Discover the World Your Library

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Discover the World _at_ Your Library
TM

• School Library Media Month

April 2009
Ancient Libraries 300 BCE 200 BCE
Library Media Services ? Miami-Dade County
Public Schools
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Ancient Libraries ca. 300 BCE

• First great private library established
• Established in Ancient Greece in the city of
  Athens
• Established by Aristotle, philosopher and
  scientist

Source SIRS Knowledge Source Grolier Online
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Ancient Libraries ca. 300 BCE Location of
Aristotles private library
Source Grolier Online
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Ancient Libraries - ca. 200 BCE

• Library of Pergamum in Western Asia Minor
• Located in Western Asia Minornow Turkey
• Founded by Attalus I
• Contained as many as 160,000 papyrus scrolls

Source Facts on File - Ancient History
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Ancient Libraries Pergamum and Alexandria

Legend
Ptolemy II, ruler of Alexandria, became so
jealous of the competing Pergamum library that he
banned the export of papyrus from Egypt.
So
Source eLibrary Papyrus http//www.greece.org/a
lexandria/library/library7.htm
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Ancient Libraries Pergamum and Alexandria

Legend continued
the scribes at the Pergamum library were forced
to transcribe text on parchment, a material made
from animal skins, such as calf skin or sheep
skin.
Source eLibrary
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Ancient Libraries Pergamum and Alexandria

Fact
Parchment was found to be much more durable than
papyrus thus, it came to replace papyrus as the
main writing material in Europe.
Source eLibrary
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Ancient Libraries Today Pergamum - The Ruins

Source Grolier Online Grolier Multimedia
Encyclopedia
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Ancient Libraries Today Library at Alexandria

Ancient Alexandria was home to a library, which
was founded about 295 B.C. and burned to the
ground in the fourth century. Ruins were never
found. The auditoriums were found near the
portico of the Roman Theater in the eastern part
of the city. All the lecture halls are of
identical dimensions.
Source World Book
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Ancient Libraries Pergamum and Alexandria

• The ancient libraries of Alexandria and Pergamum
  were intended to be places where the most eminent
  minds of the time would meet. These ancient
  facilities were the research centers of the
  world. Aristotle, Archimedes, Eratosthenes,
  Euclid, and others used the Alexandria library.
  Scholars from all over the world were invited to
  come.

Source http//www.alia.org.au/groups/active/prese
ntations/alexandria.jpg
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Ancient Libraries Pergamum and Alexandria

• The library at Alexandria was open to all
  civilization. Every effort was made to collect
  and transcribe every book in the world. Any ship
  that docked in Alexandria was searched. If any
  books were found, they were copied for the
  library.

Source http//www.alia.org.au/groups/active/prese
ntations/alexandria.jpg
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Ancient Libraries Pergamum and Alexandria

• Sadlythe library at Alexandria was partially
  burned when Julius Caesar and his army attacked
  Alexandria. No one knows how much of it was
  destroyed. It is believed that the library was
  finally destroyed by an earthquake although
  there are other legends that explain its demise.

Source http//culture11.com/files/libertywire/u5/
image/4_Cole_Thomas_The_Course_of_Empire_Destructi
on_1836.jpg
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Ancient Libraries Pergamum and Alexandria

• The Library at Pergamum came under the control of
  the Romans around 133 BCE. Funds that covered the
  maintenance of the library soon dwindled and the
  library was no longer kept maintainedthus
  eventually falling into ruins.

Source http//library.thinkquest.org/17709/images
/pergmum2.jpg
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Our journey continued to
Source Facts on File
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Greece
Source Facts on File
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Greece
The first great private library was established
in the city of __________.
Source WorldBook
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From Greece we travelled to
Source Facts on File
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Turkey (Nineveh)
Source Facts on File
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Turkey (Nineveh)
Why did parchment, which was used in the Pergamum
Library in Turkey, replace papyrus as the main
writing material in Europe?
Source World Book
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Today we visited
Source Facts on File
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Think About It

• Who do you think most frequently had the
  opportunity to use the Ancient Libraries?
  Explain.
• When a new book for the ancient libraries at
  Alexandria and Pergamum was discovered, how was a
  copy made? (Rememberthis is ca. 300 BCE.)
• What are some theories that explain the
  destruction of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in
  Alexandria, Egypt?

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