The Alexandrian Library the story of a Library

he purpose of this master thesis is to learn more about the ancient Alexandrian Library. The method used in this thesis is methodology of history, especially a critical attitude when it comes to evaluating the ancient texts. I put forward three questions to which I desire to find answers. First: What do the sources from Antiquity tell about the Alexandrian library? Second: How do modern writers of books on the subject use these sources? Thirdly: I look into the possible historical and cultural reasons that the first of the Ptolemaic kings could have had for establishing the Mouseion and the Library of Alexandria. Archaeologists in Alexandria have not been able to make many discoveries. Very little can be said conclusively about the buildings of this city in antiquity. The textual sources from antiquity analysed in this thesis are the ones used in all modern books on the subject. I conclude that there are difficulties and ambiguities concerning their use, but as there are very few sources, one cannot easily dismiss any of them. Most modern writers on this subject accept the sources uncritically. There were probably several reasons for establishing this Library. Besides the ones concerning economic resources and the need of an advanced society, the first Ptolemaic king also needed to create a cultural base for the Greeks in the new Hellenistic kingdom he was establishing in Egypt. The king could possibly have been influenced by Libraries of the Middle East or in Egypt as well as of Aristotles Library in the Lyceum.Uppsatsnivå: