By Solenne Bideau

The LibraryOF ALEXANDRIA

The library of Alexandria

The library was built around the 3rd century B.C.E. It was the biggest library in the world at that time. It was conscribed by Alexander the Great because he wanted a place to keep all the knowledge of the world. By 332 B.C.E. Alexander had conquered Egypt and founded the great city of Alexandria on the Nile delta. The library was

huge! there were dining halls/

gardens/ rooms and even a museum attached!

What is the library of Alexandria?

huge

Often DestroyedOnce Julius Caesar accidently burned some of the library down. Some 40,000

scrolls were destroyed. So Marc Antony stole

other scrolls from other libraries to replace the ones that burned. The

library was burned many times.

Fun fact Did you know? Scrolls were books

made from the papyrus plant

THE THINKERSThere were lots of thinkers who

studied at the library such as: Eratosthenes, Euclid, Hypatia, and Archimedes. SO do you want to learn about them??????

In the wall above the book

shelves was carved:

The Place of the Cure of

the SoulHmm?????

Euclid and Eratosthenes Euclid:

Mathematician and king of geometry. He studied at the library and wrote the book on geometry, Elements.

Eratosthenes: Geologist and Head Librarian who was the first to calculate the circumference of Earth.

This is a map of what he thought the world looked like!!

HYPATIA AND ARCHIMEDESHypatia:

Mathematician, philosopher

and inventor. She was the head

of the Platonist school

in Alexandria. Her dad worked at the

library. She grew up there.

Archimedes:He was an engineer, inventor and mathematician. One of his most famous inventions was the Archimedes screw pump.

Other libraries in AlexandriaHowever, the

Alexandrian library was not the only library located in the city. There were at least two other libraries in Alexandria: those of the Serapeum Temple and the Cesarian Temple.

1. WHO FOUNDED THE CITY OF ALEXANDRIA?a) Julius Ceasarb) Alexander the Greatc) Mark Antonyd) Euclid

2. WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING DID HYPATIA NOT DO?a) Actb) Inventc) Mathd) Philosophy

QUIZ3. WHO STOLE SCROLLS TO REPLACE THE ONES THAT WERE BURNED?a) Hypatiab) Julius Ceasarc) Mark Antonyd) Archimedes

4. AROUND WHEN WAS THE LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIA CONSTRUCTED?a) 3,000 BCEb) 300 BCEc) 300 CEd) 2012 CE

Carlson, Laurie. Classical Kid. Chicago review press 1998.

Casson, Lionel. Libraries of the Ancient World, Yale University Press, 2001

Donovan, Sandy. Hypatia. Compass Point Books 2008.

Heinrichs, Ann. Egypt Enchantment of the World. Scholastic 2012.

Lasky, Kathryn. The Librarian Who Measured the Earth. Little, Brown & Company 1994

Solenne’s Bibliography

Sayre, Henry M. Discovering the Humanities. Pearson Learning Inc. 2013

http://en.Wikipedia.Org/wiki/library of alexandria looked up 1/25/13

http;//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/papyrus looked up 1/27/13

Bibliography continued

VoCaBuLaRy

Temple: A building for worship (like a sanctuary).

B.C.E.: Before the Common Era (a long time ago!!!)

Circumference: The distance around a circle. Delta: a triangle shape of sand at the mouth

of a river.Museum: Comes from the word “muses” and also meant “library” back then.

Papyrus: A tall water plant that was used to make scrolls.

Philosopher: Someone who THINKS!!.

Scroll: What ancient people used as books.