Niniveh and Alexandria: The Two Vanished Libraries of Antiquity

Abstract

Humankind has dramatically evolved for the past thousands of years in terms of communication - starting from signs and signals conveyed via visual and auditory means and ending up with the set of signs that came to be known as the alphabet over a vast geographic area. For example, the Sumerian tablets created in Uruk were initially destined for commercial purposes and it was only afterwards that they were viewed as including knowledge of their time. Another example of historical evolution is the Egyptian papyruses gathered in Alexandria in the greatest building of the ancient world’s library. Nowadays there are only few such remnants, but their importance for how writing has evolved is invaluable.

Keywords

• library
• papyrus
• tablets
• general catalogue
• inventory