The Great Library of Alexandria in Alexandria, Egypt, was one of the largest and most significant libraries of the ancient world. The library was part of a larger research institution called the Mouseion, which was … See more

Founding
The Library was one of the largest and most significant libraries of the ancient world, but details about it are a mixture of history and legend. … See more

Serapeum
The Serapeum is often called the "Daughter Library" of Alexandria. For much of the late fourth century AD it was probably the largest collection of books in the city of Alexandria. In the 370s and 380s, the … See more

In antiquity
The Library of Alexandria was one of the largest and most prestigious libraries of the ancient world, … See more

The Library of Alexandria was not the first library of its kind. A long tradition of libraries existed in both Greece and in the ancient Near East. … See more

After Ptolemy VIII's expulsions
Ptolemy VIII Physcon's expulsion of the scholars from Alexandria brought about a shift in the history of Hellenistic scholarship. The … See more

It is not possible to determine the collection's size in any era with certainty. Papyrus scrolls constituted the collection, and although codices were used after 300 BC, the Alexandrian … See more