Hidden History: Lost Civilizations, Secret Knowledge, and Ancient Mysteries, Brian Haughton [books you need to read .TXT] 📗

purge, there is no evidence that the Royal Library still existed at the end the fourth century. No ancient sources mention the destruction of any library at this time, though 18th century English historian Edward Gibbon mistakenly attributes it to bishop Theophilus.

The last suggested perpetrator of the crime is the Caliph Omar. In A.D. 640 the Arabs (under General Amrou ibn el-Ass) captured Alexandria after a long siege. According to the story, the conquering Arabs heard about a magnificent library containing all the knowledge of the world and were

anxious to see it. But the Caliph, unmoved by this vast collection of learning, apparently stated "they will either contradict the Koran, in which case they are heresy, or they will agree with it, so they are superfluous." The manuscripts were then gathered together and used as fuel for the 4,000 bathhouses in the city. In fact, there were so many scrolls that they kept the bath-houses of Alexandria heated for six months. These incredible facts were written down 300 years after the supposed event by Christian polymath Gregory Bar Hebraeus (1226-1286). However, while the Arabs may have destroyed a Christian library at Alexandria, it is almost certain that by the mid-seventh century the Royal Library no longer existed. This is made clear by the fact that no mention is made of such a catastrophic event by contemporary writers such as Christian chronicler John of Nikiou (a Byzantine monk), writer John Moschus, and Sophronius (the Patriarch of Jerusalem).

In fact, attempting to identify one devastating fire that destroyed the great library and all of its holdings is a futile task. Alexandria was often a volatile city, especially during the Roman period, as witnessed by Caesar's burning of the ships, and also in the violent struggle between the occupying forces of Queen Zenobia of Palmyra and the Roman Emperor Aurelian in A.D. 270/27 1. Aurelian eventually recovered the city for Rome from Queen Zenobia's armies, but not before many parts of Alexandria had been devastated, and the Bruchion district, which contained the palace and the library, were apparently "made into a desert." The city was again sacked a few years later by Roman Emperor Diocletian. Such repeated damage, spread over several centuries, along with neglect of the library's contents as opinions and affiliations changed, means that the catastrophe was gradual, taking place over a period of 400 or 500 years. The last recorded director of the great library was scholar and mathematician Theon (c. A.D. 335-A.D. 405), father of the female philosopher Hypatia, who was brutally murdered by a Christian mob in Alexandria in A.D. 415. Perhaps

one day, in the deserts of Egypt, scrolls that were once part of the great library will be discovered. Many archaeologists believe that the buildings that once composed the legendary seat of learning at Alexandria, if not buried under the modern metropolis, could still survive relatively intact somewhere in the northeastern part of the city.

In 2004, a Polish-Egyptian archaeological team made the news when they claimed to have discovered a part of the Library of Alexandria while excavating in the Bruchion region. The archaeologists discovered 13 lecture halls, each with an elevated central podium. However, the structures date to the late Roman period (fifth/sixth century A.D.) so are unlikely to represent the celebrated museum or Royal Library, though investigations in the area are still taking place. In 1995, construction work began on the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, a major library and cultural center located close to the site of original library. The huge complex was officially opened on October 16, 2002, and was established to commemorate the vanished Library of Alexandria, and reignite some of the intellectual brilliance that the original center represented. Hopefully, the existence of a new universal library will show that at least the spirit of the ancient library has not been lost.

the GreaI Pyramid: An Enigma in the Desert

Photograph by Alex lbh (GNU Free Documentation License).

Detail of the Great Pyramid.

The oldest and only survivor of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Great Pyramid at Giza has become not only a symbol of ancient Egypt but of the mysterious and unknown itself. The pyramid stands on the west bank of the Nile in the necropolis of Giza, a complex of ancient monuments, which in pharaonic times was part of the ancient city of Memphis. Today it is a part of Greater Cairo. In its size and the quality of its design and construction, the Pyramid represents the high point of pyramid building in Egypt.

Egyptologists generally agree that the pyramid was built around 2650 B.c. as a tomb for the Egyptian pharaoh Khufu (Cheops). However, as no burial has ever been found within the structure, and no inscriptions located to identify its function, some researchers have proposed alternative theories for the date and function of the Great Pyramid, which still continues to amaze and confound thousands of years after its construction.

The Great Pyramid is is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids on the Giza Necropolis. Southwest lies the slightly smaller Pyramid of Khafre (Chephren), one of Khufu's sons, and the supposed builder of the Great Sphinx, which lies to the east of his pyramid. Further to the southwest is the much smaller Pyramid of Menkaure, Khafre's son and successor. The Great Pyramid measures 449.5 feet in height and 750 square feet, though when it was originally constructed its height was 478 feet. It was the tallest building on Earth until the 13th century, when the 524 foot tall spire of Lincoln Cathedral in England was completed. Missing from the original pyramid structure is the fine white limestone casing and its gold plated pyramidion, or capstone, which topped the monument. The four sides of the massive pyramid are carefully oriented to the four cardinal points, and are accurate to within 3 minutes of an arc. More than 2 million blocks of stone were used in the construction of the monument, each weighing more than 2 tons. It has been calculated