The Library of Alexandria

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The Library of Alexandria

• Founded in 331 BC lost around 400 AD

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Basic Historical Background for Alexandria
Alexandria The legendary sunken parts of the
ancient city of Alexandria, lost for over 1,600
years, have been discovered through the
archaeological work of underwater archaeologist
Franck Goddio and his team in 1992. What
happened? For centuries, archaeologists tried to
discover this legendary city, known to have been
the setting for the history of Cleopatra, Julius
Caesar, Marc Antony and Octavius. But the royal
city of the last Egyptian Dynasty, where
Cleopatra VII, the last queen of ancient Egypt,
ruled and died, was lost in a series of natural
catastrophes. When in time? Alexandria was
founded in 331 B.C. by Alexander the Great. After
the last Egyptian queen, Cleopatra VII, took her
own life in 30 B.C., Egypt became nothing more
than a Roman province. Where did it
happen? Alexandria was considered to be Egypts
most important trading metropolis on the
Mediterranean in Ptolemaic times. With a
population of 500,000 and regarded as a cultural
and scientific center, Alexandria was noted for
its commerce and wealth. The city, with its
world-renowned library containing 700,000
systematically archived scrolls, attracted many
scholars in these times.
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Why was the Library Important?

• Egypt had for centuries developed medical
  treatments and procedures that were
  unprecedented.
• The Greeks conquered Egypt, but did so without
  warfare. They simply moved in and took control
  from an ailing government led by a powerless
  queen.
• The Greeks saw the opportunity in the vast
  knowledge the Egyptians had mastered. That is
  why the library was built in Egypt, and why it
  was significant to medicine, even today.

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Alexandria

• The archaeological work of underwater
  archaeologist Franck Goddio and his team have
  been able to catalogue and discover the beauty of
  ancient Alexandria which combined classical
  Greece with the science and art of Egypt.
• The most significant finds and exploration in the
  history of Egypt are in the waters off the coast
  of Egypt.

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Map showing parts of original city of Alexandria
sunken in the bay.
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Library of
Alexandria The Library was the center point of
the city because of its lure to scholars and
advancements in education, cataloguing and
research.
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An Artists view of what ancient Alexandria might
have looked like. The Pharos Lighthouse is in
the entry of the harbor. The light was said to
have been visible from 100 miles out at sea.
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An ancient look at the library being built..
This artistic rendering was done in the Medieval
age long after the Library was sunk into the
ocean. Even during the Medieval Ages just before
the Renaissance (1400AD) the importance of the
Library was recognized.
A more modern approach to the recreation of the
Library. This computer generated layout is based
on the findings of the ruins found underwater by
Franck Goddio and his team
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With over 700,000 scrolls carefully catalogued
and available, scholars from around the world
came to the Library of Alexandria to study, learn
and discuss philosophy, sociology, politics,
religion, and most importantly, Medicine.
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A view of the remaining ruins of Alexandria as
they exist today!
These cubby holes were once believed to have
shelved the scrolls. Further investigation shows
that these were for storage of materials that
were not used as much. The scrolls were on
wooden shelves no different than in modern
libraries for easy accessibility.
Catacombs of ruins on dry land. The architecture
of the Library would have been similar.
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A comic depiction of Aesculapius filling a
prescription
Aesculapius
Aristotle an example of the mind set that
recognized the significance of Egypt's Knowledge.
Aristotle Teaching Alexander
Hippocrates
Medical texts on papyrus dating back 3000 BC
Alexander the Great The power behind the advances
in education and research.
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Underwater ruins at the site believed to be the
Library.
Coiled serpent Agathadaimon missing its head.
Ceasarian the son of Cleopatra and Ceasar
A sphinx with naturally deteriorated face.
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Priest carrying an effigy of Osiris of Canopus
Stone block showing the Royal Insignia of the
Pharaoh Apries
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(No Transcript)
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This is Aristotles medical chart of the human
body and how the parts relate to other animals or
virtues. The Egyptian doctors took these
primitive ideas in a relatively short time period
closer to the medical practices of today. The
advances made between the Visiting Greeks and the
local Egyptians signifies a great moment in
history. Neither would have been able to succeed
alone, but together great advances were achieved.
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Imhotep led the Egyptian medical practice.
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Examples of Medical Papyri Catalogued in the
Library

• The Egyptians possessed a good practical
  knowledge of the anatomy of certain parts of the
  human body, but there is no evidence that they
  practiced dissection before the arrival of the
  Greeks in Egypt. The medical papyri that have
  come down to us contain a large number of short,
  rough-and ready descriptions of certain diseases,
  and prescriptions of very great interest. The
  most important medical papyrus known is that
  which was bought at Luxor by the late Professor
  Ebers in 1872-3, and which is now preserved in
  Leipzig. This papyrus is about 65 feet long, and
  the text is written in the hieratic character. It
  was written in the ninth year of the reign of a
  king who is not yet satisfactorily identified,
  but who probably lived before the period of the
  rule of the eighteenth dynasty, perhaps about
  1800 B.C. A short papyrus in the British Museum
  contains extracts from it, and other papyri with
  somewhat similar contents are preserved in the
  Museums of Paris, Leyden, Berlin, and California.

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Ebers Papyrus
The Ebers Papyrus of about 1550 BC is among the
most important medical papyri of ancient Egypt.
It is also commonly called Papyrus Ebers2 (from
its original German name). It is one the two
oldest preserved medical documents anywhere, the
other main source being the Edwin Smith papyrus
(around 1600 BC). Another important medical
papyrus is the (around 1300 BC). The Ebers
Papyrus was purchased at Luxor (Thebes) in the
winter of 187374 by Georg Ebers and is now in
the library of the University of Leipzig, Germany.
Ebers Papyrus treatment for cancer recounting a
"tumor against the god Xenus", it recommends "do
thou nothing there against".
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The London Medical papyrus

• From EgyptLate 18th Dynasty, around 1325 BC
• A mixture of medical recipes and spells
• Ancient Egyptian medicine was a mixture of the
  practical and the magical. Medical practitioners
  were often magicians. A few 'medical' papyri,
  such as the Edwin Smith papyrus, deal with the
  observation and treatment of ailments from a very
  analytical point of view. However, the majority
  are more like this example probably used as a
  reference text by a physician/magician.
• The text of The London Medical papyrus is a
  combination of recipes and magical spells for
  various ailments. It is particularly interesting
  because spells are used together with the cures.
  Some of the texts outline what should be recited
  when a particular cure is being applied, while
  others are for driving away evil spirits, which
  might affect the patient or the magician. The
  main concerns of the papyrus are skin complaints,
  eye complaints, bleeding (mostly incantations
  against miscarriage) and burns.
• G. Robins, Reflections of women in the Ne
  (Atlanta, Georgia, Michael C. Carlos Museum,
  1995)
• J. Nunn, Ancient Egyptian medicine (London, The
  British Museum Press, 1996)
• T. Bardinet, Les papyrus médicaux de lEgypt
  (Paris, Fayard, 1995)

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Examples of remedies in the Ebers Papyrus
include

• Asthma
• A mixture of herbs heated on a brick so that the
  sufferer could inhale their fumes.
• Belly 
• "For the evacuation of the belly Cow's milk 1
  grains 1 honey 1 mash, sift, cook take in four
  portions."
• Bowels 
• "To remedy the bowels Melilot, 1 dates, 1 cook
  in oil anoint sick part."
• Cancer 
• Recounting a "tumor against the god Xenus", it
  recommends "do thou nothing there against".1
• Clothing 
• Clothing may be protected from mice and rats by
  applying cat's fat.
• Death 
• Half an onion and the froth of beer was
  considered "a delightful remedy against death."

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Early written prescription
Hieroglyphics depicting birthing stools, surgical
instruments and basic prescriptions
Surgical Instruments
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A sick child brought to Aesculapius