Alexandria: The Ancient World’s Center of Learning

Alexandria became the cultural and commercial center of the ancient world. It began as a small fishing village before the arrival of a young general who would become one of history’s greatest commanders. For nearly two centuries before his arrival, Egypt had been under the control of Persia, a powerful empire in western Asia. In 332 BCE, a Greek army led by the twenty-two-year-old Alexander the Great defeated the Persians. The grateful people welcomed the young general, and some Egyptians even worshipped him as a pharaoh.

Founding a New Capital

Alexander soon left Egypt to continue his conquests, but before departing, he established a new capital named for himself on a Mediterranean port. He left his general, Ptolemy, in charge of Egypt. After Alexander’s death, Ptolemy became king and founded the Ptolemaic dynasty, which ended with Cleopatra in 30 BCE.

The Royal Library at Alexandria

The Ptolemies made Alexandria a center of trade and research. Many of the greatest minds of their era gathered there to study and conduct research. They constructed the Royal Library at Alexandria, which became the greatest library of the ancient world. The library collected books from across the known world and attempted to gather all knowledge in one place.

Because books had to be copied manually, they were scarce before Johann Gutenberg invented the printing press around 1450 CE. A Greek writer named Galen wrote that library officials seized books from ships sailing into Alexandria’s port. Scribes at the library then copied the books. The library would keep the original volumes and return only the copies to their owners.

Loss of the Ancient Library

Interest in the Royal Library weakened once Rome conquered the Ptolemies. Julius Caesar’s army is believed to have accidentally burned one of the primary buildings in the library. The final destruction of the Royal Library appears to have occurred around 265 CE. We don’t know the details in part because the place that held the knowledge of the ancient world is now gone.

Bibliotheca Alexandrina (2002)

Alexandria is no longer Egypt’s capital, but it is still the country’s largest seaport and remains a tourist attraction. The modern Bibliotheca Alexandrina was constructed in Alexandria in 2002. Similar to the ancient institution’s mission of gathering all knowledge, today’s version partners with the Internet Archive, a vast network collection that aims to preserve nearly anything ever posted on the Internet. You can access the archive and view archived copies of how websites looked in the past at www.archive.org.