What really happened to the Library of Alexandria? - Elizabeth Cox
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- čas přidán 13. 08. 2018
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2,300 years ago, the rulers of Alexandria set out to fulfill a very audacious goal: to collect all the knowledge in the world under one roof. In its prime, the Library of Alexandria housed an unprecedented number of scrolls and attracted some of the Greek world’s greatest minds. But by the end of the 5th century CE, it had vanished. Elizabeth Cox details the rise and fall of this great building.
Lesson by Elizabeth Cox, directed by Inna Phillimore.
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TED-Ed first like to ur comment :) ps great voice
Loving your videos Ted-Ed thank you for nurturing my mind and keeping my knowledge wide.
Hello Ted-Ed team can you do a video on why silent letters are used in English?~ please
TED-Ed why use the CE and BCE chronology? The AD BC is much more clear and it doesn't have to mean Anno Domini and before Christ, could mean backwards chronology and advancing dates
(Edit) i don't wanna get into a debate, and btw great video
Joan, AD and BC do have to mean what they mean. You can't just go changing meanings. Besides, it looks silly for dates provided by science to use dates set up by any religion. No debate here.
The loss of the Library is one of the worst things humans have ever done.
The construction of the Library is one of the best things humans have ever done.
Let's say humanity doesn't deserve the fault of some violent ideologies and many fooled people.
The destruction of Baghdad library is worse than this
This thread is so dramatic
You should all look up the Ancient Nalanda University in India. Destruction of that is one of the worst things humans have ever done.
Everybody is talking about the what library was the wrost thing happen to humannity but everybody forgot the invention of pinneaple pizza
Tfw when you're chilling and having a good day and then you remember that the burning of the library of Alexandria delayed humanity's technological progression by at *least* one thousand years
As if this knowledge would be equally shared amongst all humanity, or if the Mediterranean peoples could represent the human civilization.
Every Book in The Library was also contained elsewhere, so this is a ridiculous claim.
@@skwills1629 but not the ones who didn't came from elsewhere
@@chrisval5243 - Actua;;y, books written in Alexandria culd and often were copied as well, so, I see no Reason why they'd not copy them for others.
@@skwills1629 No. a lot of the time there was only one of most books it was so hard and time consuming to copy a scroll until printing was discovered!
As a lover of history, I’m still pissed about this.
this is not the only one, worlds first universities were setup in india, nalanda and taxsshila, nalanda had a 6floored library which was burned by and invador, it is said that library burned for 6months, ironically that place is now named after the invador
@@oksowhat Invadors name? Albert Einstein.
Jk. I'm furious whenever I think about it. On the other hand, I reckon 90% of their knowledge would be proven wrong nowadays. In addition, they were copying the scrolls and giving them back to the sailors, so a fraction of that knowledge sailed back to its origins, hence, survived to this day.
@@MDMAx bruh, bruh bruh bruh...till infinity, you should have known that nalanda and taxhshila both were far far from cost, foregin students did come here to study but not to teach, and better know who is called the father of surgery, from where did the concept of zero came see indian concepts of trignometry, when west was still gathering and hunting, subcontinent was a flourishing civilization lol
as a science student im also mad about this
The perpetrator of such an atrocious deed deserved to be stabbed... oh wait...
In Avatar The Last Airbender, remember Wan Shi Tong’s Library and how he asks for new knowledge as payment for you to explore the library? Also how Commander Zhao burned the Fire Nation section of the library? And how Wan Shi Tong himself buried the library deep beneath the desert so humans can no longer use them to harm others? Amazing references!
OMG I watched ATLA as a kid, recently rewatched it (having learned of the great library of alexandria at some point between then and now) and I was like... hey!! Wan Shi Tong's library was totally inspired by the one in alexandria! Glad to see I'm not the only one who thought that!
The library of nalanda in ancient India also burnt and has the same story. Avatar is greatly influenced by Hinduism/buddhism so maybe it could be a reference to that?
@@suhani551 ooh! I actually didn't know about that. That could be it, too - I'll have to read about that library.
@@sabrinalayton2835 yes u should. The library was so huge that it burnt for days...
@@suhani551 Ohh I've always thought that Wan Shi Tong's Library looked like it was somewhat inspired by Indian architecture
Can you imagine if we we still had the library of Alexandria? The time we would have been able to save ...
We might have been able to figure out how to wash our hands
Not that much time. The arabs 3 centuries later were collecting texts from around the world, too. Just the europe/mediterranian have seen a slowdown in science production. Other parts of the world as SA, Africa's west coast and said Arabia were having their golden age few centuries after the death of Hypatia
Fabricio Goulart idk much about this, so please excuse my ignorance. But if the library had records of great inventions, such as a steam engine well before it was recreated for industrial revolution, then wouldn’t it , in fact, be held at least hundreds of years? The industrial revolution was huge and if that could have started hundred years prior then who knows how rapidly we could have developed. Maybe the Renaissance happens hundreds year prior too.
@@fabriciogoulart4564 correct me if I'm wrong, but the Mongols destroyed Arab's book collections
@Maro Elbrens well yes, that's what I was talking about
The destruction of the Library of Alexandria is easily one of the most tragic and backwards moments in Human history. The fact that all of this knowledge, this enormous wealth of history, was feared enough to be destroyed is something remarkable on its own. To think if people saw knowledge as not something to fear and cover up but as something to use to its utmost potential, where might we be in technology and science and cultural expansion today. I actually get mad thinking about this. Like no joke...
It wasnt that tragic, most of those books were just poetry anyway.
Herodotus 94 Yeah, what a lot of people seem to think is that the Library of Alexandria held scrolls filled with advanced math and science, which is wrong. In fact, if anyone wants to rightfully cast the blame for the loss of knowledge, time is the main culprit. For if a work loses popularity, it stops being copied, and when that happens, decay sets in and works are lost.
As an advocate for science, a thespian, and an actor in LA, I argue that any text put to writing and willingly maintained in an enormous library can have value to some if not many.
Also, let's be honest, with how ridiculous copying and re-copying those scrolls and texts would be, I'd to like think someone somewhere would have some inkling of a thought for something resembling a printing press. Maybe it's a long shot, but they would have quite awhile before the 1400s haha
Marcelo Delgado Not to mention that it wasn’t even the largest of most important library in the Mediterranean let alone the world at the time. There was a library in Pergamum and in other areas of the Roman Empire that definitely rivaled Alexandria’s library.
as a native Egyptian, born and raised in Alex I can confirm that the library burned somewhere during the later years of Cleopatra te seventh's reign. Luckily some of the ancient scrolls survived the fire and are now safely stored in the new Alexandrian library.
Fun fact: when I was younger my mom used to leave me in the children's section there when she's busy... Tutors there would teach us about astronomy and tell us stories about the history of Alex along with physical evidence which is stored in another section. high school students would often come to do their research while tourists roamed around
There's a new library there? nice
Hope it doesn't get burned again......................
Humanity has conquer a vast amount of work pieces, in every field, and beyond imagination, during its small part of time-existence in the universe. And it is through the creation of civilization that all this become real.
On the contrary, it is unthinkable to see humanity itself to proceed in a self-amputation by leaving ruins of its achievements to the next generations, who will lament about for ages.
There is a greek word that is really difficult to translate because it doesn't exist in english : σοφόμωρος / sophomoros. It 's composed by two words: σοφός / sophos which means wise and μωρός / moros which means foolish.
-To be wise and foolish at the same time.
Unfortunately this is something that characterize man.
A dramatic scene, taken from the Agora movie (December 2009) showing someone who based in real life person called Hypatia of Alexandria (brilliant mathematician and philosopher renowned for her natural beauty, high intelligence and moral standards as well as for her rhetoric and teaching skills) among scholars of the Library of Alexandria (the largest and most famous library of the ancient times,collecting all the worlds knowledge ) and the siege of the Library of Alexandria by the Christian mob (one of the 3 main stories of the Librarys destruction), probably in the beginning of the 4th century.
It is to be noticed that Hypatia died young in a dreadful manner when she was torn to pieces by monks in 415 in Alexandria (during the reign of Theodosius II).Famous for her excellence in philosophy (neoplatonist) and sciences (mathematician, astronomer), her brilliant mind, fine manners and exceptional beauty. Some count her as the last Head Librarian after Aristarchus.
Only his close friends are allowed to call him Alex tho
What if the new library knowledge is already tampered?
That’s why you should never put the most precious things in the same box...
No printing press. No easy way to make copies. Sapho of Lesbos was considered to be a greater writer than Homer. Lesbos was destroyed. Copies of her work however had been sent to the Library. Safe!
Oh, umm, until ...
Aristotle had done the same thing. Gone, all gone.
And if you do, don’t leave that box with us in Egypt
@@veramae4098 she means that you should have the knowledge spread out in other libraries
The papyruses still existed throughout the world. The library of alexandria simply had a copy of all the knowledge in one place
@@user-ht3tp3uj4v Yeah but if The great Library still here right now, everybody can just go there
If I went back in time, all the scholars would wonder why I’m taking all their books
You'd be doing it for the good of our species. If possible, handing them to trustworthy ppl twice every century would be awesome.
I dunno - imagine the Caesar Roman Numeral System: DCCXXVI.III Buildings for religious & related purposes (726.3)
Books were incredibly valuable back then, because the copying technology was so limited. They would have just thought you were another book thief
@@patrickhodson8715 show them one of your doawnloaded youtube video , they will think you are god
Hieu Le Chi lmao
Caesar: *Et tu, Brute?*
Brutus: Um, remember when you burned that Great Library? So yeah
* stabs for the 23rd time *
Was an accident
1000 subscribers without a video challenge Caesar was one of the greatest rulers
He never actually fully burned the library he only burned part of it the civilizations were the reason the stopped using the library
It was a Muslim empire that destroyed the library... the video cut short without mentioning it
@@delmanglar Professor Bernard Lewis, a modern critic of Islam, has summarized the verdict of modern scholarship on the subject: "Modern research has shown the story to be completely unfounded. None of the early chronicles, not even the Christian ones, make any reference to it and it is not mentioned until the 13th century..." Those words were written by Professor Lewis in 1950. In 1990, he said: "Not the creation but the demolition of the myth was an achievement of European scholarship which, from the 18th century to the present day, has rejected the story as false and absurd, and thus exonerated Caliph Omar and the early Muslims from this libel."
Imagine asking someone for their assignment to copy it and then returning them the copied one. xD
You give them and old scroll and get a brand new one back. Sounds good to me.
Imagine just how advanced and culturally and technologically sophisticated our world would be had the entire content of this library survived intact.
It would be pretty much the same as it is now. Knowledge wasn't lost, merely scrolls. Technology was being used, the craftsmen didn't rely on the library, they learnt from other craftsmen.
Literally nothing would've changed. Most of the stuff in the scrolls would have been irrelevant. We're not "behind a century" due to this fire
@@winnerwinnerporkbellydinner Well, they did lose the knowledge how to make cement and other things, and people didn't understand what the aqueducts were for, for example one guy writing about Rome stated that the aqueducts brought the river Tiber to Rome lol, and that was like in the 15th-16th century AD.
And perhaps with such advancement much pain and destruction and time could of been saved, the world would be very different maybe if the great libraries of the world were not always destroyed
@@winnerwinnerporkbellydinner so the creation of the steam engine so early wouldnt have made any changes? the knowledge of batteries? these were very much technologies which were lost until later reinvented. There are countless inventions that would have changed the medieval period alone in huge ways. other than that you are also forgetting the reason most of these kinds of libraries were destroyed was due to religion. Which means a world that had these would have had a much weaker islam, christianity and judaism which would have ENORMOUS impacts on how the world shaped out. a world where the church didnt dictate what information was real or not would be huge. Also the destruction of libraries and the culture of libraries and scholorly living had a huge impact on the world. We went from the world having a decent literacy rate (it was quite common to be able to read in that part of the world) and then due to the cultural change that came with religious control of knowledge you saw most people not learning to read or write at all. The destruction of the large libraries was all part of removing scholarly culture from common people. And was a tool used by the church and major religions to control knowledge and peoples minds. It is much easier to control uninformed and less educated people. Do you not think that the knowledge forexample of the eastern continent (which is how the ancient greeks spoke of america which they had learned about through east asian sailors) would have changed the colonial period? knowledge of the americas would have changed everything!
"Those who don't know their history are doomed to repeat it."
-Edmund Burke.
That's a Jorge Santayana's quote.
war is eminent. many will die
Damn, someone must've really liked what they had done
Even if mankind knows its history, it will repeat it anyways!
@@sonalithakur4970 of course, everybody lives the same life everyday, trapped by their circumstances
we could have had so much information about the times . Sad it was burnt.
No it wasn't, have you even watch the video? Only the originals was burns, the copies survive.
the copies did not have a lot of the information that the originals had. lots of info was lost.
redstone craft guy that's only for the texts and books from travelling ships. Im guessing they didnt think they needed to make copies for any of the scholar's manuscripts or those obtained by Alexander/Ptolemy.
Maruf Khan wrong again, the copy is WORD FOR WORD identical to the original.
Half of all books were comments on Homers works, ppl exaggerated the value of it
Fear of knowledge, and the arrogant belief that the past is obsolete….
such a profound statement. I think everyone in 2020 needs to say this to themselves
Ptolemy:"This will be the greatest library in the world!"
Julius caesar: *was*
Caesar ruined it for everyone. Maybe Christopher Columbus would have gone to the moon instead of the new continent in 1492 if not for the bloodthirsty war monger who got killed on the Ides of March.
@@perfectsplit5515 Caesar was not a bloodthirsty war monger. This is what happens when people have to reduce hundreds of years of history into 2 minutes of videos. Please read Parenti's 'The Assassination of Julius Caesar' to understand the real reason why Caesar has been made one of the biggest villains of mankind's history and the propaganda behind it
@@vanikasumbly9746 " the real reason why Caesar has been made one of the biggest villains of mankind's history and the propaganda behind it"
Well, apparently Doctor Mindbender did not consider Julius Caesar to be "villainous", since he chose to use Caesar's DNA to contribute to his masterpiece of genetic engineering. Known as "Serpentor".
Honestly? Greek and egyptian aesthetics mixed together just looks sick man
How so
Hussein Zeitoun I see it like this:
Vanilla Ice cream is awesome
Chocolate Ice cream is awesome as well
Put both together and it becomes twice as awesome :D Simple logic, but to each his own i guess
@@impossibroo good logic
Greek, Egyptian, and Persian is the Empire of Alexander. There would have been a lot of meshing in aesthetics because Alexander was known to take various things from the areas he conquered. Egypt from the time of Alexander until Cleopatra was technically ruled by a greek dynasty.
@@impossibroo lmao too easy..
Yeah let me just whip out my time machine real quick
I'm a simple man. I see a Justin Y. comment, I smash that like.
Hej, hej, hej Moni..this is library!
Was the comment necessary?
Milton Roy, Was your comment really necessary?
@@SumanRoy.official - is a question the answer you were looking for?
As a bookworm, the loss of the Library of Alexandria is perhaps one of the worst events in history.
The internet is the new Library of Alexandria
**proceeds to download wikipedia into a computer*
One day it too will be destroyed....
It's scary to think the possibility of it not being accessible in the future
Someone will see “femboy gets railed by futanari” and be enlightened as we are.
Maybe, maybe not
I'M SO DISAPPOINTED I MISSED THE JOB OF A BOOK HUNTER!!! I CAN'T IMAGINE ANYTHING MORE BADASS
Ananya Singh being able to invade it with half of a Legion?
AhB that's barbaric! I just want to keep the library safe
Dzaky El Fikri I'm sure I would have figured it out
I totally agree with you! getting paid to explore new books,sounds like a dream job lol
Ananya Singh you know you’re a nerd when you think looking for books is badass.
Looks like I’m in good company.
"When the Great Library burned, the first 10,000 years of stories were reduced to ash. But those stories never really perished, they became a new story. The story of the fire itself. Of man’s urge to take a thing of beauty and strike the match." - Robert Ford
You do Know there were other Libraries and Scrolls not in THe Library Of Alexandria, Right?
@@skwills1629 they're talking about the specific ones destroyed
@@koltonkinlicheene2297 How?
@@eliasziad7864 They delayed in 1000 years the creation of nuclear weapons. Anyway is silly to think the destruction of a single library could damage the human progress, there existed more library across the Mediterranean , not mention the knoledge from other cultures. Also the technical knowledge was stored managed and teached in the workshops across the cities.
Omg like so motivational
imagine all the libraries from civilizations we don’t even know existed, imagine all the knowledge lost from times and places we don’t know about. this world is so amazing and horrifying and cruel and beautiful. knowledge is the only thing that keeps the past alive and keeps the future possible. it never fails to amaze me.
So essentially this would have been the perfect historical site? I guess historians just can’t have nice things
People mourning about the loss of this library but no one's talking about how they kept the original copy of the books and returned the copied version 2:04 which may have been interpolated or had mistakes.
I knew they copied everything but that was surprising to hear. I never would of thought that they kept the originals.
I thought about that too!
because the copy could had mistakes that they kept the original xD
Egyptian Scribes worked for years learning how to maintain and copy scrolls, so very unlikely that they made mistakes.
@@PurpleOpinionM True.
When in doubt, go to the internet
- literally everyone
The internet: Library of Alexandria 2.0
Except J.K Rowling 😁
@@2000anandhu yeah, no one cares
I go to wikipedia
I recently needed to look up the opening year of a certain business in a Los Angeles suburb. Internet didn't have it. Local library did.
If a time traveler ever sees this: please let me go back with you to see this place. My bookworm self is crying at the loss
U kidding I would’ve saved the Mayan books
@@Rcampo42 why not all?
@@HapPawhere the Mayans, the Aztecs, they were lost, as they are the true civilization
The reality of the matter is that knowledge isn't usually lost in single events, but through extended periods of neglect. The Library of Alexandria wasn't destroyed in a single catastrophe, but little by little through centuries of decline until it was a shadow of its former self. Apathy is a far greater enemy to knowledge than outright opposition.
As an Egyptian lives in Alexandria it is a great pleasure to have this great library in my city, UNESCO contributed in the construction of the library near its old place in 2002, Now it contains millions of books and knowledge so tourists around the world can visit, it is a great experience you should try, Thanks TedEd
Meh the internet is still the best library in the world :/
Yes internet is the biggest library but it can't be an historical place like Alexandria, Without this library internet wouldn't exist .
True. It was on my list of places to visit before I die (tho I'm still young, lol) and did go when I traveled through Egypt. It's awe-inspiring, even if only because of its history and knowing what it used to be. It's very beautiful too, the style of the new building.
It will be very nice to meet you there in your next visit to Egypt :)
+GeoAlex71 Did you know that the Libary of Alexandria contains an archive of 10 billion web pages? Mostly old pages from the beginning of the internet, but still impressive.
I wouldn't be surprised if some of the scrolls survived and are actually hidden in the Vatican.
Exactly what I was thinking
When did the Vatican start collecting.. when did the library disappear? Same thing
The Christians probably took what they needed and secured it in the Vatican archives.
They're learning how to scan the burnt scrolls found in Pompeii and read their contents. New papyrus comes up in old rubbish dumps, found in paper mache mummy masks, even in the bindings of newer books. I think we'll find more.
@Decem Yes, but the Muslim sects don't seem to care much about books either these days. There may have been a time for great Arab scholars and mathematicians, but that seems to have become forgotten in the internal power struggles.
In fact, Hypatia was assassinated by a group of radical Christians because she was in the middle of a political dispute, but not for reading "blasphemous texts", she was a friend of the bishop of her time, she defended his Christian students and his religious philosophy, although pagan, was the inspiration of the Christian philosophers of the time.
True, the parabalani were soon cast out of the city by imperial forces and forcibly disarmed after they murdered Hypatia.
as a philosopher and jurist, I can say that I'm deeply affected by this loss, and also think that fear of knowledge is the strangest fear of all
Sometimes, I think about the Library and cry. Legitimately cry.
Why
@@cupcakemcsparklebutt9051 Think where we could be today.
hmmm.
@@cupcakemcsparklebutt9051 I'm working towards my Master Librarian's degree, so an entire epicenter of ancient knowledge and historic library being lost to us forever really makes me sad. For real.
@@terrabenluk4017 Imagine if we had the industrial revolution back two thousands years earlier!
If only people treasured knowledge so much now...
EDIT: we actually do. In the year since posting this comment I've realised that now we treasure knowledge more than at any time before and it's led us to incredible prosperity. Hopefully we can continue to to this into the future and bring prosperity to all humanity.
The vital few of course. But majority are busy hoeing for attention and prestige in social media.
They do.
They choose faith instead that's why most of the people are illogical and brainwashed by religion.
@@slamacatgt4296 Ah but you fail to realise that there were/are many great scientists who believe(d) in a God/divine being
@@thetntsheep4075 i don't really care about that. I care about fact not others opinion.
I am living in Alexandria and I always like to visit the library of Alexandria.🌠
The story of this library enraged me. I can’t even fathom (I doubt any of us can, really) how much incredible history was lost.
tbh not much at all, theres a lot of popscience myths surrounding it but the tldr is that very little progress was actually lost. The library didnt likely hold any groundbreaking secrets that would have changed the world, and it fell into decline
@@David22092001 he wrote history, not science
Humanity has conquer a vast amount of work pieces, in every field, and beyond imagination, during its small part of time-existence in the universe. And it is through the creation of civilization that all this become real.
On the contrary, it is unthinkable to see humanity itself to proceed in a self-amputation by leaving ruins of its achievements to the next generations, who will lament about for ages.
There is a greek word that is really difficult to translate because it doesn't exist in english : σοφόμωρος / sophomoros. It 's composed by two words: σοφός / sophos which means wise and μωρός / moros which means foolish.
-To be wise and foolish at the same time.
Unfortunately this is something that characterize man.
A dramatic scene, taken from the Agora movie (December 2009) showing someone who based in real life person called Hypatia of Alexandria (brilliant mathematician and philosopher renowned for her natural beauty, high intelligence and moral standards as well as for her rhetoric and teaching skills) among scholars of the Library of Alexandria (the largest and most famous library of the ancient times,collecting all the worlds knowledge ) and the siege of the Library of Alexandria by the Christian mob (one of the 3 main stories of the Librarys destruction), probably in the beginning of the 4th century.
It is to be noticed that Hypatia died young in a dreadful manner when she was torn to pieces by monks in 415 in Alexandria (during the reign of Theodosius II).Famous for her excellence in philosophy (neoplatonist) and sciences (mathematician, astronomer), her brilliant mind, fine manners and exceptional beauty. Some count her as the last Head Librarian after Aristarchus.
*This is one of the reasons why I keep dreaming of making a time machine*
A time machine is impossible. It actually could never work.
@@Moon-lk8uc I mean it is possible but we dont have the brains to make it yet...
@@Moon-lk8uc time travel is actually happening in everyday lifes.
But it is impossible the way it showed in sci-fi movies.
Nothing is impossible 👍
@@Moon-lk8uc we dont know that for sure it’s possible
Why knowing that we lost thousand years worth of knowledge made me really anxious?
Makes me nervous too
Because this could easily happen all over again.
ya karena humanity mungkin bisa lebih advance dari skrg mbak klo tuh perpus gk kebakar, bayangin aja steam engine dah ditemuin greeks sebelum james watt, atau eratosthenes dah nemuin circumference of earth jauh sbelum exploration agesnya columbus dkk :(
I think somebody (or few poeple) on this planet have access to that knowledge or an important part of it. It's logical 🧠👁✌
@@starstuffs39 truee lot story on in
This reminds me of the libraries at the nalanda university.. it kept burning for 3 MONTHS !! imagine the knowledge that we lost !😭
My soul is literally crying
Ubisoft about to make an assassin’s creed game outta this lmao
peacho they already did lol
It's called assassins creed origins. And It came out last year.
peacho they already did. In origins you can go to the library
TheGoldenApple sorry kids i am but an old broke granma who admires games from afar 😔
peacho im glad nobody here is salty and replies to you horribly...
1960:
when in doubt, go to libary
2018:
when in doubt, go to google
It's 2019
Gredien Gaming If only more people went to the library instead of citing Wikipedia articles
Depends on what you're searching for. Local libraries clearly have a lot more local information than Google will ever have.
@@royrowland5763 Sad but true... I've managed to find tons of historical information in libraries that is just non-existent on the interwebs. now I cant even get my old geocities site from 23 years ago.
We still have in Alexandria one of the best libraries students go there to study with fast free wifi and IG books
it's a tragedy that this library could not survive, it had scrolls from ancient astronomers who noticed the planets having elliptical orbits 1500 years before Kepler. Imagine how much more advanced the world and our understanding of it could be if the library had lasted until today
Elizabeth has one heck of a narration voice…
Ha! I thought that was a bit odd too
As a history student, I greatly appreciate the effort you put into this, and I like that many people get the chance to get a better understanding of the library and its history, so as to slowly abandon the still widespread belief that 'it all burned down at once'.
Much of the presocratic philosophers, Plato's writings, Plotinus and some Aristotle were preserved after the library's destruction because they appear in the Alexandrian theologians's writings, such as Origen, Clement of Alexandria, Hippolytus etc. They lived in Alexandria and used the library. They didn't see Greek philosophy as blasphemous, they used Greek thought to inform their own theological thought. I still for one weep at the thought of the library's demise.
Thomas Ruston Of course the library wasn't a threat , because these people were pagans , and then a tiny minority of chistians since the 4th century were against it
Isn’t it possible that some writings survived because they were copies of copies and not because the library wasn’t destroyed over the years?
Blasphemy is the term for "Not MY God, so you are wrong, fact or not." The problem with religion has ALWAYS been that it is based on a non-provable tale, while facts are not. When they conflict, as they eventually must, the believer will fight to the death to prevent the truth from becoming known.. Or just to prevent YOUR truth from becoming known.
Humanity has conquer a vast amount of work pieces, in every field, and beyond imagination, during its small part of time-existence in the universe. And it is through the creation of civilization that all this become real.
On the contrary, it is unthinkable to see humanity itself to proceed in a self-amputation by leaving ruins of its achievements to the next generations, who will lament about for ages.
There is a greek word that is really difficult to translate because it doesn't exist in english : σοφόμωρος / sophomoros. It 's composed by two words: σοφός / sophos which means wise and μωρός / moros which means foolish.
-To be wise and foolish at the same time.
Unfortunately this is something that characterize man.
A dramatic scene, taken from the Agora movie (December 2009) showing someone who based in real life person called Hypatia of Alexandria (brilliant mathematician and philosopher renowned for her natural beauty, high intelligence and moral standards as well as for her rhetoric and teaching skills) among scholars of the Library of Alexandria (the largest and most famous library of the ancient times,collecting all the worlds knowledge ) and the siege of the Library of Alexandria by the Christian mob (one of the 3 main stories of the Librarys destruction), probably in the beginning of the 4th century.
It is to be noticed that Hypatia died young in a dreadful manner when she was torn to pieces by monks in 415 in Alexandria (during the reign of Theodosius II).Famous for her excellence in philosophy (neoplatonist) and sciences (mathematician, astronomer), her brilliant mind, fine manners and exceptional beauty. Some count her as the last Head Librarian after Aristarchus.
Whoever is responsible for the library's destruction deserves to be the most hated person in human history
So…Caesar
There wasn't just one person mutliple groups. The Romans, Christians and Muslims
@@OfficialDenzy I doubt anything was left when Muslims arrived but sure blame them too
The Video: The library didn't burn down.
The Comments: It's so sad the library burnt down.
The Video: The library copied scrolls; the library gradually lost it's status over time; brings up information we know was in it.
The Comments: It's so sad all its knowledge was lost.
The Video: The library tried to stifle competition by preventing the export of papyrus.
The Comments: It's so wonderful that they valued knowledge so much!
It’s almost like tons of CZcams commenters don’t actually watch the videos they click on…😖
This is so weird...
I just watch a video with the same related topic a few hours ago, by Thoughty2 title "How One Fire Set Humanity Back 1000 Years..."
Azizul Adnan me too
same
I swear! Felt like de ja vu
same
Mr Metabolics the bight side steals videos anyway
It took me several days to pluck up the courage to watch this video. The fate of the Great Library makes me cry more than the Titanic movie 😞
The Romans... As the library disappeared the Catholic army got everything they needed to grow. As Rome fell. The deceptive unity and creation of religious origins began. people in weird robes and hats to this day.. Pethagerous started his secret school in Greece.. The schools #1 priority.. Controlling the masses with "knowledge". 2000 years later.. American school system. Our army goes to countries we haven't even heard of...
Why??
+1
hmmm
Google and Wikipedia are the modern Library of Alexandria
I guess the modern rule has existed long before: Never store important files in one drive.
This is the first time I am so early, and I just want to say that I really appreciate what you are trying to achieve.
i am 140th!!!!
The library was rebuilt in the same place in 1995, it's well known now as Bibliotheca Alexandrina. Of course, all the knowledge and documents from the past were lost, but it has a great collection of books from all over the world.
This just goes to show how important backups are! 😉
i think if this library was still around, things today would be completely different to how they are now
Some of the knowledge is still available, the Vatican Library (only pieces they want you to see). I'm not saying they stole it, but yes ... important parts of human history are still in the Vatican. Speaking of history, today is also part of a moment in history where Palestinians are killed, tortured, treated inhumanely. We humans like to believe that we are evolved, but I think this is a low point in human history.
@@FifiFifi-wg5iq We need to know all of them not the important one only
Humanity has conquer a vast amount of work pieces, in every field, and beyond imagination, during its small part of time-existence in the universe. And it is through the creation of civilization that all this become real.
On the contrary, it is unthinkable to see humanity itself to proceed in a self-amputation by leaving ruins of its achievements to the next generations, who will lament about for ages.
There is a greek word that is really difficult to translate because it doesn't exist in english : σοφόμωρος / sophomoros. It 's composed by two words: σοφός / sophos which means wise and μωρός / moros which means foolish.
-To be wise and foolish at the same time.
Unfortunately this is something that characterize man.
A dramatic scene, taken from the Agora movie (December 2009) showing someone who based in real life person called Hypatia of Alexandria (brilliant mathematician and philosopher renowned for her natural beauty, high intelligence and moral standards as well as for her rhetoric and teaching skills) among scholars of the Library of Alexandria (the largest and most famous library of the ancient times,collecting all the worlds knowledge ) and the siege of the Library of Alexandria by the Christian mob (one of the 3 main stories of the Librarys destruction), probably in the beginning of the 4th century.
It is to be noticed that Hypatia died young in a dreadful manner when she was torn to pieces by monks in 415 in Alexandria (during the reign of Theodosius II).Famous for her excellence in philosophy (neoplatonist) and sciences (mathematician, astronomer), her brilliant mind, fine manners and exceptional beauty. Some count her as the last Head Librarian after Aristarchus.
The most dangerous weapon: Knowledge and the application.
Y'know, Ptolemy III wasn't just a patron of the arts, he was probably the only "maverick" Greek leader ever. He was religiously liberal, allowed conversions into other religions, no faith or race-based tax, and gave beggars higher placements in government jobs to deter them from alcohol. He was a cool dude...
Alexander was the same. He was even resented by his own men for respecting and adapting all the cultures he conquered, and establishing a meritocracy instead of favouring the Greeks. Ptolemy was a pretty cool dude, but Alexander stubbornly did all of this in spite of knowing that he was driving a wedge between him and his own men. He didn't mind being alienated from his own men if that meant he could unite all the cultures he had conquered equally. Sadly, this might have been one of the things that got him killed. Kudos to him for being ahead of his time.
Humanity has conquer a vast amount of work pieces, in every field, and beyond imagination, during its small part of time-existence in the universe. And it is through the creation of civilization that all this become real.
On the contrary, it is unthinkable to see humanity itself to proceed in a self-amputation by leaving ruins of its achievements to the next generations, who will lament about for ages.
There is a greek word that is really difficult to translate because it doesn't exist in english : σοφόμωρος / sophomoros. It 's composed by two words: σοφός / sophos which means wise and μωρός / moros which means foolish.
-To be wise and foolish at the same time.
Unfortunately this is something that characterize man.
A dramatic scene, taken from the Agora movie (December 2009) showing someone who based in real life person called Hypatia of Alexandria (brilliant mathematician and philosopher renowned for her natural beauty, high intelligence and moral standards as well as for her rhetoric and teaching skills) among scholars of the Library of Alexandria (the largest and most famous library of the ancient times,collecting all the worlds knowledge ) and the siege of the Library of Alexandria by the Christian mob (one of the 3 main stories of the Librarys destruction), probably in the beginning of the 4th century.
It is to be noticed that Hypatia died young in a dreadful manner when she was torn to pieces by monks in 415 in Alexandria (during the reign of Theodosius II).Famous for her excellence in philosophy (neoplatonist) and sciences (mathematician, astronomer), her brilliant mind, fine manners and exceptional beauty. Some count her as the last Head Librarian after Aristarchus.
Imagine what a different world we might live in if those texts had survived and been able to influence us and our societal/civilizational evolution.
To be fair, the most renowned texts in the Library were also important enough to be copied in other places, so most of what was lost was probably either very esoteric knowledge people didn't care for (but which could have actual value) or nothing really special.
@@joaomartins9800 The books/scrolls in 1 place is like heaven dude. You can learn better if you go to the same place like university & school
@@joaomartins9800 We can learn about what they think in the past, what they life were
@@HapPawhere I understand, but most people end up overrating how much we lost, when most of the valuable books that were there had a copy outside, because people knew they were important. Maybe there was some seriously underrated knowledge there, but I don't think we would be living in Mars if the library was preserved.
Humanity has conquer a vast amount of work pieces, in every field, and beyond imagination, during its small part of time-existence in the universe. And it is through the creation of civilization that all this become real.
On the contrary, it is unthinkable to see humanity itself to proceed in a self-amputation by leaving ruins of its achievements to the next generations, who will lament about for ages.
There is a greek word that is really difficult to translate because it doesn't exist in english : σοφόμωρος / sophomoros. It 's composed by two words: σοφός / sophos which means wise and μωρός / moros which means foolish.
-To be wise and foolish at the same time.
Unfortunately this is something that characterize man.
A dramatic scene, taken from the Agora movie (December 2009) showing someone who based in real life person called Hypatia of Alexandria (brilliant mathematician and philosopher renowned for her natural beauty, high intelligence and moral standards as well as for her rhetoric and teaching skills) among scholars of the Library of Alexandria (the largest and most famous library of the ancient times,collecting all the worlds knowledge ) and the siege of the Library of Alexandria by the Christian mob (one of the 3 main stories of the Librarys destruction), probably in the beginning of the 4th century.
It is to be noticed that Hypatia died young in a dreadful manner when she was torn to pieces by monks in 415 in Alexandria (during the reign of Theodosius II).Famous for her excellence in philosophy (neoplatonist) and sciences (mathematician, astronomer), her brilliant mind, fine manners and exceptional beauty. Some count her as the last Head Librarian after Aristarchus.
Where has this channel been? I love this!
My heart swelled with happiness when you spoke about the relevance of such history and rebuked the mentality of the men that contribute to it's erasure. As a Latino, there's so much history to unravel in my heritage...I hope to keep it relevant for the years to come.
Irony, ignorance destroyed the Great Library.
I know right?
. Religious fanatics did it:
both Christians and Muslims.
.
@@tantrismx what do you mean religious fanatics? Prophet Muhammad said that pursuit of knowledge is obligatory to Muslim men and women. Therefore no Islamic fanatics would want to destroy a library.
@@tantrismx The library was gone hundreds of years before the Arabs, mate
@@tantrismx Muslims conquered lands but they didn't destroy culture or burn books they don't even destroy religious places ( temples, churches) and that's mentioned in the religion itself. But Christians did the opposite
Ah, the good old days when nations strived to be the most knowledgeable instead of-
Lol No social media or smart phones back then. Just people living in the moment, burning books, and setting humanity back for thousands of years. What a time to be alive.
Instead of ?
Thank you for the lesson.
The House of Wisdom in Baghdad also faced a tragic end.
@Charles Martel that's because it was thanks to his mass killing sprees that global warming was lowered down.
@@an18yearoldmongolianguy knowledge > "global warming"
@Charles Martel It's also a fact that so many books were thrown in the river, that the color of the river changed to the color of inkt. Also there were so many books in that river of Iraq that the horses of the mongols could ride on that river.
Burning those 2 libraries is a big loss of humanity.
And the Great Library of Ctesiphon in Persia circa 639CE destroyed by the expanding Caliphate of Muhammed’s disciple Umar Ibn Al-Khattab.
Can send me a link about ctesiphon library was destroyed by khilafah?
All my favourite books were in there, like the colouring book: "Mustaches of the Former Soviet Union". It only came with the crayon brown.
Gabriel Khanna lol. XD.
This comment made me genuinely chuckle, good job
Very nice video, we learned a lot!
Excellent quote, "The arrogant assumption that the past is obsolete." I wrote it down bacause I suspect too many people today believe that new is better (when it may be only more 'gooder.'). While the past may not be right, it may not be wrong.
"Book hunter" sounds like an amazing job, just sayin'.
Sounds like the job for me and other bookworms
Agreed
3:55 According to Wikipedia’s ‘List of Common Misconceptions’, “The death of Greek philosopher Hypatia of Alexandria at the hands of a mob of Christian monks in 415 was mainly a result of her involvement in a bitter political feud between her close friend and student Orestes, the Roman prefect of Alexandria, and the bishop Cyril, not her religious views.[141][142] Her death also had nothing to do with the destruction of the Library of Alexandria,[143] which had likely already ceased to exist centuries before Hypatia was born.[143]”
Finally someone. Thank you.
Welp the library location was probably one of the reasons , in Egypt this area was hit by the sea almost yearly , so all these years must have been harsh for sure , so yea the religious probably didn't try to sabotage it idk
She was killed for witchcraft and her remains were burned in a mockery of pagan sacrifice...?? The conflict was a reason yes, but why do you think there was a conflict to begin with.
I do, however, agree with you in her relation to the library destruction part.
P. S. Wikipedia is not a valid source of information.
@@tokaaziz8741 Wikipedia is as valid or invalid as any other source. And I'd say, more valid, because all views are discussed.
@@framegrace1 no, not really. Anyone can enter data on any topic in Wikipedia which make it highly biased and may contain false info. Even high-school students are warned against using Wikipedia as a source. I only meant to give an advice, but If you're convinced that it's reliable enough, OK. 🤷♀️
It’s depressing when I think about all the knowledge and books that were lost when the library was destroyed and I’m crying
The illustrations are so good.
I am a professional librarian, and yes, I do believe that a library is the nation's pride.
The opening quote 💙💙
which one?
MegaAziz "When I doubt, go to the library." -J.K. Rowling
Diya Mehta JK rowling sucks
ours isthefury Sure thing buddy
When I doubt, go to the google.com !!
*me, seeing that j.k. Rowling quote*
if only she had stayed the course of knowledge and acceptance
Sad she isn't one of those creative and brilliant writers anymore
Great choice of final words
2:03 So, they not only wanted to have a copy of all the existing books in the world, they also wanted to have the sole great library in the world, sabotaging others from making books. That's... controversial, to say the least. Alexandrian rulers weren’t too nice.
2:46 Oh, by the way, nobody at Columbus’ time (at least nobody with some basic education) ignored that the Earth was round. Since antiquity this was well known. What Columbus fought against was the common notion that no ship could do a trip from Europe to Asia going westwards without running out of supplies long before reaching land. This common notion turned out to be correct, since the only thing that saved Columbus’ crew from starving was that they were lucky enough to stumble upon a new continent.
And Columbus didn't prove the Earth was round, Magellan did.
Levi Walton Come on, Magellan didn’t prove the earth was round, Gunonduh did
@@TreeBreezeL Is that a joke? I can't find Gunonduh on google.
Well, according to flat earthers, it hasn't been proven.
Columbus claimed the Earth was pear shaped and much smaller than anticipated which is what video mentions.
There were three great libraries in the Muslim World: the Abbasid library ‘House of Wisdom’ in Baghdad, the library of Fatimid Caliphs in Cairo and library of Spanish Umayyad Caliphs in Cordoba.
Rightly said.
Because history is one of my favourites, I am super angry because of what happened to the library. Only if some of the scrolls survived. Why do people view knowledge as threat?
Because it opens your mind. The dumber you are the easier you are to control and pay for your mistakes. A wise man is the biggest enemy of the one who fools.
Humanity has conquer a vast amount of work pieces, in every field, and beyond imagination, during its small part of time-existence in the universe. And it is through the creation of civilization that all this become real.
On the contrary, it is unthinkable to see humanity itself to proceed in a self-amputation by leaving ruins of its achievements to the next generations, who will lament about for ages.
There is a greek word that is really difficult to translate because it doesn't exist in english : σοφόμωρος / sophomoros. It 's composed by two words: σοφός / sophos which means wise and μωρός / moros which means foolish.
-To be wise and foolish at the same time.
Unfortunately this is something that characterize man.
A dramatic scene, taken from the Agora movie (December 2009) showing someone who based in real life person called Hypatia of Alexandria (brilliant mathematician and philosopher renowned for her natural beauty, high intelligence and moral standards as well as for her rhetoric and teaching skills) among scholars of the Library of Alexandria (the largest and most famous library of the ancient times,collecting all the worlds knowledge ) and the siege of the Library of Alexandria by the Christian mob (one of the 3 main stories of the Librarys destruction), probably in the beginning of the 4th century.
It is to be noticed that Hypatia died young in a dreadful manner when she was torn to pieces by monks in 415 in Alexandria (during the reign of Theodosius II).Famous for her excellence in philosophy (neoplatonist) and sciences (mathematician, astronomer), her brilliant mind, fine manners and exceptional beauty. Some count her as the last Head Librarian after Aristarchus.
Thanks for sharing
This was surprisingly depressing. All that knowledge gone. It hurts
Library of Alexandria: *exists*
Julius Caesar: I'm gonna ruin this library's whole career.
he didn't burn it tho
Imma ruin humanity’s whole career
It was a Muslim empire
@@delmanglar that was disproved. Like, a long time ago.
@@delmanglar christians even went to private houses to search for ,,heretic'' books and burned them, so i guess its no surprise that they played a big role in the distruction of the library. christians also refused to copy ancient writting, thats why during the renaissance some lonely ancient writting were found in christian libraries full of religious text.
When u have the ancient knowledge please keep sharing it. We all need it in 2020
Imagine the Internet goes on for another 280 years, then its entire contents are erased and we have to start from scratch
This really makes me sad, and I don't even know what those scrolls contains😭
True. I want to imagine theres scrolls out there containing the secrets of human brain and how easy to highjack it using foreign forces and make them puppets
When in doubt, eat cake
-Cosmo (Fairly Oddparents)
and have tea
As regards the destruction in Julius Caesar's time in Alexandria, weren't books supposed to be have been stored in a warehouse that accidently burned down when the library was being renovated? The Romans did not fear the library of Alexandria, they celebrated knowledge. Hypatia was murdered by a Christian mob not Roman officials.
Imagine how far we wouldve been had the knowledge in this library was used to its full potential.
I really wish to visit that library had it been intact.
it was rebuilt
I wouldn’t have minded reading a few scrolls from the Comedy section when the library was in existence back then.
I love these little accounts of history it reminds of Mr Peabody and Sherman
Man, to have seen this place with my own eyes, that would have been amazing! Even if I couldn't understand a single thing that was kept there.
"This time... We know what to prepare for."
2020: ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THAT?!?!
*Wan Shi Tong, he who knows 10,000 things wants to know your location*
I would laugh if I wasn’t crying at the loss of this beautiful place
This is a good story. Much of it was told by Carl Sagan on the original "Cosmos" in 1980.
Hi! I love your videos it expeláis things in such an active way it is actually fun to watch history facts. So can you make one about Alexander the Great please?
Watch the documentary on him from the channel 'Epic History TV'. It's awesome, the best and the most unbiased documentary I've seen on him.
*_That quote by J.K Rowling was basically "mmm this floor is made out of floor"_*
These snausberries taste like snausberries
@@dirkdiggler. lol yeah
When I first found out about the tragic fate of the great library of Alexanderia at school I felt like crying and screaming with sadness and anger I was so upset and depressed for about a week. Infact I think I actually did cry. I still can't deal with the loss of so many works that we know existed but will never get to read ughhhh why did I click this video
wickandde calm down, it was ages ago. We are pretty good right now. What is more lost right now, its ancient sources, just a example details of Alexanders campaigns, which is a shame.
It's probably a good idea to talk to someone about that.
I shed some tears, too, when I first read about it in Carl Sagan's 'Cosmos'.
You are like a child. Grow up.
@Shadowsky719 What is accomplished by your crying? Will you bring the library back with your tears? If not then there is no utility in crying and is therefore useless.
I always think that if that library wasn't burnt, hieroglyphs would have been a basic knowledge to us which breaks my heart