the Babylonian priest Berossus, who fled to Greece, could well have alarmed him. Berossus was a contemporary of Alexander the Great and lived into the Ptolemaic era. In Babylon he was a priest of Bel. He was a historian, astrologer and astronomer. He invented the semicircular sun dial and created theories of the addition of solar and lunar rays, anticipating modern works by light interference.

But in some of his works Berossus wrote about something very strange. For example, about the civilization of giants and either about aliens, or about an underwater civilization.

The library of Alexandria also contained full meeting works of Manetho. The Egyptian priest and historian, a contemporary of Ptolemy I and Ptolemy II, was initiated into all the secrets of Egypt. Even his name can be interpreted as “the favorite of Thoth” or “the one who knows the truth of Thoth.”

This man maintained relations with the last Egyptian priests. He was the author of eight books and collected 40 carefully selected scrolls in Alexandria, which contained hidden secrets. Egyptian secrets, including, probably, the “Book of Thoth”.

The Library of Alexandria also contained the works of the Phoenician historian Mocus, who is credited with creating the atomic theory. There were also extremely rare and valuable Indian manuscripts. Not a trace remained of all these manuscripts.

It is known that before the destruction of the library: there were 532,800 scrolls. It is known that there were departments that could be called “Mathematical Sciences” and “Natural Sciences”. There was also a general directory, which was also destroyed. All these destructions are attributed to Julius Caesar. He took some of the books: he burned some, and kept others for himself.

Thomas Cole, The Way of Empire. Destruction" 1836

There is still no complete certainty about what exactly happened then. And two thousand years after the death of Caesar, he still has both supporters and opponents. Supporters say he did not burn anything in the library itself; Perhaps a number of books burned in the port warehouse in Alexandria, but it was not the Romans who set them on fire.

Caesar's opponents, on the contrary, claim that a huge number of books were destroyed deliberately. Their number is not precisely determined and ranges from 40 to 70 thousand. There is also an intermediate opinion: the fire spread to the library from the quarter where the fighting was taking place, and it burned down by accident.

In any case, the library was not completely destroyed. Neither Caesar's opponents nor supporters talk about this, nor do their contemporaries; stories about the event that are closest to it in time are still two centuries away from it. Caesar himself does not touch upon this topic in his notes. Apparently, he “removed” individual books that seemed most interesting to him.

Coincidences or “men in black”?

The most serious of the subsequent depredations of the library was most likely carried out by Zenobia Septimia, queen of Palmyra, and the Emperor Aurelian during their war for dominance over Egypt. And again, fortunately, things did not come to complete destruction, but valuable books were lost.

The reason why Emperor Diocletian took up arms against the library is well known. He wanted to destroy the books that contained the secrets of making gold and silver, that is, all works on alchemy. If the Egyptians were able to produce as much gold and silver as they wanted, then, the emperor reasoned, they were capable of arming a huge army and defeating the empire.

Emperor Diocletian, who destroyed alchemical manuscripts

The slave's grandson Diocletian was proclaimed emperor in 284. He seems to have been a born tyrant, and the last decree he signed before abdicating on May 1, 305 ordered the destruction of Christianity.

A major rebellion broke out in Egypt against Diocletian, and in July 295 the emperor began the siege of Alexandria. He took Alexandria, however, according to legend, the emperor’s horse stumbled while entering the conquered city. Diocletian interpreted this incident as a sign from the gods commanding him to spare the city.

After the capture of Alexandria, a frantic search for alchemical manuscripts began, and all those found were destroyed. Perhaps they contained the main keys to alchemy, which are now missing to comprehend this science. We do not have a list of destroyed manuscripts, but legend attributes some of them to Pythagoras, Solomon, and even Hermes Trismegistus himself. Although this, of course, should be treated with a certain degree of skepticism.

The library continued to exist. Despite the fact that it was destroyed over and over again, the library continued to work until the Arabs completely destroyed it. And the Arabs knew what they were doing. They have already destroyed both in the Islamic Empire itself and in Persia many secret works on magic, alchemy and astrology. The conquerors acted according to their motto: “No other books are needed except the Koran.”

In 646, the Library of Alexandria was set on fire. The following legend is known: Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab in 641 ordered the commander Amr ibn al-As to burn the Library of Alexandria, saying: “If these books say what is in the Koran, then they are useless.”

Burning of the Library of Alexandria in 391. Illustration from 1910.

French writer Jacques Bergier said that books perished in that fire, possibly dating back to a pre-civilization that existed before the current human one. Alchemical treatises, the study of which would have made it possible to truly achieve the transformation of elements, perished.

Works on magic and evidence of the meeting with aliens that Berossus spoke about were destroyed. He believed that this whole series of pogroms could not have been accidental. It could have been carried out by an organization that Bergier conventionally calls “men in black.” This organization has existed for centuries and millennia and strives to destroy knowledge of a certain kind.

The few remaining manuscripts may still be intact, but are carefully protected from the world by secret societies.

Of course, it may very well be that Bergier simply allowed himself to fantasize, but it is possible that behind all this there are some real, but difficult to rationally interpret, facts.

Valdis PEIPINSH