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What happened to the Great Library at Alexandria?
Once the largest library in the ancient world, and containing works by the greatest thinkers and writers of antiquity, including Homer, Plato, Socrates and many more, the Library of Alexandria, northern Egypt, is popularly believed to have...
Definition
Library of Alexandria
The Library of Alexandria was established under the Ptolemaic Dynasty of Egypt (323-30 BCE) and flourished under the patronage of the early kings to become the most famous library of the ancient world, attracting scholars from around the...
Definition
Library of Celsus
The Library of Celsus in ancient Ephesus, located in western Turkey, was a repository of over 12,000 scrolls and one of the most impressive buildings in the Roman Empire. Constructed in the 2nd century CE, it was named after the city's former...
Definition
Library of Ashurbanipal
The Library of Ashurbanipal (7th century BCE) is the oldest known systematically organized library in the world, established in Nineveh by the Neo-Assyrian king Ashurbanipal (r. 668-627 BCE) to preserve the history and culture of Mesopotamia...
Definition
Library of Pergamon
The Library of Pergamon was established in the city of Pergamon (also Pergamum) by the Attalid King Eumenes II (r. 197-159 BCE) and became the most famous and well-respected center of learning after the Library at Alexandria, Egypt. The library...
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Ancient Library
Artist's impression of an ancient library, possibly the Great Library of Alexandria.
Interview
Interview: UNESCO Archives Digitization Project
Ancient History Encyclopedia has partnered with the UNESCO Archives, which we are very excited about. Our mission aligns very much with UNESCO, wanting to bring about peace and international understanding to the world through cultural heritage...
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Portrait of John Wesley Gilbert
John Wesley Gilbert (1863-1923) in 1888.
Images of Brown, Brown Digital Repository, Brown University Library, Providence.
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Western Sahara, Catalan Atlas
A map of West Africa from the 1375 CE Catalan Atlas. The map shows the trans-Saharan caravan trade routes between North Africa and the Niger River. (Sheet 6, National Library of France, Paris)
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Euripides, Orestes, 338-44: Musical Fragment
This papyrus was written around 200 BCE in Hermopolis, Egypt, and contains seven fragmentary lines (338–344) from the first chorus of Euripides, Orestes. The fragment contains vocal and instrumental symbols written above the lines of the...