On a sunny morning in 642 C.E., armies of Muslim Arabs, in the process of conquering Egypt, destroyed the ancient library at Alexandria, which for a thousand years had been the western world’s most important center of learning.

The library held a million volumes, including an extensive collection of Greek and Roman literature, as well as works of science, philosophy, religion and law. The Alexandria Library was nothing less than the summit of ancient scholarship. Its archives and museum were filled with the intellectual riches of Mesopotamia, Persia, Greece, Rome and Egypt, and its research center was visited by many generations of scholars seeking to stimulate their minds and keep alive memories of the past.

Following the library’s destruction, literary scholarship and scientific inquiry suffered greatly in the West. Indeed, nearly a millennium would pass before Western thinking returned to the level of sophistication achieved at the Alexandria Library in its heyday. A single building, that is to say, was crucial to the advancement of an entire civilization.

It is worth remembering the fate of that ancient library these days, given the recent looting of the National Museum in Baghdad and the pillaging of Iraq’s libraries. These institutions once housed precious manuscripts, copies of the Koran a thousand years old, and Mesopotamian artifacts from the first stirrings of civilized life some 5,000 years ago. With this recent plunder, the very spirit and identity of a great people were attacked. Thomas Jefferson was right when he claimed that a nation’s libraries and museums constitute its identity and essence. Burn a library, and you extinguish a national soul.

Some reports now indicate, however, that most of the volumes in the National Library had been removed for safekeeping before the war. As for the National Museum, more and more artifacts creep slowly and surreptitiously back to their proper home. With any luck, the museum will regain much of its vast and prominent collection.

anyone beleive the stories of looting being instigated or even carried out by americans?

I know this isn't a politics forum, but I was just curious. I follow my own philosophy..."don't believe either side, they both have something to hide"

Rush Limbaugh says the looting was a hoax, but i guess you would have to trust what he says to believe it. i haven't seen much news on the looting in quite some time, so he may be correct.

starlyte, thank you for that informative post.

DS, your previous posts are an indication that you sympathize with the Green Party, and I had guessed that in the chatroom and you confirmed that I was correct. My point is, unless you changed political ideologies, what are you doing listening to the conservative Rush Limbaugh?

Thank you Starlyte for such an interesting story . It gave me a completely different view of events.

Fascinating post starlyte.

Of course Alexandria was also home to The Great Lighthouse, one of the wonders of the Ancient World. It is believed that the lighthouse was greatly damaged in 956A.D, 1303 and 1323 AD by earthquakes. By April 1394, it was described by a traveller Ibn Battuta as “in so ruinous a condition that it was not possible to enter it, let alone climb up to the doorway”.

The ruins of the collapsed lighthouse were taken and the Fort of Kait Bey was built on the same location, which still stands today.

What a place Alexandria would have been to visit!

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What a place Alexandria would have been to visit!

I imagine it to have been one of the most glorious places in the whole of the world.

It's sometimes hard to appreciate the complexity of ancient civilisations and the contribution they made to science. It's a crying shame war interferes with it - what a sacrilige to destroy such an important place! Imagine the wealth of knowledge lost forever.....

To behold such places in their glory days would be the ultimate! Imagine strolling through the Hanging Gardens of Babylon or seeing the Pyramids in their full splendour...

you know what they say, Homer...

know your enemy