The Royal Library of Alexandria was once the largest library in the world. “It’s the center of excellence in the production and dissemination of knowledge as well as a meeting place for the dialogue of people and cultures” (Abbadi&Fathallah, vii).
The library was built in the city of Alexandria, the city which Alexander the Great demand to build after his easy conquest over Egypt in 331 BC. “Other cities are but the cities of the country around them; Alexandria is the of the world”( Parsons, 51). Due to its unique geographical location, the city of Alexandria is a multicultural community, divided into 3 quarters of living space by races. “1.the original Rhakotis, or native Egyptian quarter. 2. The Brucheion or Royal Greek Macedonian quarter, 3. The Jewish quarter” (Parsons, 56). After the founding of the library, scholars from these races contributed significant amount of knowledge that would still affect us till present.
The Library during the Hellenistic period serves different function as today. “Institutionalized research center and libraries were often associated with religious institutions and placed under the protection of divinities of muses”(Gore, 165). It is usually assumed the Library of Alexandria was founded at the beginning of the 3rd century BC during the reign of Ptolemy II of Egypt. A subsidiary daughter library was established about 235B.C. by Ptolemy III in the Temple of Serapis. Both of the main and daughter libraries created significant influence in the Hellenistic period.
There are many reasons for the creation of the Library, but there is no doubt that Ptolemy II contributed greatly to the most of the scrolls in the library. He composed a letter ” ‘to all the sovereigns and governors on earth’, imploring them ‘not to hesitate to send him’ woks by authors of every kind.”(Canfora,20). It was estimated that the library had stored at its peak “with at least 700,000 scrolls, it was the largest coverage of known written material in any period”( Serageldin, 26) .
The significance of the Library is reflected in various fields. “The translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek was one of the major events in the history of the world.” (Collins, 15). The proposal of the translation was brought by “Greek politician and philosopher, Demetruis of Phalerum” (Canafora, 21). “The translation happened in Alexandria brought about the wide distribution of written, Jewish Scriptures into the non-Jewish world”(Kovel’man,6), which led to the birth of Christianity and the Western civilisation that we know today.
The knowledge contained in the library also gave birth to the ideologies of most brilliant scholars during the Hellenistic period. It was one of the most ambitious and exciting intellectual venture in the history of humanity. It was at the library of Alexandria that “Collimachus, the great Hellenistic poet, the first to write a catalogue for book classified by topic and author, thereby becoming the father of Library Science” ( Serageldin, 0). “Aristarchus was the first to say that the earth revolves around the sun Archimedes studied hydrostatics and levers”( Serageldin, 0). Names of the most brilliant intellectuals flourished their thought in the library of Alexandria.
The library’s destruction remains as a controversy (El-Abbadi,1). Most scholars agree it was burnt down by Amr bin Aas at the behest of the Second Caliph, Umar in 272.A.D. Remaining of the Great library was found in 2004. Although the library did not survive under the destruction due to the war, it still remain as one of the greatest library is human history.

Work Cited:

Canfora, Luciano. The Vanished Library. Trans. Martin Ryle. Hutchinson Radius, 1987. Print.

Collins, Nina L. The Library in Alexandria and the Bible in Greek. Leiden: Brill, 2000. Print.

El-Abbadi, Mostafa, and Omnia Mounir. Fathallah. What Happened to the Ancient Library of Alexandria? Leiden: Brill, 2008. Print.

El-Abbadi, Mostafa. The Life and Fate of the Ancient Library of Alexandria. Paris: Unesco/UNDP, 1992. Print.

Gore, Daniel. Farewell to Alexandria: Solutions to Space, Growth, and Performance Problems of Libraries. Michigan: Greenwood, 1976. Print.

Kovel’man, Arkadij B. Between Alexandria and Jerusalem: The Dynamic of Jewish and Hellenistic Culture. Leiden [u.a.: Brill, 2005. Print.

Parsons, Edward Alexander. The Alexandrian Library, Glory of the Hellenic World: Its Rise, Antiquities, and Destructions. Amst: Elsevier, 1952. Print.

Serageldin, Ismail. Bibliotheca Alexandrina: The Rebirth of the Library of Alexandria. Alexandria, Egypt: Bibliotheca Alexandrina, 2002. Print.