What Happened to the Ancient Library of Alexandria?

Citation

Weller, T. (2009), "What Happened to the Ancient Library of Alexandria?", Journal of Documentation, Vol. 65 No. 4, pp. 708-711. https://doi.org/10.1108/00220410910970348a

What Happened to the Ancient Library of Alexandria? originated from a collection of conference papers given in 2004. Each of the thirteen chapters discusses a different aspect of the library's history, role and chronology but takes as its central driving question the ultimate fate of the ancient library. This gives the volume cohesiveness in what might otherwise have become a very general history of ancient Alexandria.

The underlying question of what happened to the library is undoubtedly the strength of the book, which comes to the consensus conclusion that while exactly how the library was destroyed is unknown, the evidence seems to strongly indicate that it continued to have a popular and cultural impact in some form long after its destruction. As co‐editor Ismail Serageldin suggests, Alexandria “continued to be a renowned seat of learning in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages” (p. ix). For library historians this challenges some of the accepted scholarship that the public library as a cultural centre of learning began at the start of the modern period.

The level of scholarship is impressive, with source material taken from key Egyptian, Arabic and classical texts, and the Bible as well as a comprehensive list of secondary material. There are some fascinating reproductions of classical images, mosaics and library architecture. The contributors themselves are some of the most impressive names in the field and between them offer a rich variety of discourses on ancient Alexandria. The chapters cover four broad themes; the evolution of the library institution in ancient Egypt; the threat to the Ancient Library in late Ptolemaic and Roman times; intellectual culture in Alexandria in Late Antiquity; and the relationship between the Arabs and the Alexandria Library.

The book does assume quite high levels of existing knowledge; it is not a book for the interested amateur. Having its origins as a collection of conference papers becomes most evident here, where, unless you have some knowledge of the political and social affairs of ancient Egypt, you may be left faltering in places, such is the depth of historical detail.

That said, there are some fascinating anecdotal points to take away from this volume. Of particular interest to documentation scholars, Mounir Megally's discussion of the systemisation of knowledge (if you can read the French in which it is written), and Fayza Haikal's distinction between archives and libraries in relation to the linguistic differences in hieroglyphics used by priests. Terms such as, when translated, “the hall of written documents”, “the house of papyrus rolls” and “the house of life” (p. 41). Haikal's contribution also offers a fascinating insight on ancient forms of knowledge management as library scrolls were arranged in size, according to their importance, from large religious works, to smaller draws of letters and bills.

There are also some intriguing discussions by Grzegorz Majcherek, Georges Leroux and Maria Dzielska which show a tradition of oral knowledge, lectures and education taking place within the ancient library. The sixth century writer, Elias, describes lecture rooms in the library to be “in similarity to theatres, are often round in plan so that the students can see one another as well as the teacher” (p. 201). This suggests that the library of Alexandria was much more of a cultural and intellectual centre than simply an ancient repository for written material.

The one real limitation to this collection, and it is a significant one, is that of translation. While commendable and important that research on this topic is being translated into English for greater dissemination, in places the language is stilted and ambiguous. Of the thirteen chapters, two are in French whilst the rest are in English. At no point is this referred to or explained within the volume which gives it an oddly disjointed feel, and quite why the publishers felt it was appropriate to offer a book in two languages in unclear. Unless you are fluent in scholarly English and scholarly French there are some immediate and fundamental barriers to comprehension.

For those with little or no existing knowledge of the classical age in Egyptian history this collection is probably not the best place to start. However, there is some fascinating material here, if you can work through the issues with language, offering an insight into the ancient history of libraries, in contrast to the more oft‐studied early modern and modern periods of documentation developments.