On Tue, 22 Jul 2008 07:01:47 +0700, Bruce in Bangkok
wrote:

On Tue, 22 Jul 2008 07:45:32 +1000, Herodotus
wrote:

On Mon, 21 Jul 2008 20:43:13 +0700, Bruce in Bangkok
Sort of like the burning of the library at Alexandria by the Moslems.

In 640 AD the Moslems took the city of Alexandria. Upon learning of "a
great library containing all the knowledge of the world" the
conquering general supposedly asked Caliph Omar for instructions.

The Caliph has been quoted as saying of the Library's holdings, "they
will either contradict the Koran, in which case they are heresy, or
they will agree with it, so they are superfluous."

These facts condemning Omar were written by Bishop Gregory Bar
Hebræus, a Christian who spent a great deal of time writing about
Moslem atrocities without much historical documentation.

Apparently those who refuse to study history ARE doomed to repeat it.


Bruce-in-Bangkok
(correct Address is bpaige125atgmaildotcom)

Now hang on a minute Bruce.

Most of the library was burned by a Christian mob at the beginning of
the 5th century AD when the Bishop Cyril incited the mob to waylay her
on the way to work - she was the Chief Librarian as well as the
daughter of a former chief Librarian. They dragged her from her
chariot, stripped her and then flayed her alive before burning her
body. The mob then surged into the library and set fire to it.

It was considered "pagan learning". Cyril has since become one of the
two patron saints of the Coptic Church (most Egyptian Christians are
Coptic - very similar to Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox) and is
revered. It was the acts of ignorant men like these who set
civilisation towards a dark age.

Part of this was the proscription of many classical authors' works and
the burning thereof by the Church of Rome. Aristotle was one of the
only authors allowed to be read. Most of the rest such as Heraclitus
and so on were banned under pain of excommunication and or death.

I was going to name my boat Hypatia which is why I had learned so much
about her. The Lesbians had gotten hold on one of my favourite ancient
poets, Sappho, so that ruled her out even though it is very doubtful
as to whether she was a strapadictimist and practiced strapadictomy.

regards
Peter


Actually, no one knows who burned the library. the earliest candidate
was Julius Caesar...

Please reread the final paragraph in my post.


Bruce-in-Bangkok
(correct Address is bpaige125atgmaildotcom)

Hi Bruce,

The Romans regarded the library set up by the Ptolemys as one of the
Egyptians treasure to be had, apart from the wealth and the growing of
much needed grain for Rome. They had no cause or desire to destroy it.
Mark Anthony gave the approximate 200,000 volumes of the second best
library in the world (Library of Congress didn't even rate) - that of
Pergamon, to Cleopatra along with the island of Cyprus as a wedding
present. From what I understand, Julius set it alight in error.

As for the supposed burning by the Moslem conqueror, most historians
agree that it is fictional. You may not be aware of the texts but
there are specific injunctions in the Koran to learn to read and read
as well as to seek knowledge. Learning and knowledge were respected
and admired. Besides, by that time, the library and its books had
largely ceased to exist unfortunately.

I have been to the sites of both the Alexandrian library - not much
there now but a basement; and the library of Pergamon at modern day
Bergama in Anatolia. To me it was like a Catholic being in the
Vatican. A very religious moment. It was like a pilgrimage. I parked
the car at the bottom of the very high hill the citadel was on and
walked all the way instead of driving. BTW, Galen, another Greek
ancestor of mine - I only claim the famous ones, the harbour whores
belong to someone else - taught in the famous medical clinic and spa
there - largely intact today and well worth a visit.

Not much hope for the Library of Congress and the great libraries of
the Universities if the conservative religious right get in is there?
Ever seen a text book with Intelligent Design as its theme. Pretty
scarey stuff. The one I saw would have been very convincing to minds
of believers, impressionable children and simple minds like your
president. I'm going to hide all my science books now and change my
subscription name details to New Scientist and Scientific American.

As you say, those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat
it. Woodrow Wilson once said that what we learn from history is that
we don't learn from history - and he was a history professor.

Peter