The Library of Alexandria Didn't Burn Down

The burning of The Library of Alexandria, the MOST tragic thing to ever happen to humanity. Or so many people think. Truth is it didn't happen in the way people think and it didn't really matter. So what happened? What's the truth?

#h0ser #history #geography

The Truth about the library of alexandria, the burning of the library of alexandria

[expandedhistory]

When I was studying to be a librarian (yes, you can actually study for that) we learned that the Library of Alexandria worked as, who would've guesed, a library; although it didn't have the holy grail of knowledge, it sure as heck did contain manuscripts and physical copies.

So when it burned, yes, some rare stuff was lost, but it wasn't a museum: most of it's scrolls, papyrus, and animal skins had texts that were in other libraries too, it's just that it had an incredible amount of them.

[Ennio]

We lost a lot of historical records and literature. That's a tragedy for historians.

[ShieldAre]

From the analyses that I have seen, what burning the library did:
Sciences: Not much lost.
Math: Maybe a few interesting texts.
History: A lot.
Culture: A lot, although like the video states, not all of it would be particularly interesting.

Would we be more scientifically advanced if the library survived better? Probably not to any noticeable extent. But would we know a lot more about the ancient world, and have more fun or interesting prose, poetry and other such works to enjoy? No doubt.

Goes to show that while a library with a lot of knowledge is a nice thing to have, an even better thing to have is a political system and institutions that support independent research and the maintenance of that knowledge. The library's fate was sealed long before any burnings when it became a toy for the powerful to play with and use for their own gain, and neglect when it does not do those things, rather than a proto-university working towards knowledge for knowledge's own sake.

[TreeGod.]

The point isn’t that we lost a bunch of science
It’s that we lost tons of writings that would help us to greater understand what life was like back then

[In_Our_Timeline]

One of the major acquisitions for the library was the “books of Aristotle, ” concerning which there are two conflicting accounts. According to Athenaeus, Philadelphus purchased that collection for a large sum of money, whereas Strabo reported that Aristotle’s books passed on in succession through different hands, until they were later confiscated in 86 bce by Sulla, who carried them away to Rome.

[Quincy__]

If only the Library of Alexandria wasn't
burned, we finally could've found out who asked

[MoloIongo]

The reason many of us care so much about the library of Alexandria isn’t bc of the sciency stuff or technology. It is bc of the historical record.

[tacolordc]

If the Library of Alexandria hadn’t been burned YouTube commenters wouldn’t have complained about the event so history would have gotten altered in a small way

[tandemcharge]

Just like losing a huge library today, there on the surface doesn't seem like much is lost, but it's the value in knowing what the people thought, what they recorded doing, and how people saw the world at the time was what was lost. Had the library survived, we could have gained further insights into ancient life and potentially plug gaps missing in our knowledge on the how, why and when a certain event occurred

[nicholasricardo]

It's mostly the loss of primary sources that really hurts, especially to an aspiring historian like myself. We didn't really lose much scientific developement, we really lost information on what plays people were talking about, lame stuff that only history majors care about. But I'm a history major so I care :(

[sDuAvTaTjAe]

When the library in Nalanda University (one of the world's oldest University) was burned by the invaders, the manuscripts were said to be burning for weeks. India lost nearly 2000 years worth of knowledge, most of it being Buddhist religious literature with philosophy and science making up a large percentage. This one event resulted in Buddhism dyeing in india, it's birthplace and changing the demographics and culture of India forever.

[filip]

A very solid point raised here, I will say that given the draw of sorting information doesn’t mean information and knowledge was only there. However we like to dream of our what ifs.

What if Napoleon’s Waterloo took place on Mars, or crossing the Delaware actually meant going to the moon. Our endless whatifness is hilarious

[MuddieRain]

“You could tell how middle class you are by how aggrieved you are and how you wince every time someone mentions the fact that the library of Alexandria burn down”
-Lindy Beige

[stephenskinner]

What really saddens me is the loss of the Ancient Greek Tragedies.

[seeeeeeean]

I know that people don't say this a lot but I'm pretty happy that you're getting sponsors keep making the good content👍

[humans]

I feel like the fall of baghdad due to the mongols may have contributed more damage, as, while manuscripts and other things were stored, a lot of the damage from the Islamic golden age was done, and things were lost. I'd think, if those were actually passed around, probably a lot of disease could have been prevented in the medival ages.

[belac]

The reason I was mad about the burning was because we have lost so much history of the ancient world in that fire I’ve always thought that we could be on Mars stuff was dumb

[imranchaudhary]

What a coincidence, I'm writing a paper on why it's significant to humanity. I feel like since it's such a mystery, it's all subjective. But in my opinion, we've lost ancient ideologies and philosophies and that will always keep me contemplating. That knowledge we lost can probably still affect and influence us today.

[markusbroyles]

Laurence Clark Powell was my neighbor in Malibu 1965 ~ 1975 or so. After I got out of High School I really didn't want to go back to school at all. But I loved to read He was the new head Librarian at UCLA and brought a million book titles to their new Library. He was the new E F Hutton and when he spoke everyone shut up and listened. I was 17. When he learned that I would read whatever he recommended he did an actual JIG ! (dance) for joy with real GLEE ! he became a very good friend. Initiation was tough tho ~ He had me read Moby Dick twice in a row ! I did that in a month... After that he came up with a really great list of books and advise that helped shape my life. The library was where learning was SACRED !! It was a very holy place where there were specialists and geniuses. I'm about his age now as I recalled him all spry and bent from carrying books. What a gift he was to me and how I loved the guy. He was the one who told me that I didn't need to borrow a lot of money to go to college and that the best men were self taught ~ I imagine that there were a few like him at these old libraries.

[AlbertoSantosDumont]

Historical writings are incredibly useful from anthropological and historical reasons. The breakdown of the library over time (it wasn't burned in one day) was a massive loss due to all the lost playwriting, historical accounts, biographical and autobiographical information. Science isn't the only thing that matters.