The first libraries appeared much earlier than the books themselves. Throughout the world, these temples buildings served not only, and not so much as depositories of clay tablets, papyri and parchments, but also as real centers of cultural education. In the Islamic world, the largest library became the home for the inventors of algebra and mathematics, Alexandria was considered the main intellectual property of the Western world.
Ashurbanipal Library
The oldest known library in the world was founded around the 7th century. The book-loving Assyrian ruler Ashurbanipal amassed most of his great collection during the conquest of Babylonia and other surrounding countries. Archaeologists discovered the library only in the middle of the 19th century, and now the remains of clay books are kept in the British Museum.
Library of Alexandria
After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC. control over Egypt was gained by his former general Ptolemy I Soter. He aimed to create a new intellectual center in the city of Alexandria. As a result, a real pearl of the ancient world, the Library of Alexandria was built. More than 500,000 papyrus scrolls were kept on the shelves - texts on history, jurisprudence, mathematics and science. Unfortunately, in 48 BC. Julius Caesar set fire to the harbor of Alexandria during a battle against the Egyptian ruler Ptolemy XIII and the library burned to the ground.
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Library of Pergamon
The Pergamon Library was built in the 3rd century BC. the Attalid dynasty. According to the ancient chronicler Pliny the Elder, the Library of Pergamum numbered over 200,000 scrolls and competed with the famous Library of Alexandria.
Trajan Forum Libraries
Around 112 BC. Emperor Trajan erected a wonderful new forum in the center of Rome, where markets, vast squares and religious temples were located. In addition, the building of one of the most famous libraries of the Roman Empire was erected here. The book depository was divided into two sections: one contained works in Latin, the other in Greek. The library has existed for over 300 years.
Library of Celsus
In general, in the heyday of the Roman Empire, there were about two dozen large libraries and not all of them were located in the capital. Around 120 BC the son of the Roman consul Tiberius Julius Celsus Polemaine completed the construction of the so-called memorial library in Ephesus (modern Turkey). The exquisite facade of the building can still be admired today. Also preserved are a marble staircase, columns and four statues representing Wisdom, Virtue, Intelligence and Knowledge.
Imperial Library of Constantinople
After the Western Roman Empire fell into decay, classical Greek and Roman thought continued to flourish in Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire. The imperial library of the city first appeared in the 4th century, under Constantine the Great. Already in the 5th century, the collection of books and parchment scrolls grew to 120,000 copies - the library grew until the crusader army in 1204 ravaged the city to the ground.
House of wisdom
The Iraqi city of Baghdad was once one of the world's intellectual and cultural centers. During the reign of the Abbasids, the great House of Wisdom was built here, filled with Persian, Indian and Greek manuscripts on mathematics, astronomy, science, medicine and philosophy. The library remained the intellectual nerve center of the entire Islamic world. Unfortunately, the Mongol invasion in 1258 led to the complete destruction of the unique storehouse of knowledge.