Issue No. 608
Editorial
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17 - 23 October 2002 Issue No. 608 Editorial |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Recommend this page | ||
Encore Alexandria
This week a new era dawns in the history of Alexandria. The Bibliotheca Alexandrina, its south wall engraved with passages in the scripts and languages of the world and its roof, when viewed from the sea, appearing like a rising sun, has officially opened its doors as a centre of erudition and repository of knowledge.
The idea of a new Alexandria Library was conceived three decades ago and realised with the help of UNESCO, and Arab and international funding. Last night's gala opening by President Hosni Mubarak and Mrs Suzanne Mubarak in the presence of international dignitaries and Nobel Prize winners is the culmination of more than a decade of effort by the director, Ismail Serageddin, and all those involved in the design and materialisation, as well as those who have made generous donations of books and other gifts.
The Bibliotheca Alexandrina has been planned as a study centre along the lines of its illustrious predecessor, the famous Ancient Library of Alexandria. This was a section of the Mouseion, an institute of learning founded in 295 BC which outshone contemporary establishments in the Hellenic world. The Mouseion flourished as a major research and educational centre for more than 600 years, and many of the major breakthroughs in medical, astronomical, mathematical and other sciences were made there. It was also renowned for its literary school. But eventually Alexandria, by then an outpost of the Roman Empire, fell into political decline. The Mouseion and its Great Library closed their doors towards the end of the 4th century.
The modern Bibliotheca Alexandrina has shelves for eight million books as weIl as convention and lecture facilities. The ancient Library went hand in hand with the Mouseion and its teaching hospital, laboratories and astronomical observatories. Its core was its educational value.
If learning and literature can be a bridge between cultures then Alexandria, poised at the tip of Africa but attached to Asia, dipping its feet into the Mediterranean and facing Europe, is well placed. In today's troubled times in the region and the rest of the world the Library could stand as a focal point for international peace and understanding.
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