The Library of Alexandria: “House of Muses”

It was remarkable and extraordinary that this soldier (Alexander the Great) built one of the greatest academic institutions in history. It was called the House of Muses (from which we derive the word “museum”) and contained all the elements of a modern residential university. It comprised four schools — mathematics, letters, astronomy and medicine. The building eventually accumulated the largest library in the ancient world, with hundreds of thousands of volumes. Within just a couple of generations its discoveries included the accurate measurement of the diameter of the earth, the cylinder and piston, the pump and one-way valve, the science of hydraulics and a system of planetary motion.

In 48 B.C., Julius Caesar burned the Egyptian fleet in Alexandria harbor while fighting Pompey. The fire spread to destroy the library, but Caesar did not think to mention the incident in his memoirs. The intellectual gem of antiquity was gone forever.

Excerpted from an article by Dr. Dennis Bloomfield for silive.com

Related posts:

1. The design of the Underwater Museum of Egyptian Antiquities in Alexandria
2. Glorious past and future for Alexandria
3. Alexandria still enjoys a particularly Greek flavor
4. Alexander not the first at Alexandria
5. Alexandria back to Greatness

Tags: Alexandria, Great Alexander, house of muses, Julius Caesar, Medicine

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 17th, 2009 at 2:59 am and is filed under Culture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.