The scale of this space is hard to comprehend. The white dots in the center of the photo are six foot tall book shelves! Alexandria's Library was a beacon of learning back in the ancient times but it was looted and partially burned when Julius Cesar supported a civil war. Started in 300 BCE, the library was one of the largest in the world and it was envisioned that it was to hold a copy of every book ever published. Great works were collected but the humidity of a coastal town and continued civil unrest made it difficult to maintain the papyrus scrolls and the books. After the initial fire many of the surviving volumes were transferred to the temple of Sarapeum. However this temple was destroyed among others in 391 AD after a decree to banish all idol worship. The new Library was an attempt to revive the old library. In 1974 the process began and a parcel of land was obtained. Construction was started in 1995 and it was completed in 2002. France donated 500,000 books and the library has shelf space for 8,000,000 books. It is huge and sprawling. There are specialty collections for the blind, for kids, for maps and more. There are four museums, four art galleries and a planetarium. The exterior walls are covered in the scripts of 200 alphabets. Inside the reading room is 200,000 square meters!
So many textiles
No joker here!
Ducks, a lone turkey and a lone goose
Rabbit stew for dinner would be nice
These ducks are so full, they must be sold by weight
Pigeons for sale
Notice the green light, we should be able to go
These lamps are very ornate but what is going on with the light post in the background?
The mosques always seem to be able to keep their buildings nicely upkept
Snake drinks?
Sponges for sale
Super detailed
Cow onesie!
Danger on a bike!
200 different scripts
The building is a huge arc
The art starts right away
New, old, modern, abstract and classic art pieces everywhere
A tree of books
This library goes on and on
With little tusks on the right side
An iron box used to store the royal seals and other printing tidbits
An envelope folding machine from England
This is the seal of the library in tapestry form
More printing paraphernalia
Elegant and tall
This is author Taha Hussein, Dean of Arabic Literature
Author Abbas Mohamud al-Aqqad
The building is also a piece of art
This is Tawfiq al-Hakin a pioneer in "Closet Drama"
A press for printing
Tiny books
Marketing by carnivores?
The beauty of some of the books
On and on it goes
A scanning electron microscope
Henrik Ibsen a Norwegian playwright the father of realism and influential in the introduction of modernism in theater
Seen from afar
A lion
A scale model of the library
Classic marble
There was a graduation ceremony about to commence. We saw many bouquets of flowers and robes about to be worn
The planetarium
A parting sculpture that was found in the waters off the coast by underwater archeologists
