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The Royal Library of Alexandria or Ancient Library of Alexandria in Alexandria, Egypt, was one of the largest and most significant libraries of the ancient world. It was dedicated to the Muses, the nine goddesses of the arts.〔Murray, S. A., (2009). The library: An illustrated history. New York: Skyhorse Publishing, p.17〕 It flourished under the patronage of the Ptolemaic dynasty and functioned as a major center of scholarship from its construction in the 3rd century BC until the Roman conquest of Egypt in 30 BC, with collections of works, lecture halls, meeting rooms, and gardens. The library was part of a larger research institution called the Musaeum of Alexandria, where many of the most famous thinkers of the ancient world studied. The library was created by Ptolemy I Soter, who was a Macedonian general and the successor of Alexander the Great.〔Murray, S. (2009). ''The library: An illustrated history''. Chicago, IL: Skyhorse Publishing, (pp. 15).〕 Most of the books were kept as papyrus scrolls. It is unknown how many such scrolls were housed at any given time, but their combined value was incalculable. The library is famous for having been burned down, resulting in the loss of many scrolls and books; its destruction has become a symbol for the loss of cultural knowledge. A few sources differ on who is responsible for the destruction and when it occurred. There is mythology regarding this main burning but the library may in truth have suffered several fires or other acts of destruction over many years. Possible occasions for the partial or complete destruction of the Library of Alexandria include a fire set by Julius Caesar in 48 BC, an attack by Aurelian in the AD 270s, and the decree of Coptic Pope Theophilus in AD 391. After the main library was fully destroyed, ancient scholars used a "daughter library" in a temple known as the Serapeum, located in another part of the city. According to Socrates of Constantinople, Coptic Pope Theophilus destroyed the Serapeum in AD 391. ==Structure== The exact layout is not known, but ancient sources describe the Library of Alexandria as comprising a collection of scrolls, a peripatos walk, a room for shared dining, a reading room, meeting rooms, gardens, and lecture halls, creating a model for the modern university campus. The library itself is known to have had an acquisitions department (possibly built near the stacks, or for utility closer to the harbour) and a cataloguing department. A hall contained shelves for the collections of papyrus scrolls known as ''bibliothekai'' (''βιβλιοθῆκαι''). According to popular description, an inscription above the shelves read: ''The place of the cure of the soul.''〔Manguel, Alberto, The Library at Night. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008, p. 26.〕 The library was but one part of the Musaeum of Alexandria, which functioned as a sort of research institute. In addition to the library, the Musaeum included rooms for the study of astronomy, anatomy, and even a zoo of exotic animals. The classical thinkers who studied, wrote, and experimented at the Musaeum include the great names of mathematics, astronomy, physics, geometry, engineering, geography, physiology, and medicine. These included notable thinkers such as Euclid, Archimedes, Eratosthenes, Herophilus, Erasistratus, Hipparchus, Aedesia, Pappus, Theon, Hypatia, and Aristarchus of Samos.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=The Great Library of Alexandria )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Library of Alexandria」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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