218 CultureShock! Egypt
first university. The Alexandria Library housed the largest
collection of the world’s greatest, most notable works (some
700,000 catalogued manuscripts from the 3rd century BC).
There were actually two sites of the ancient library: the Royal
Library (located close to the harbour within the royal palace)
and the Daughter Library, south of the city at the Serapeum.
The Royal Library was destroyed by war in 48 BC when fire
spread from the dockyards to the city. The Daughter Library
appears to have lasted until Emperor Theodisius ordered
the destruction of all pagan temples in AD 391.
An ambitious international effort to efface the ancient loss
brought together plans for the new Biblioteca Alexandrina.
Built near the site of the ancient Royal Library, the 40,000-sq-m
(430,556-sq-ft) facility houses 4–8 million volumes, 50,000
maps, 100,000 manuscripts and numerous other materials.
The Biblioteca functions as a convention centre and tourist
attraction as well as a place of learning, dialogue and
tolerance. The complex includes a Library for the Blind, aErgonomically designed chairs and tables at the Biblioteca Alexandrina
encourage people to use the library more often.