The place of the cure of the soul

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Memory tag: Being introduced to the Library at Alexandria.

The scar across his face gave him the nickname “Daku”. Tall, intimidating, his,” good morning ma’am”, a polite growl. The most unlikely of creatures one would expect to meet in a library, book in hand. Though we shared common cellulose as all bookworms do, yet, I was very surprised when he walked up and holding out a tattered, well thumbed paperback to me. With that he introduced me to the ethos that was the ancient Library at Alexandria. If I had to paint a picture of civilization, this would be my template.

Alexandria, at the mouth of the Nile. The fishing village of Rhakotis, that Alexander of Alexandria renamed, and made his new capital. It stood at the crossroads of civilization. People from Europe; the residents of middle Earth (Mediterranean), the civilizations of North Africa and Asia Minor; pilgrims to Mecca, all passed through Alexandria. It grew to be the capital of Egypt in 320 BC and a power centre of the ancient world, that few would rival. Here, it is believed, a library was begun with Aristotle's own private collection, by one of his students, Demetrius Phalereus.

I listened with bated breath as the news of excavation of the Bruchion region of the Mediterranean city by the Polish- Egyptian team came in. They seem to have discovered auditoria or lecture halls of the ancient library of Alexandria! This first of such large Greco – Roman structures unearthed in the Mediterranean, threw up 13 lecture halls that could have housed about 5000 students! Here Eratosthenes measured the diameter of the Earth and his friend Archimedes invented the screw-shaped water pump that is still in use today. Euclid discovered the rules of geometry.  At its height its archives held 400,000 to 700,000 papyrus/parchment scrolls housing works by the greatest thinkers and writers of the ancient world. It is also believed Mark Anthony’s gift to Cleopatra of two hundred thousand distinct volumes from the library of Pergamus, were kept in this library. If this be thy gift, thou art my very oblivion, Anthony!

This Royal Library of Alexandria set up in the 3rd century BC during the reign of Ptolemy II of Egypt was once the largest in the world. Ptolemy III of Egypt made it mandatory for all visitors to the city to surrender all their books and scrolls. In those days before printing and xerox machines, official scribes swiftly copied these books. The copies were so good that the originals were often put into the Library, and the copies were delivered to the unsuspecting owners! This slick infringement of intellectual property rights made an increasing reservoir of books in the relatively new city. The well funded aggressive mandate to collect the entire world’s knowledge extended well beyond its borders. Books were procured from book fairs in Athens and Rhodes. As natural fallout, Alexandria became an international centre for the book trade and the leading producer of papyrus and consequently books.

On the other hand we believe it was the duty of every resident to never let a scholar want for food or lodging. There was an unfettered exchange of knowledge in its walks, gardens, rooms for shared dining, reading rooms, lecture halls and meeting rooms.  A worthy model    seen in the layout of present day university campuses. I have always dreamt of being part of such a campus which is as someone rightly said,” The place of the cure of the soul”!  It is beyond comprehension that this unparallel edifice of human endeavor was destroyed beyond redemption by acts of barbarianism! Today, thanks to President Hosni Mubarak and the University of Alexandria, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina was inaugurated in its place on October 16th, 2002. The dimensions of the project are vast: the library has shelf space for eight million books. The main reading room stands beneath a 32-meter-high glass-paneled roof, tilted out toward the sea like a sundial, and measuring some 160 m in diameter. The walls are of gray Aswan granite, carved with characters from 120 different human scripts.

It is my template for a picture of civilization because embodies the heights and depths of human endeavor. Its impermanence is a showcase of the cycle of creation and destruction that makes change the only permanent fact of life. And, yet I have a dream...