The Great Library

Also known as the Library of Alexandria, was build by Demetrius of Phaleron under Ptolemy Soter. Demetrius an exiled tyrant of Athens had studied with Alexander under Plato. This Library was build to collect the books of man so Ptolemy could better understand his people and his trade partners. The librabry seems to have been just one part of the Museum, a temple dedicated to the Muses, which housed many of the inventions of the Ancient World, a zoological garden, the Library and much more. Strabo tells us the heart of the Museum were a Great Hall and the dome with its observatory. It seems some 30-50 scolars were living inside the Museum.

The actual Library may have been located in one of the halls or even in the Great Hall itself. The oldest writing were most likely stored in pidgeon holes, wrapped in linnen or leather. During Roman times books became more popular, These were stored in wooden boxes.

One of the tasks undertaken by the Library was the translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, into Greek by 72 rabbis. Ptolemy tried to get a copy of every 'book' in the world inside the Library. Callimachuis records 400.000 mixed scrolls (possibly containing multiple works), 90,000 unmixed scrolls and another 42,000 inside the Serapeum. Ptolemy III requested books from all sovereigns and had them copied. Then he sent the copies back and kept the originals.

The Museum (and the Libray) were lost to fire during the time of Caesar and Cleopatra.

For more information on what the Library contained you can have a look here.