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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.
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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 Fernández 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 Fernández 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
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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.
Encarna Salgado Sanchez
is a Spanish freelance writer, Ms Sanchez can be contacted at essaision@hotmail.com
*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.
