Library of Alexandria

E74457

The Library of Alexandria was an ancient center of learning in Egypt, renowned for its vast collection of texts and its role as a major hub of scholarship in the Hellenistic world.


Statements (50)
Predicate Object
instanceOf ancient library
center of learning
cultural institution
alsoKnownAs Great Library of Alexandria
associatedWith Mouseion
philosophers
poets
scholars
scientists
catalogue Pinakes
cataloguedBy Callimachus
collectionType manuscripts
scrolls
country Ptolemaic Egypt
destructionCause series of fires and conflicts
destructionPeriod over several centuries
employed librarians
resident scholars
era Hellenistic period
fate destroyed
foundedUnder Ptolemy I Soter
Ptolemy II Philadelphus
inception 3rd century BCE
knownFor advances in science and mathematics
cataloguing of books
systematic collection of knowledge
textual criticism of classical works
vast collection of texts
languageOfMaterials Egyptian
Greek
other ancient Mediterranean languages
legacy inspiration for modern libraries and research institutions
symbol of lost knowledge
locatedIn Alexandria
Egypt
Ptolemaic Kingdom
namedAfter city of Alexandria
notableScholar Apollonius of Rhodes
Aristarchus of Samothrace
Callimachus
Eratosthenes
Zenodotus of Ephesus
partOf Mouseion of Alexandria
policy acquisition of texts from visiting ships
copying and retaining original manuscripts
purpose education of scholars
preservation of literature
support of research
significance major center of scholarship in the ancient world
one of the largest libraries of the ancient world


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