Alexandrian Library

Alexandrian Library, the most famous of all the libraries of the ancient world, is said to have numbered 700,000 volumes at the most flourishing period of its existence. It was founded by Ptolemy of Egypt (283 B.C.), was burned during the siege of the city by Caesar, and again fired by the bigoted Christians in 391 A.D. It was in 641, however, that it was finally destroyed at the taking of Alexandria by the Arabs, under Amru. The volumes of paper and parchment were distributed as fuel, and were said to have lasted for six months.