Library of Alexandria

Library of Alexandria, famous ancient library, considered to have the greatest collection of books in the ancient world. Founded by Ptolemy I Soter, king of Egypt, in the city of Alexandria, it was expanded by his son Ptolemy II Philadelphus early in the 3rd century bc. The scholars in charge included the ablest men of letters in contemporary Alexandria. Zenodotus of Ephesus, whose speciality was the classification of poetry, was the first to hold the position of librarian. The poet Callimachus produced the first general catalogue of its books and apparently also served as librarian. The two most noted librarians were Aristophanes of Byzantium (c. 257-180 bc) and Aristarchus of Samothrace (c. 217-145 bc), both great editors and grammarians. Under Ptolemy II, the main library in the Alexandrian Museum apparently contained nearly 500,000 volumes, or rolls, while an annex in the Temple of Serapis housed about 43,000 volumes. Most writings of antiquity were preserved in these collections from which copies were made and disseminated to libraries throughout the civilized world.

It is largely through such copies that ancient works have survived to modern times, for the Alexandrian library was partially or wholly destroyed on several occasions. In 47 bc, during the civil war between Julius Caesar and the followers of Pompey the Great, Caesar was besieged in Alexandria; a fire that destroyed the Egyptian fleet spread through some stores of books, about 40,000 of which were burnt. According to legend, the library itself was destroyed by fire on three occasions: in ad 272 by order of the Roman emperor Lucius Domitius Aurelian, in 391, when Emperor Theodosius I razed it and other pagan buildings, and in 640 by Muslims under Caliph Umar I (c. 581-644).

In October 2002 a new library—Bibliotheca Alexandrina—was opened on the site of the ancient library. It took 12 years to construct and cost US$220 million.