![]() It is unknown precisely how many such scrolls were housed at any given time, but estimates range from 40,000 to 400,000 at its height.Īlexandria came to be regarded as the capital of knowledge and learning, in part because of the Great Library. The Library quickly acquired many papyrus scrolls, owing largely to the Ptolemaic kings' aggressive and well-funded policies for procuring texts. The idea of a universal library in Alexandria may have been proposed by Demetrius of Phalerum, an exiled Athenian statesman living in Alexandria, to Ptolemy I Soter, who may have established plans for the Library, but the Library itself was probably not built until the reign of his son Ptolemy II Philadelphus. The Library was part of a larger research institution called the Mouseion, which was dedicated to the Muses, the nine goddesses of the arts. ![]() The Great Library of Alexandria in Alexandria, Egypt, was one of the largest and most significant libraries of the ancient world. Probably during the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285–246 BC) Įstimates vary somewhere between 40,000 and 400,000 scrolls, perhaps equivalent to roughly 100,000 books Įstimated to have employed over 100 scholars at its height Von Corven, based partially on the archaeological evidence available at that time ![]() ![]() Nineteenth-century artistic rendering of the Library of Alexandria by the German artist O. ![]()
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