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This
exhibition is extremely important,
because Alexandria was a fountain of
knowledge that came to Europe thanks to
the Arabs of Al-Andalusia. |
For the past three
months, the National Library of Spain has been
the scene of an exhibition on the Library of
Alexandria under the title: “Homage to the
memory, a bet for the future”. Along with Paloma
Fern?ndez de Avilés, who has spent the last two
years preparing this event, we traveled back
through time.
Paloma told us that
Clio, daughter of Zeus, and the muse of history
welcomed us. In ancient Egypt, as in ancient
Greece, every temple used to have a library. The
temple, the library and the deity were closely
connected. In Alexandria the mouseon, or
shrine for the muses, had a library attached
that was to become one of the wonders of the
world.
The new library of
Alexandria (Bibliotheca Alexandrina) had a
difficult and ambitious beginning. Opened on 16
October 2002, the objective was to bring Egypt
to the world and the world to Egypt, to
symbolize the cultures of the Mediterranean area
first, and then on to encompass the continents.
The message is clear; rooted in the past but
with a mission necessary for future
understanding. The building, next to the
Alexandria University campus, is modern and
attractive, shaped to symbolize the sun disk
shining across the Mediterranean Sea, the symbol
of a bright light shining across the world.
According to Paloma
Fern?ndez de Avilés, the National Library of
Spain opened its doors to the new one in
Alexandria to give and to receive. The National
Library of Spain offered its help because
rescuing the spirit of the ancient Library of
Alexandria also helps us find the essence of our
own culture. Although the original library was
destroyed many centuries ago, its fame and
philosophy spread to Europe through the gateway
of Al-Andalusia, that is to say, Spain.
The new Library of
Alexandria was born a year ago, in a difficult
period of history, and it needs the support of
everyone: states, NGO’s, libraries, museums--all
those who support humanity. As the Ancient
Library was, and now is again, so the House of
Wisdom (Bayt al-Hikmah) in Baghdad was.
This is something we should bear in mind these
days, when Baghdad is on fire.
The Library of
Alexandria, the Wisdom House of Baghdad, Cordoba
and Toledo have all been places and symbols of
culture in the history of humankind and it is
essential to rescue that spirit for today.
It was not by chance
that the ancient library was established in
Alexandria.
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More than
just a library, it is more a concept of
modernity and a centre of dialogue |
The influence of the
river Nile is too great to be ignored. The river
flows out to the sea and in this area where the
salt and freshwater meet we find Alexandria: a
rich land with a much richer culture. A place
that the ancient Greeks named Isis´ tear, after
the goddess who was looking for the body of
Osiris, her dead husband who was killed by his
brother. She looked for him in every corner,
until the last drop of the river Nile -blue and
white- ran out to the delta in Alexandria.
Herodotus wrote about
Egypt being the gift of the Nile, rich and
cultivated, thanks to its waters, and the
philologists of Alexandria wrote and analyzed
this story for the first time, dividing it into
nine books, just as there were nine muses of the
arts.
Alexandria used all
the signs and symbols of human communication,
later this was transferred to Al-Andalusia and
finally Europe. For this reason, this exhibition
is extremely important, because Alexandria was a
fountain of knowledge that came to Europe thanks
to the Arabs of Al-Andalusia.
The exhibition is
staged in three parts, necessary in order to
follow the time line.
Alexander “The Great”,
pupil of Aristotle, established a city bearing
his own name in the place where nature was in
favor of life (Homer also wrote about this in
The Iliad. This is the beginning of the
exhibition--the Greek involvement with the
building, or origin, of the library. There are
many archeological pieces, sculptures, mosaics,
coins and a mention of the ongoing recovery work
in the Bay of Alexandria. There are excerpts
from daily life and the parties thrown in honor
of Dionysius during the Ptolemaic era, the
arrival of the Romans along with their tendency
to copy and fuse with Greek art: the continuity.
The second part covers
Africa to Europe and the travels from Alexandria
to Al-Andalusia. What Arabs called Rihla,
or books on travel, were the clues to knowing
that period and understanding it, a model of
living together that could be well used today!
The third and final
part shows the project of building the new
Library of Alexandria. More than just a library,
it is more a concept of modernity, a centre of
dialogue, something that is urgently needed in
our present time.
October 16, 2002 was
the beginning; the goals are the task of
everybody.
*The
exhibition on the Library of Alexandria under
the title: “Homage to the memory, a bet for the
future” was held from July 9 to September 2003.
Encarna
Salgado Sanchez is
a Spanish freelance writer, Ms Sanchez can be
contacted at
essaision@hotmail.com
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