Item — HN Reader

There were two biggest centers of ancient books and scriptures after the demolition of the Great Library of Alexandria, namely Baghdad and Toledo. The Library of Alexandria is said to house about 100,000 book or manuscript titles mainly by the Hellenistic Greek scholars.

Of all people, the Christian Coptic Pope is the culprit who ordered the demolition of the great library in the 4th century CE. The Muslim Empire and scholars somehow managed to scrambled majority of the Greek civilization learning and books of what have been left after the destruction, and also significantly add their own knowledge contributions. The effort resulted in the two greatest centers of ancient texts in the world by the 11th century CE.

Baghdad center was ransacked to the ashes, and majority of the stored books and manuscripts demolished. The only surviving secondary or lesser center of the two was Toledo. Toledo fell to the Spaniard in 11th century. Benedict the abbot who in charged of more than 600 monastery has ordered the clergy to literally copy and also translate books and scriptures from the center in Toledo. In Toledo there existed original Arabic books on the new knowledge, Arabic translations of Greek books and scriptures that otherwise have been lost forever, and perhaps many copies of the original books of Greek civilization but we probably never knew the exact composition since this happened about a thousand years back. These copies of the books and manuscripts were ordered to be kept in these many monasteries, and the books and manuscripts remained there for centuries. If you think only a few works (less than five) of the ancient Greek works that were preserved during the time due to the Muslim empire and scholars efforts, I really want to know what are the things that you are smoking at the moment?

1 comments

Again, your posts abound in misunderstandings of history and urban legend. With regard to the Library of Alexandria, the library building probably no longer housed any books when it was destroyed by the Coptic hierarch; the library collection had been lost in past centuries.

With regard to Toledo, you appear to have read some pop-sci articles about it that made you excited, but you overestimate its impact. We know the provenance of the manuscripts of the Greek and Latin writers that have come down to us, and Toledo played absolutely no role in the transmission of most of them. Again, Greek and Latin manuscript studies is a well-established field.

Finally, none of what you have been posting is relevant to this subthread, and if you really want foreigners to appreciate the erudition of the Muslim world, getting your information right is important. With your carelessness about the facts, you are only damaging your own cause.

Wow, do you really believe that the Great Library of Alexandria is empty when the burning and the demolition happened? Its last recorded director was a scholar and mathematician Theon, father of famed female mathematician, astronomer and philosopher Hypatia. Hypatia a writer of 13 volumes Arithmetica (this probably where the "word" aritmetics came from) and a pagan was murdered by a Christian mob in 415 CE. Yes, why would an empty library has a director? Care to explain?

The Christian establishment in the antiquity and the middle age were so anti-knowledge that it was the opposite of Muslim empire at the time. The anti-knowledge behavior has been exposed by movement such as Renaissance (technology) and Protestant (religion). Do you know that by law at the time you cannot translate Bible to other local languages in many part of Europe until a few centuries back? Yes, that is the main reason you have the Protestant movement.

Regarding the effect the Toledo it is mentioned in the article by your own foremost Greek learning and manuscript expert in the so called pop science articles by Dr Columba Stewart and also other similar experts. It seems that you denied most if their relevant claims regarding Toledo. If you don't mind can you please tell me what is your credentials and expertises in Greek learning history that you have disagreed with most of these reputable scholars regarding the matter?

Anyway in Arabic the non-believers are referred to as "kafir", literally means the "denial of the truth".