The Royal Library of Alexandria
The Royal Library of Alexandria possessed one of the greatest collections of papyrus scrolls of its time. Destroyed by fire, the history of its demise is surrounded in mystery. But there is still a great deal that historians do know about this ancient centre of learning.
The library was built in the third century BCE in Alexandria, Egypt by Ptolemy II. Alexandria was the capital of the last Pharaonic dynasty. It was attached to a temple of the muses known as the Museion in Greek. This was probably a research centre that concentrated on editing texts. This was an important work because of the variety of editions of a single text. A smaller library was attached to the main library and known as the Serapeum because of its dedication to the Greek god Serapis.
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