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No other institution illustrates the spirit of Hellenism better than the ancient library of Alexandria, Egypt. Here are some facts about the library.

Cool Bookish Places 10 Things You Need to Know About the Ancient Library of Alexandria Erika Harlitz-Kern Feb 4, 2019 <img alt='' src='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/134cc53bb7a9e49ca864a8595c3c39eb?s=160&d=blank&r=g' srcset='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/134cc53bb7a9e49ca864a8595c3c39eb?s=320&d=blank&r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-160 photo' height='160' width='160' decoding='async'/> Erika Harlitz-Kern Staff Writer Erika Harlitz-Kern holds a doctorate from a Swedish university and can't get enough of history, books, and music. Her earliest memories involve a comic book and a Dutch troubadour. She has travelled South Asia on a shoestring, although nowadays she spends most of her vacations in the Mississippi Delta. Lives with her husband in South Florida, because sooner or later they would've ended up there anyway. Blog: The Boomerang Twitter: EH_Kern View All posts by Erika Harlitz-Kern LINK COPIED! Share on: Facebook Threads Bluesky Reddit In 334 BCE, Alexander the Great set out to conquer the world. On his conquests, Alexander brought with him historians and geographers to document and spread the word about the different societies and cultures they encountered as they fought their way from Macedonia and Greece in the west to India in the east. <img decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-254575" src="https://s2982.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/ancient-library-of-alexandria-683x1024.png" alt="10 facts about the Ancient Library of Alexandria. book history | literary history | library of alexandria | the history of the library of alexandria | libraries | library history" width="599" height="897" data-pin-description="10 facts about the Ancient Library of Alexandria. book history | literary history | library of alexandria | the history of the library of alexandria | libraries | library history" srcset="https://s2982.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/ancient-library-of-alexandria-683x1024.png 683w, https://s2982.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/ancient-library-of-alexandria-200x300.png 200w, https://s2982.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/ancient-library-of-alexandria-33x50.png 33w, https://s2982.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/ancient-library-of-alexandria.png 735w" sizes="(max-width: 599px) 100vw, 599px" /> After his untimely death in 323 BCE, Alexander’s conquests helped usher in a new era in Ancient history named Hellenism. Hellenism is the result of Greek-Macedonian culture blending with the societies of North Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and India. It is defined by vibrant artistic expressions, expanded philosophical horizons, and a constant search for new knowledge. No other institution illustrates the spirit of Hellenism better than the ancient library of Alexandria, Egypt. Here are 10 things you need to know about the ancient library of Alexandria. 1) The ancient library of Alexandria was founded by Demetrius of Phaleon, an Athenian politician who fell from power and fled to Egypt. There, he found refuge at the royal court of King Ptolemy I Soter, who ruled Egypt between 323 and 285 BCE. Impressed by the extensive knowledge and deep learning of Demetrius, Ptolemy assigned him the task of creating a library. 2) The ancient library of Alexandria was part of an institution of higher learning known as the Alexandrian Museum. The library was intended as a resource for the scholars who did research at the Museum. 3) The books at the library were divided into the following subjects: rhetoric, law, epic, tragedy, comedy, lyric poetry, history, medicine, mathematics, natural science, and miscellaneous. The library is believed to have housed between 200,000 and 700,000 books, divided between two library branches. 4) Book were acquired for the library through purchases at Athens and Rhodes, the two main book markets in the Ancient Mediterranean; through copying; and through confiscation. 5) One category of acquired books was called “from the ships.” Whenever a ship arrived at the harbor in Alexandria, government officials went aboard, searching for books. They brought the books they found to the library for inspection. These books were either returned immediately, or confiscated and replaced with a copy made by the library scribes. <img decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-253743" class=" wp-image-253743" src="https://s2982.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Rosetta_Stone.jpg.optimal.jpg" alt="The Rosetta Stone | Book Riot | 10 Things You Need to Know about the Library of Alexandria" width="250" height="293" srcset="https://s2982.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Rosetta_Stone.jpg.optimal.jpg 300w, https://s2982.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Rosetta_Stone-256x300.jpg.optimal.jpg 256w, https://s2982.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Rosetta_Stone-43x50.jpg.optimal.jpg 43w" sizes="(max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px" />The Rosetta Stone, created in 196 B.C.E. in Egypt and contains writing in Greek, Egyptian hieroglyphics, and Egyptian demot...

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