History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 12

History - Essay Example However, as former peasant, he was still sympathetic to the plight of the poor and so he kept taxes low and the granaries stocked in order to be prepared to meet famine (MNSU, n.d). He also established military superiority over the civilians both as a means of control over the people and as a means of defense against the Mongols continually threatening its territories. Hongwu also sought to control all aspects of government and he was able to keep the social order through the military and through his rigid administrative process (MNSU, n.d). Based on their values, the Aztecs maintained a socially stratified society and the family were considered the most important unit in that society (Rodriguez, 1994). They also emphasized on women or girls learning feminine duties like cooking, cleaning, and sewing. They also valued personal discipline, respect for the law, diligence, honesty, and respect for others (Rodriguez, 1994). Ming China, on the other hand, valued change within tradition, one which was â€Å"stable but lacked dynamic development† (Reich & Cunningham, 2005, p. 374). This resulted to economic decline among the people as the rulers also became corrupt; they also faced growing unrest among the people who were highly inclined to participate in rebellion and banditry (Reich & Cunningham, 2005). On an economic plane, the Aztecs and Ming China more or less experienced flourishing economies during their era. The Aztecs mostly bartered their wares with each other through marketplaces which were bustling areas of economic exchange. The currencies used were mostly cacao beans and cotton capes and through these currencies, the Aztecs experienced economic progress (Microsoft Corporation, 1999). Economic progress was also seen in China during the Ming Dynasty through increased food supply on account of the agricultural revolution

Critical Analysis of College is a Waste of Time and Money Essay

Critical Analysis of College is a Waste of Time and Money - Essay Example It is clearly identifiable from the article that Bird has not expressed her views about college based learning for shock value merely, rather she actually has a firm conviction at heart that colleges in majority of the cases turn out to be a mere waste of wads of cash and many hours and she actually makes every effort in her article to defend this viewpoint. Though this article managed in satiating the minds of many thinkers out there who believe that earning a bachelor’s degree by making big commitments to the colleges in terms of time and money is an ineffective and rather clumsy way to get the real training, still many teachers and students themselves have reacted strongly negatively to Bird’s take on college based learning which is quite understandable. Now, there are two important things worth considering before getting all judgmental in this regard. First, if we think about the established reality which projects that the kind of role played by a teacher or scholar holds monumental importance and value for behavioral modification and general wellbeing of a student, the approach used by Bird to assess the importance of colleges immediately gets discarded. Next, it cannot be said that Bird’s article should be totally condemned or agonized since it lacks ground because concerning the common practice active presently among parents and students to waste wads of cash only after colleges’ or universities’ names, the possibility of a college to turn out to be a waste of cash and time may arise. This is because many times the real purpose of learning is lost when more attention is paid to the college’s name than on a student’s individual personality. It is an undeniable reality that a student who has the tendency to maintain lazy or defiant attitude and bad habits will remain just the same and behave as pathetically as a student even if he/she be enrolled at some of the most prestigious institution. In such cases, go ing to college does turn out to be a futile effort and a college definitely becomes a waste of time and money for such students, but Bird does not antagonize the conventional method of college based learning on this basis alone as she is seen going to different lengths in her article to nullify the concept of colleges for acquiring knowledge. Now, a college is seen by the vast majority of people as the central pillar or the support system upon which the whole building of learning could be supported. Bird disagrees openly from all such thinkers here. The argument used by her to antagonize the established thinking approach is that most of the students enrolled at different colleges in the present times have absolutely no sense of purpose as to why they are there in the college in the first place. This means that a student personally rarely ever has any strong motivation about staying in a particular college to learn. Most of them are just there because their mothers or fathers wanted them to be there or because their families wanted to show off to other relatives or friends about their son or daughter learning in some prestigious institution. Now, this can be passed off as a justified point brought up by Bird because students should personally be strongly motivated for going to colleges to learn and not only should they acknowledge this motivation but should also know how to defend their choice of going to colleges for learning. Next major point addressed by Bird in her article is that special attention should be paid to the real reason behind the

Gun Control and Crime Problem in the US Research Paper

Gun Control and Crime Problem in the US - Research Paper Example Gun control has always been a very debatable and a complex topic, law-abiding citizens are expected to follow the law but these days law has become a donkey on which the rich people ride. In several Asian countries people get away with gun crimes because of their influence and authority, there have been several cases in the US also wherein the guilty have gotten away with heinous crimes. There are many who just cannot handle firearms safely and it is quite obvious that firearms are not meant for those individuals. It is also a fact that firearms can be used for protection and guns can be useful provided they are in the hands of right individuals but it is very difficult to determine who is right and who is not became many a time the so called right people end up doing wrong things. This is exactly why this topic is very debatable and complex. Mental illness is also a very big factor when it comes to gun control, mentally ill people can easily go and purchase guns and run riot in the street, the very same happened in Norway a few months ago, a mentally ill person had easy access to firearms and the same resulted in a massacre. It is extremely important to place restrictions but this is something which is implausible, there are hardly any laws when it comes to purchasing a firearm, yes, one needs a license to obtain it but everyone these days is fully aware of the fact that licenses can easily be obtained by bribing officials and this is especially true in several Asian countries.

Critical Analysis of College is a Waste of Time and Money Essay

Critical Analysis of College is a Waste of Time and Money - Essay Example It is clearly identifiable from the article that Bird has not expressed her views about college based learning for shock value merely, rather she actually has a firm conviction at heart that colleges in majority of the cases turn out to be a mere waste of wads of cash and many hours and she actually makes every effort in her article to defend this viewpoint. Though this article managed in satiating the minds of many thinkers out there who believe that earning a bachelor’s degree by making big commitments to the colleges in terms of time and money is an ineffective and rather clumsy way to get the real training, still many teachers and students themselves have reacted strongly negatively to Bird’s take on college based learning which is quite understandable. Now, there are two important things worth considering before getting all judgmental in this regard. First, if we think about the established reality which projects that the kind of role played by a teacher or scholar holds monumental importance and value for behavioral modification and general wellbeing of a student, the approach used by Bird to assess the importance of colleges immediately gets discarded. Next, it cannot be said that Bird’s article should be totally condemned or agonized since it lacks ground because concerning the common practice active presently among parents and students to waste wads of cash only after colleges’ or universities’ names, the possibility of a college to turn out to be a waste of cash and time may arise. This is because many times the real purpose of learning is lost when more attention is paid to the college’s name than on a student’s individual personality. It is an undeniable reality that a student who has the tendency to maintain lazy or defiant attitude and bad habits will remain just the same and behave as pathetically as a student even if he/she be enrolled at some of the most prestigious institution. In such cases, go ing to college does turn out to be a futile effort and a college definitely becomes a waste of time and money for such students, but Bird does not antagonize the conventional method of college based learning on this basis alone as she is seen going to different lengths in her article to nullify the concept of colleges for acquiring knowledge. Now, a college is seen by the vast majority of people as the central pillar or the support system upon which the whole building of learning could be supported. Bird disagrees openly from all such thinkers here. The argument used by her to antagonize the established thinking approach is that most of the students enrolled at different colleges in the present times have absolutely no sense of purpose as to why they are there in the college in the first place. This means that a student personally rarely ever has any strong motivation about staying in a particular college to learn. Most of them are just there because their mothers or fathers wanted them to be there or because their families wanted to show off to other relatives or friends about their son or daughter learning in some prestigious institution. Now, this can be passed off as a justified point brought up by Bird because students should personally be strongly motivated for going to colleges to learn and not only should they acknowledge this motivation but should also know how to defend their choice of going to colleges for learning. Next major point addressed by Bird in her article is that special attention should be paid to the real reason behind the

The business and financial performance of an organisation over a three Dissertation

The business and financial performance of an organisation over a three year period - Dissertation Example The company ranked within the Top 20 of all the online businesses. In the category of fashion clothing, footwear, jewelry, and accessories, ASOS has claimed the number 1 spot and now believes itself to have no competitor. Most probably, the management means that the other companies have stores while ASOS does not maintain stores. The organization is guided by its desire to give importance to people and the environment. To achieve acceptable working standards towards providing quality consumer goods, ASOS joined ETI or Ethical Trade Initiative, a business alliance of trade unions, and NGOs (non-government organizations) that try to improve people’s lives. It has its own â€Å"ASOS Ethical Code of Conduct†. (See appended key principles in Exhibit I) The economy is presently still recovering from the effects of recession after two years. ASOS is one of those corporations based in the UK that faced a great challenge against the recession, except for one big difference. As o f April 13, 2011, this fashion retailer which operates online far exceeded the performance of UK in terms of recovery from the economic recession. â€Å"In the three months to the end of March, international sales rose 161% to ?48.4 million compared with a year ago.UK sales were up 24% to ?44.9 million.† according to BBC (2011b). ... This provides an opportunity to utilize Financial Accounting tools and the Qualitative Techniques for a careful analysis of the business operations in order to discover how the company performed its business operations. It helps to identify the various sources of funding the business has used and its ability to takeout any more loans, the costs it’s incurring and its returns. It also allows to assess the risks involved in its operation and to make an estimate for its future performance. It will be a challenge to unravel the mystery of ASOS performance. There was no news about how the company arrived at an excellent result of operations. But there were praises. First of all, the company Annual Reports are available online. Secondly, this is a modern way of doing business in the fashion clothing industry, because most retailers are selling mostly through departments stores opened in many countries, while ASOS focuses more on online fashion retailing. Knowing more about financial management for such operations will add more education and insights for the eventual readers of this formal paper. Studying the financial data, strategies, and other aspects surrounding the business of ASOS will also lead to discoveries about the risks involved, the opportunities of investing by buying stocks of ASOS in the near future, and factors or indicators about the prospects of good or bad future performance. Finally, this kind of business is new to most people. The hope is that by analyzing the available information, something new will be added to the field of knowledge. 1.2 Project objectives The objectives are: To be able to review and analyze the Annual Reports using the qualitative and

Ethnic Literature Essay Example for Free

Ethnic Literature Essay The term â€Å"ethnic† when in conjunction with the word â€Å"literature† in the academic discourse community of students, often brings out mixed feelings of excitement and dread. On the one hand, students understand that they will be getting away from the canonical American literature – which can equal boring in their eyes; on the other hand, students interpret the term â€Å"ethnic literature† to mean distinctive – which can equal confusing or ambiguous – and perhaps at times not relatable because it is outside their scope of experiences. Perhaps before jumping into why it matters, the term â€Å"ethnic literature† should be defined first and because I am still learning how to interpret this term myself, I searched for a suitable one I could agree with. I found one in an article entitled â€Å"Assessing Teachers’ Knowledge of Multi-Ethnic Literature†, and the article actually used another source themselves to come up with a workable, layman’s definition. Ethnic literature as defined by D. E. Norton (as the article’s source) is, â€Å"Literature about racial or ethnic minority groups that are culturally and socially different from the white Anglo-Saxon majority in the United States, whose largely middle-class values and customs are most represented in American literature† (qtd. in Hager Thompson 22). I think this definition works well to define what ethnic literature is on a surface level, but the more I dig in, I feel that this idea goes much deeper. I asked myself, who can write about ethnic literature? Can anyone just pick up a pen so to speak and tell a story about a young Japanese boy, or a Hispanic family? Can an African-American writer write about Hispanic or Chinese people and claim it is ethnic literature? And the answer to myself is no. Why? Because unless that African-American has been submersed in the Hispanic or Japanese culture from the time of childhood, how are they going to capture the very essence of being, thinking, and living day-to-day in that culture? And even if that African-American had, they would still most likely have a different perspective from the average Hispanic or Chinese person because of being different themselves (i. e black) and perhaps are treated different by the community at large which corrupts the â€Å"normal† cultural thinking. At this deeper level I am trying to get at, I find John M. Reilly’s article â€Å"Criticism of Ethnic Literature: Seeing the Whole Story† helpful in acquiring this. He states that, â€Å"the assertion of ethnicity in literature can be made only through a procedure by which the writer resolves formal problems what moves from recognition of identity to creation of a strategy for handling reality still is not literature until the individual author sustains her or his ethnic identity through a sequence of formal choices† (4). I am interpreting this to mean that as a reader of this literature, I should see and feel throughout the story (perhaps subtlety) that in some way, the characters mindset (and perhaps actions) in the story differ from my own specifically because of the culture they have grown up in in, which has shaped that character’s thinking. There are thoughts and feelings – ideas, I don’t understand without further explanation from the author, which is sometimes provided, and sometimes not. An example of this is in Brando Skyhorse’s novel The Madonnas of Echo Park, I find myself wondering what the significance of the jacaranda trees mentioned in different parts of the book. Looking up what they are, it becomes apparent to me as jacaranda trees are native to Central America – roots back to their homeland. The blossoms from the trees fall and are scattered everywhere. Felicia in chapter 2 states that â€Å"there’s no way getting away from them† (25). Basically meaning, you cannot escape who you are and where you come from. I would not have understood this had I not explored the history of that tree to uncover the significance in the book. Another example is in Seventeen Syllables in the story â€Å"Seventeen Syllables†. The story about a Japanese family is easy to read, but is hard to connect with as I don’t share the same philosophies about a woman’s place in the Japanese culture. A specific instance in the story was when Mrs. Hayashi, Rosie’s mother received her the first place prize for her stellar Haiku. When the man from the newspaper presented her with a package, Mrs. Hayashi, stating she knew it was unorthodox, asked if she might open it because she was very curious. (Yamamoto 17). At this point, I am thinking to myself, â€Å"I don’t get it – why wouldn’t she open it? † but upon reflection, I considered the patriarchal society that is dominant in this culture, and perhaps it is the wife’s obligation to consult or have the husband open the gift, even if it is not specifically for him. Yet another example is in Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz. To come specifically to the point, I do not understand this idea of why it is understood that Dominican men are supposed to be these â€Å"manly men† that women flock to and fall on their knees for. That the sexual appetite along with innate sense of charisma from Dominican men is expected, and when it’s lacking, it doesn’t go unnoticed. â€Å"Anywhere else his triple-zero batting average with the ladies might have passed without comment, but this is a Dominican kid we’re talking about, in a Dominican family: dude was supposed to have Atomic Level G, was supposed to be pulling in the bitches with both hands† (24). Why is this idea so indoctrinated in this culture according to the book? This is perhaps something I will never understand, except that it is a part of their culture. All of these examples are all good and well, but the important question is why is ethnic literature important? What can be gained from reading it? From a most basic viewpoint, it is a highly effective vehicle for helping people understand themselves and the world around them. Thompson and Hager in their article state that, â€Å"multi-ethnic literature mirrors and validates the experiences for minority groups and juxtaposes the familiar with the less familiar for mainstream children† (22). In other words, through reading ethnic literature, readers can find ways to connect with others around them that are different. The article also states that when readers are exposed to divergent thoughts, language patterns, value systems, and different ways of living, that it can open up awareness about others and create compassion and understanding towards them that might not have happened without the literary exposure (23). To sum it all up, I will never argue against the instruction of ethnic literature in the school setting. In fact, I think teaching it should begin right from the beginning in kindergarten, and perhaps one day we won’t need the designated term â€Å"ethnic literature† – perhaps one day it can just be â€Å"American Literature† and part of the regular American canon of literature. Works Cited Diaz, Junot. The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. New York: Penguin, 2007. Print. Reilly, John. M. â€Å"Criticism of Ethnic Literature: Seeing the Whole Story†. Critical Approaches to Ethnic Literature. 5. 1 (1978): 2-13. Web. 21 Apr. 2012. Skyhorse, Brando. The Madonnas of Echo Park. New York: Free Press, 2010. Print. Thompson, Deborah L. and Jane Meeks Hager. â€Å"Assessing Teachers’ Knowledge of Multi-Ethnic Literature†. Yearbook of the American Reading Forum. 1990. 21-29. Web. 21 Apr. 2012. Yamamoto, Hisaye. Seventeen Syllables. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2001. Print.

Royal Library Of Alexandria History Essay

Royal Library Of Alexandria History Essay The Alexandria Library was the largest and most complete library of antiquity and certainly the greatest before the invention of printing. Only fragments and minor comments in ancient authorities are extant in current times. However, the history of the Alexandria Library [Library] remains of central importance in the intellectual history of the classical world as it is thought to contain the best-kept collection of classical literature.  [1]   With the help of historians and theorists as well as texts and historiographies, it is possible to retrace the founding, patronage, and operations of the Library; relate estimates about number of scrolls housed in the Library; and examine legends of its ultimate demise. The purpose of this essay is to review and synthesize the current knowledge of this most famous Library and reconsider its place in classical intellectual history. Alexandria, Egypt: Crossroads of Culture Scholars at the Center of Hellenic Studies at Kings College, London, view Alexandria of Ptolemaic Egypt as a city that was multi-cultural from its beginnings and a focal point for international trade and cultural development.  [2]  Situated between Africa and Europe, the meeting place of all races and creeds, Alexandria was the center of learning in the ancient world. It was a city of Greeks, Macedonians, Egyptians and Jews with the latter group making up about a third of the population. During the height of its power, Alexandria was said to have most abundant and helpful resources and be a nursing mother to men of every nation.  [3]   The Creation and Patronage of the Royal Library of the Ptolemies After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE, his empire was divided into three parts with the Ptolemies dominating Egypt. Under the rule of the Ptolemies, Alexandria housed a Greco-Macedonian court ruling an Egyptian kingdom. Green explains that the Ptolemaic dynasty ran Egypt as a private estate and at a profit which supported scholarship, mercenaries, processions, etc.The Museum and its library played a fundamental role in justifying the rule of the Macedonian-Greek dynasty over Egypt.  [4]  The Library and its community of scholars flourished during the Hellenistic era of the Ptolemies. It has been thought to survive through the Roman Empire, but this finding is a source of debate among scholars. Historian John Marlowe describes how the Library at Alexandria emerged during the period roughly contemporary with Platos Academy, Aristotles Lyceum, Zenos Stoa and the school of Epicurus. Aristotles school in Athens, the Lyceum, had a shrine of the Muses and a library and promoted a universal concept of studies.  [5]  The Ptolemies envisioned Alexandria as a meeting place where scholars of the earth should extend the scientific horizons of man, suggestive of the Lyceum itself. Based on research from historian Edward Parsons, the foundation of the Museum-Library is attributed to Ptolemy Soter and/or his son Ptolemy II. The foundation and continuing support of the Museum and Library owed much to the pioneering work that Aristotle, and, to a lesser extent, Platos Academy, had already undertaken.  [6]   The Alexandria Museum (Temple of the Muses) was a gathering of scholars from all over the world. A Museum (Mouseion) was a shrine or center dedicated to the Muses and often associated with literary studies. The Muses been connected with thinkers and philosophers at least as early as the time of Pythagoras. According to Green, by the time of Aristotle a Museum embodied the features of an intellectual community including cult center, residence buildings, common meals, library holdings and research, and surrounding cloisters and garden. Timon of Philus, lampoonist, wrote of Ptolemys Alexandrian think tank: In the polyglot land of Egypt many now find pasturage as endowed scribblers, endlessly quarreling in the Muses bird cage. For the first three generations of Ptolemies, at least, relations with the Alexandrians were good. This, then, was the atmosphere in which Ptolemaic scholars, poets, and scientists operated.  [7]   History of the Royal Library Operations Information about how the library was run is subject to speculation. According to Parsons, scholars do not have a great deal of information about where and how the papyrus scrolls were stored; the dimensions of the collections; what role the other library, the Serapeum library, had in Alexandrian cultural life. Even the information about the demise of the library refers to a space of six centuries, from the age of Caesar to the age of the prophet Muhammad.  [8]   It is likely the first Ptolemies acquired and stored papyrus scrolls in the Museum. In order to manage this huge and increasing collection of texts, scholars devised a way to classify and order them according to various criteria, the most important evidence for which is represented by the work of Callimachus of Cyrene, who was a leading figure not only in the history of the library of Alexandria, but also in the tradition of Greek scholarship. Historian Roger Bagnall has described that despite volumes of scholarship, both the historical evidence and archaeological remnant of the Library and Museum at Alexandria are rather scant: The disparity between, on the one hand, the grandeur and importance of this library, both in its reality in antiquity and in its image both ancient and modern, and, on the other, our nearly total ignorance about it, has been unbearable. No one, least of all modern scholars, has been able to accept our lack of knowledge about a phenomenon that embodies so many human aspirations. In consequence, a whole literature of wishful thinking has grown up, in which scholars even, I fear, the most rigorous have cast aside the time-tested methods that normally constrain credulity, in order to be able to avoid confessing defeat.  [9]   The position of Demetrius (ca. 384-348) of Phaleron is more secure, as he was a prominent figure in the foundation of the Museum and Library. Aristeas, writing 100 years after the librarys inception, records that Ptolemy I handed assigned Demetrius the job of gathering books and scrolls, as well as letting him supervise a massive effort to translate other cultures works into Greek.  [10]  Demetrius recommended that Ptolemy gather materials on ruling in the style of Platos philosopher-kings. An estimated 30-50 scholars were probably permanently housed at the Museum, funded by the royal family, and later by public money.  [11]   Demetrius had been a pupil of Aristotle and Theophrastos at Aristotles Lyceum. The practice of getting the best scholars or poets to educate the crown prince was something that Ptolemy had had occasion to observe in Macedonia, where the young Alexander had been taught by Aristotle himself. It became a common practice for the Librarian also to serve as royal tutor: Apollonius and Aristarchus certainly did so. Parsons describes Demetrius as an orator and philosopher who dyed his hair blond and rouged his cheeks and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦anointed his person with Eastern salves. He ruled Athens for ten years à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦with moderation and without disaster is an achievement. His critical judgments of ancient texts were much admired.  [12]  Green describes the responsibility that Demetrius had to the Library which included a strong sense that the literary heritage of archaic and classical Greece was in danger of being lost through indifference and neglect.  [13]  Looking at the subsequent history of the transmission of texts, the fear seems well justified. According to Green, the scholars who staffed the Library saw their mission as the rescue of past Greek literature, and set themselves to obtain copies of every known work. Royal purchasers combed the book marts of the Aegean and Asia Minor, the best of which were located in Athens and Rhodes. It was inevitable that numerous forgeries began to circulate. With such an influx of material, the Librarians first major task was to organize accessions and cataloging.  [14]  In about 25 BCE Vitruvius writes about how Aristophanes of Byzantium earned the job of librarian after memorizing most of the Librarys contents  [15]  . Parsons describes how the Ptolemies and their agents ransacked the Hellenic, Mediterranean and Asian cities for literary manuscripts and records. At the port of Alexandria, vessels were searched and books that were found were confiscated with copies made for their rightful owners.  [16]  These rolls, known as the salvaged material, were not (says Galen) delivered directly to the Library, but consigned in the first instance to warehouses, where they were stored in heaps a description.  [17]  Based on sources from Ellis, Ptolemy III wrote a letter to all the worlds sovereigns asking to borrow their books.  [18]  Legend has it that when Athens lent Ptolemy the texts of Euripides, Aeschylus, and Sophocles, he had them copied, returned the copies, and kept the originals. Another of the Librarians responsibilities was the establishment of sound texts purged of scribal errors made during the process of transmission.  [19]   The librarians were reputed to include some of the great figures of ancient scholarship. Bevan refers to the first recorded librarian in Alexandria as Zenodotus of Ephesus, holding that post until 245 B.C.E. His successor Callimachus of Cyrene, may have been Alexandrias most famous librarian, created a subject catalog in 120,000 scrolls of the Librarys holdings.  [20]  The Greek alphabet with less than thirty symbols was learned by almost everyone. An improvement took place in handwriting and developed a more elegant, flowing script, which made both for easier copying and quicker, and more comfortable reading.  [21]   According to Marlowe, librarian Eratosthenes (275-194 B.C.E) amassed a catalog of 44 constellations complete with background myths, as well as a list of 475 fixed stars. Eratosthenes, drawing on Egyptian and Near Eastern observations, deduced the length of the year to 365 1/4 days and was the first to suggest the idea of adding a leap day every four years.  [22]  The last recorded librarian was Aristarchus of Samothrace, the astronomer, who took up the position in 180 B.C.E. during dynastic struggles between two Ptolemies. From that time onward no librarians are mentioned by name in any historical record. Marlowe maintains that the Museum excelled at producing great geometers by assembling the geometric principles of earlier Greek mathematicians, and had access to Babylonian and Egyptian knowledge of geometry.  [23]  Archimedes was one of the early Alexandria scholars to apply theories of motion to mechanical devices. Among his discoveries were the lever and as an extension of the same principle the Archimedes screw, a hand-cranked device for lifting water.  [24]   In the second century C.E., Galen drew upon Alexandrias vast researches and his own investigations to compile fifteen books on anatomy and the art of medicine.  [25]  Herophilus, both collected and compiled the Hippocratic corpus at Alexandria. There has been some conflict about the fate of Aristotles books, once thought to be at the core of the collection, may have been carried off to Rome by Sulla  [26]  . Size and Scale of the Library at Alexandria Alexandrian scholars were provided with a library containing a huge collection of papyrus scrolls and entrusted them to explore every field of human knowledge. The Library may have been reserved for scholars of the Museum just as many modern research libraries are closed to people not affiliated to a scientific or academic institution. In addition to the great Library, located in the Bruchion district of Alexandria, there was a smaller library, called a sister or daughter library that still existed at the time of Caesar and was situated inside the temple of Serapis.  [27]   The manuscripts gathered by Demetrius and his successors were bundles of writings forming high piles in the Museum warehouse. Mixed rolls must have contained many duplicates. Parsons reports that there were 532,800 rolls, of which 132,800 single rolls were considered premier finds. The sister library may have contained 42,800 rolls, probably copies of the writings shelved in the bigger library. The brittle and frail paper of Egypt was à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ fragile media indeed on which to confide the precious knowledge and wisdom of the ages. They were subject to damage by fire, water, rodents, and worms.  [28]   Johnson describes the physical stacks which consisted of pigeonholes or racks for the scrolls, some of which were wrapped in linen or leather jackets. From Roman times manuscripts were written in codex (book) form, and were often stored in wooden chests called armaria.  [29]  According to Bevan, Callimachus cataloged 400,000 mixed scrolls of multiple chapters and 90,000 unmixed scrolls.  [30]   Bagnall has studied the size of the Alexandrian library, and he concludes that either more than ninety percent of classical authors are not even quoted in the surviving Greek literature, or that the Ptolemies acquired a dozen copies of everything, or some combination of these unlikely hypotheses.  [31]  Seneca quotes Livy that over the 40,000 volumes were housed in grain depots near the Alexandria harbor, which were supposedly incinerated when Julius Caesar torched the fleet of Cleopatras brother and rival monarch.  [32]   However, Hannam argues this would likely be the number of papyrus scrolls and many of these were needed to make up an entire book. He believes that Senecas figure of 40,000 is more reasonable and still makes the Royal Library much larger than any of the later classical or medieval libraries.  [33]  Using Gellius as a source, the figure reaches 700,000 books. It is clear that ancient figures vary by wide margins.  [34]  The higher numbers have been accepted by many modern scholars, in spite of the fact that lacking modern inventory systems, ancient librarians, even if they cared to, scarcely had the time or means to count their collections.  [35]   How the Royal Library was destroyed In 48 BCE, Caesar was pursuing Pompey into Egypt when he was cut off by an Egyptian fleet at Alexandria. Outnumbered and in enemy territory, Caesar ordered the ships in the harbor to be set on fire. The fire spread and burned down part of the city where the great Library stood. The earliest account of the destruction of the Library in The Civil Wars by Julius Caesar who states he had to set the fleet in the harbor on fire for his own safety and that some ports arsenals also went up in flames. Plutarch, writing his Life of Caesar at the end of the first century CE, refers that the renowned library was burnt down by the fire Caesar.  [36]  Aulus Gellius, a second century author, included in his Attic Nights a brief passage about libraries where the destruction of the Royal Library is mentioned as taking place by accident during the Romans first war against Alexandria when auxiliary soldiers started a fire.  [37]   In a later book The Alexandrine War 1, Caesar does not mention setting fire to Alexandria but does state that the city was made of stone and would not burn.  [38]  Some scholars argue that Alexandria burns as well as any city and perhaps Caesar was attempting to hide his actions.  [39]  Cicero is silent on a fire in Alexandria in his Philippics.  [40]  . The second story of the Librarys destruction is more popular, thanks primarily to Gibbons The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Theophilus was Patriarch of Alexandria from 385 to 412 CE. During his reign the Temple of Serapis was converted into a Christian Church, and it is likely that many documents were destroyed then. Legend has it that Hypatia, a fifth-century scholar and mathematician of Alexandria, was dragged from her chariot by a mob of monks who burned her upon the remnants of the old Library.  [41]   One of the most famous legends about the Great Library is that of it being burnt down on the instructions of the Caliph Omar after Alexandria had been captured by the Arabs. However, Edward Gibbon reports this is not true.  [42]  In 640 CE the Moslems took the city of Alexandria although this story is attributed to a Christian who spent a great deal of time writing about Moslem atrocities without much historical documentation. Unfortunately most of the writers from Plutarch (who apparently blamed Caesar) to Edward Gibbons (blamed Christians) to Bishop Gregory (who was particularly anti-Moslem, blamed Omar) may be biased. It is possible that the collection ebbed and flowed as some documents were destroyed and others were added. For instance, Mark Antony was supposed to have given Cleopatra over 200,000 scrolls for the Library long after Julius Caesar is accused of burning it. It is likely that even if the Museum was destroyed with the main library, the outlying daughter library at the Temple of Serapis continued on. Many writers seem to equate the Library of Alexandria with the Library of Serapis although technically they were in two different parts of the city.  [43]  Historian Canfora is skeptical and her interpretation is that Plutarchs passage is an interpolation  [44]  . Hannam interprets Plutarch as merely reporting a list of slanders against Antony made others.  [45]   Hannam maintains that the Royal Library of Alexandria was not standing during the Christian era. It is his theory that a major library was founded at the Serapeum during its rebuilding in the second century CE and that this library became confused in the minds of various writers with the Royal Library of the Ptolemies that had disappeared over two centuries before. The Serapeum ceased to be when a Christian mob tore it down to the foundations under the leadership of the orthodox patriarch Theophilus after he had received word from the Emperor Theodosius. The year this happened is generally fixed to AD391 and it is one of the best attested events in late antiquity. The Serapeum library was probably founded as an adornment to the new Roman temple. Although there are no details as to its size, it would have been quite large enough to be confused with the earlier Royal Library.  [46]   The Library is often portrayed as the repository of all ancient wisdom and that its loss meant that science would progress at a much slower pace. Hannam believes the truth of the matter is that the Library was an important institution in the history but that its destruction in the first century BCE did not spell the end of ancient scholarship. In fact, Alexandria remained the Mediterraneans intellectual capital for seven centuries afterwards due to the library in the Serapeum and patronage of Roman Emperors. Hannam goes on to explain that in the final analysis, the Arab invasion ended the story of the Alexandria library. A that point, the cultural inheritance from the ancient world would be preserved in Constantinople and Baghdad.  [47]   Historian Luciano Canfora explains that placing the Librarys disappearance in the first century B.C.E., as opposed to four centuries later or even later at the end of the seventh century, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦necessarily alters our perception of the quality of the Greek literature that has come down to us. Canfora recounts the major theories: the catastrophe is blamed either on Julius Caesar (48/47 B.C.E.) or on the fanaticism of the Arabs who conquered Alexandria in 642 A.D. Canfora supports the latter theory because the flow translations from Greek flowing through Egypt came to a halt at the end of the seventh century. Roger Bagnalls theory is that the disappearance of the Library is the result of the end of the impetus and interest that brought it into being and of the lack of the kind of sustained management and maintenance that would have seen it through successive transitions in the physical media by means of which the texts could have been transmitted. The library of Alexandria began to disappear when the community of scholars for which it had been created was broken up; or when, as Bagnall says, the generative impetus of the first centuries ended. Conclusions Repeatedly rebuilt, modified, and burned, the few facts that can be determined about the Librarys long history convey its semi-legendary status. Delia has underlined the literary and romantic character of these traditions, which are not more reliable, from a historical point of view, than the novel.  [48]   The central place of the Alexandrian library in Western cultural memory derives from a combination of several factors: the foundation project; the connection between the library and the Museum; the capability of the Alexandrian library to generate knowledge, and not only to accumulate it; its destruction, a symbol of countless similar tragedies. Each of these elements concerns the present and future of our civilization, no less than its ancient roots.