The oldest libraries in the world are. Ancient libraries of the world

Introduction

First in the world public library

Ancient libraries of Sumer

Library of King Assyria Ashurbanipal

First public library in Rome

First library Ancient Rus'

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

The word "library" is of Greek origin. "Byblos" means "book" (cf. the word "Bible", i.e. "[Holy] book"), "teke" - "warehouse, storage" (cf. derivatives from this root: pharmacy, card store, music library, disco, etc.). In the last lesson, the largest public library of antiquity, the Alexandria Library, was already mentioned. Equally famous was the Pergamon Library. There were many other smaller libraries - city, school, and there were also private, home collections of books. What kind of libraries were these? What kind of books were kept there, what did they look like and what were they written on?

It is curious that the first and original meaning The Latin word liber is “bast”, and the second word is “book”. This means that initially the Romans wrote and made notes on the bark of trees (an interesting parallel is the birch bark letters in ancient Russian Novgorod).

It is known that since ancient times, people have used a wide variety of materials as the basis for writing: rocks, stone slabs, tree bark, palm leaves, clay tablets, tablets made of bronze, lead, tin and other materials, and finally, papyrus from Egypt and parchment (not to be confused with parchment - modern look wrapping paper), named after the city of Pergamum in Asia Minor, where in the 2nd century BC. The production of writing material from calfskin was established. Until the 10th century, when Europe became acquainted with the production of paper, and even later, parchment remained the main writing material here.

Both in Greece and Rome they wrote mainly on papyrus and parchment, which were first made in the form of scrolls, wound on a wooden stick, placed in special cases and stored in chests or on shelves in closets. At one end of the stick hung a label with the title of the book and its contents. Later they learned to fold sheets of parchment or papyrus in four, forming compact “notebooks” (in Greek, “fours”). By tying together several of these notebooks, a “volume” or “code” was obtained.

Already from the 5th century BC. there were booksellers in Athens, which indicates the wide circulation of books as a commodity and the fact that they were copied in many copies (for this, the publishers kept large staff scribes).

In Rome, the first rich private libraries appeared in the 2nd-1st centuries BC. In the 1st century BC. Guy Julius Caesar planned to establish the first public library in Rome. It is known that during the reign of Emperor Constantine in the 4th century AD. There were 28 public libraries in Rome.

The world's first public library

This was in the 3rd century. BC e. Big ship with raised sails, splashing hundreds of oars, he approached the shores of Egypt.

The ship was leaving from Athens. In its hold, along with other goods, there were chests filled with books. These were sheets of papyrus and parchment rolled into scrolls.

Alexandria, whose population reached several hundred thousand people, was the capital of a powerful power created by one of the military leaders of Alexander the Great - Ptolemy, who captured Egypt, neighboring Cyrenaica, part of Syria, the island of Cyprus and a number of areas in Asia Minor.

The Greeks - the Hellenes - brought a rich culture to the conquered countries, at the same time assimilating the high cultural achievements of the peoples Ancient East. A new, so-called Hellenistic culture arose here, the outstanding center of which was Alexandria.

King Ptolemy and his successors patronized the development of science, literature and art. They created a scientific institution in Alexandria, called "museion", which translated means "institution dedicated to the muses." (According to the ancient Greeks, nine muses patronized various arts and sciences.)

At the same time, through the efforts of many scientists and with the energetic assistance of the Egyptian kings, the first public library in history was created in Alexandria, which could be used not only by the citizens of Alexandria, but also by visitors.

By this time it was written in Greek great amount works. Among them are essays on various branches of science, technology, Agriculture and especially a lot of fiction. All works existed only in manuscripts, so there were very few copies; they were usually owned by private individuals and were very expensive. They wrote on long sheets glued together from cut papyrus stems, or on specially treated leather - parchment (from the name of the Asia Minor city of Pergamum, where parchment was first made). Small works fit into one scroll, large ones were divided into several scrolls into sections.

Ptolemy sent his delegates to all countries cultural world to purchase essays in Greek and other languages.

All captains of ships arriving in Alexandria were ordered to report on the literary works on board, which were often purchased for the library.

A special building was built for the library in one of the best areas of Alexandria. It had the shape of a rectangle and was decorated on all sides with rows of graceful columns, between which stood statues outstanding writers and scientists.

The entrance led into a large hall lined with white marble. There were tables for reading and writing, and next to them were comfortable chairs and couches (noble Greeks loved to recline on soft couches at the table). Behind this hall there was a huge repository of scrolls and service rooms - the room of the main custodian of the library, his assistants and translators. A lot of scientific work was carried out in the library. Outstanding scientists of that time studied here: the physicist Gerondus, the astronomers Eratosthenes and Aristarchus of Samos, the anatomist and physician Herophilus, the mathematicians Euclid and Archimedes and many others.

A huge number of works of wonderful Greek literature and the literature of other ancient peoples of the Mediterranean were collected in the Library of Alexandria. At the beginning of the 1st century. BC e. the total number of scrolls reached 700 thousand. This is at least 200-300 thousand of our book volumes. There were complete collections of the works of the great Greek playwrights - the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, the comedies of Aristophanes, Menander.

The library contained thousands of works on the history of not only large states, but also individual localities and cities of the ancient world. The remarkable works of ancient Greek historians that have survived to this day - the “father of history” Herodotus, Thucydides, Polybius and others - are only a small part of this rich collection (see article “Historians of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome”).

Of the works of ancient philosophers stored in the library, few have reached us. They are carefully studied by modern researchers. The philosophical works of the ancient Greeks, especially Aristotle, were highly appreciated by K. Marx, F. Engels, V. I. Lenin.

Works on architecture, military affairs, exact and natural sciences: mathematics, physics, astronomy, technology, botany, geography and medicine were very carefully collected in the library. Among the medical books were works by the founder of medical science, Hippocrates, and his students.

The creation of the library was of great importance for the development of culture. Scientists, philosophers, teachers, military men, writers, artists for the first time had the opportunity to widely study literature in their specialty, to get acquainted with the life and culture of contemporary peoples and peoples of the distant past.

Ancient Greek philosophers (from left to right) Plato (427-347 BC, BC) and Aristotle (384-322 BC), whose works were in the Library of Alexandria.

A completely new science arose in the Library of Alexandria - classification - the distribution of hundreds of thousands of different works into sections and the compilation of a catalog indicating the author and title of each book. The eminent scholar Callimachus compiled a description of all the scrolls of the Library of Alexandria. His grandiose work would occupy 122 of our large books (this work has not reached us).

The Library of Alexandria existed in its original form for about 200 years. In 48-47 BC e., when the troops of the Roman military leader Julius Caesar (see article “The Beginning of the Empire”) burst into Alexandria and entered into a fierce struggle with the population of the city, a fire broke out. Part of the library was destroyed in the fire. Caesar sent many scrolls to Rome, but the ship with the scrolls sank.

At the end of the 4th century. n. e., during a fierce struggle between Christians and supporters of ancient beliefs, one of the buildings of the Library of Alexandria was destroyed by a crowd of Christian fanatics, and its treasures were almost completely lost. Remnants of a wonderful meeting ancient literature were destroyed in the 7th century. n. e. by the troops of the Arab caliph, who captured Alexandria in 641.

But over the many centuries of the existence of the Library of Alexandria, hundreds of scientists and writers worked in it, and many of the works stored in it were distributed throughout all countries of the ancient world. Thanks to this, some of the ancient cultural treasures in the library were preserved for subsequent generations. They formed the basis scientific knowledge and literature of many peoples in the Middle Ages and in modern times.

Ancient libraries of Sumer

At first III millennium BC e. On the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers there was one of the centers of ancient civilization - Mesopotamia. Its southern part was called Mesopotamia. Excellent geographical and climatic conditions created conditions for the life and development of people in this territory long before the period we are considering. Several dozen small city-states were built on the hills and surrounded by walls. It was ancient Lagos, Ur, Nippur and others that became the main carriers Sumerian civilization. The youngest of them, Babylon, developed so rapidly that in the 1st millennium BC. e. The Greeks began to call Mesopotamia after his name Babylonia.

For a long time, scientists conducted archaeological excavations at the sites of the most ancient cities of Mesopotamia. Archaeologists discovered the ruins of palaces and temples; numerous household items, works of art, and tools were found. Among all the other finds, they saw a large number of Sumerian cuneiform tablets of various sizes and shapes, which contained information about state structure Sumer, its economy and social life. Household records, lists of words for memorization, school texts and writings, reporting documents of scribes of the 3rd millennium BC. e. and other various information was left for posterity by the inhabitants of antiquity.

During excavations in the city of Ur, several libraries, small collections of sacred texts, and personal libraries were found. Of particular importance were the finds made by scientists in the city of Nippur (modern Iraq), the ancient religious center of the Sumerians. About 100 thousand clay tablets, housed in 62 rooms, sometimes broken into dozens of pieces or with erased inscriptions, were found at the site of the Nippur temple library.

In total, about 150 monuments of Sumerian literature are known. Among them are poetic records of myths, epic tales, prayers, hymns to gods and kings, psalms, wedding and love songs, funeral laments, laments about public disasters, which formed part of the temple service; Didactics are widely represented: teachings, edifications, debates and dialogues, as well as fables, anecdotes, sayings and proverbs. Of course, such a distribution by genre is completely arbitrary and is based on our modern ideas about genres.

The Sumerians themselves had their own classification - in almost every literary work its “genre” is indicated in the last line: song of praise, dialogue, lamentation, etc. Unfortunately, the principles of this classification are not always clear to us: the same type, from our point of view, works fall into different categories in Sumerian designations, and vice versa - monuments of obviously different genres, say hymns and epics, are assigned to the same category. In a number of cases, classification designations indicate the nature of the performance or musical accompaniment (crying to a pipe, singing to a drum, etc.), since all works were performed aloud - sung, and if not sung, then recited after memorization from a tablet.

The tablets found in Sumerian libraries were kept in closed boxes or baskets. Each of them had labels with inscriptions about the nature of the materials they contained: “Documents relating to the garden”, “Dispatching of workers”, etc. There were signs with notes about the loss of texts, a list of 87 works - original prototypes of the catalogue. Long work to decipher the records allowed scientists to get an idea not only of the “funds” and storage conditions of the tablets, but also to expand their knowledge of the history of the people who once lived in this territory.

At the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. e. The temple library of Nippur was burned by the Elamite conqueror Kudur-mabuk.

Library of King Assyria Ashurbanipal

Babylonia became the heir to Sumerian culture, and then Assyria. For many centuries, Assyrian rulers waged successful wars with neighboring states. At the beginning of the 7th century BC. e. they subjugated Babylonia, part of Asia Minor and even Egypt. The well-trained Assyrian army played a major role in the conquest of new lands: the famous Assyrian chariots, cavalry and infantry.

The capital of the powerful state was ancient Nineveh, founded in the 5th millennium BC. e. The residence of the Assyrian rulers was distinguished by a large number of palaces. Built on elevations, surrounded by high walls, they amazed with their luxurious decoration. Numerous sculptures, gold and marble surrounded their owners. At the entrance to the palaces there were statues of winged bulls with human heads, which were supposed to protect them from evil deities.

One of the last Assyrian rulers was Ashurbanipal (668 - 626 BC), a highly educated king for his time - a literate king who could read and write. His father, the Assyrian king Esarhaddon (680 - 669 BC), according to some researchers, initially wanted to make his son a high priest. And the priests were highly educated people for their time - they had to be able to read cuneiform and know the sacred texts.

Ashurbanipal did not become a priest, but his love of reading remained throughout his life. On two of the tablets later found by archaeologists, it was written in his hand that he knew the languages ​​and scribal art of all masters of writing, was present at meetings of scribes, and solved complex problems with multiplication and division. It is not surprising that it was this ruler who, two and a half thousand years ago, collected in his palace in Nineveh a rich library of tens of thousands of cuneiform tablets.

In the 7th century BC. e. Ashurbanipal brought a vast territory under his rule. By his personal command, throughout the forty years of his reign, many experienced scribes who knew several languages ​​traveled throughout the Assyrian state. They looked for ancient books in the libraries and temples of Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Akkad, Lars and, if it was impossible to take the originals, they made copies of them.

Most copies retain marks confirming their accuracy: “Copied and verified according to the ancient original.” If the original from which a copy was made had been erased over time or was illegibly written, then the scribes would mark: “Erased” or “I don’t know.” The scribe had to replace the obsolete signs on ancient texts with modern ones, and shortening a very long text was allowed. “...Look for rare tablets stored in the local archives,” said the king’s order, “of which we don’t have copies in Assyria, and bring them to me... No one dares refuse to give you the tablets...”

In a fairly short period of time, Ashurbanipal managed to assemble one of the first libraries in the world, notable not only for its size, but also for the completeness of its collections, and which even today is one of the best treasuries known to mankind. She had tens of thousands in her fund cuneiform tablets not only about the ancient states of Assyria and Babylon, but also about all branches of knowledge known at that time. There was literature on geography and history, grammar and law, mathematics and astronomy, medicine and natural science; religious and theological literature was well represented in the collections: collections of witchcraft spells against evil spirits, diseases, evil eyes and damage; penitential psalms and confessional questionnaires.

The royal library, as evidenced by the entry on one of the tablets, was most likely open for wide use and was kept in exemplary order. There were inventory records and a catalogue, and the funds were systematized. The name of the work, the room and shelf where it was stored were indicated on the tile, and the number of lines in the tablet was noted.

If the work did not fit on one tablet, then the last line of the previous entry was repeated on the next one. Below were indicated initial words the work itself. The tablets that belonged to the same work were kept together in a separate wooden box or clay chest and placed on special shelves in a systematic order. A label with the name of the branch of knowledge was attached to the shelf.

During excavations, scientists found copies of the first cuneiform textbooks, compiled back in the 18th century BC. e., various dictionaries, including Sumerian-Akkadian. The “Textbook for Prince Ashurbanipal”, a bilingual educational dictionary, has been preserved in fragments. The Babylonian book of Genesis, the epic of Gilgamesh with the legend of the flood, various legends and myths were found.

The total number of tablets found by scientists was about 20 thousand. The bulk of these unique clay books are kept in the British Museum (London).

First public library in Rome

“The fruits of the human mind are the common heritage.” This phrase belongs to the founder of the world's first public library, Asinius Pollio. The opening of this library took place in Rome in 39 BC.

Until the 2nd century BC. In Rome, only a few read and collected books. But already in the 2nd century BC. with the expansion of Roman expansion to the East, the first private libraries appeared in Rome. The first collections of books among the Romans were only trophies of Roman military leaders: Aemilius Paulus in 168 BC. brought the library of the Macedonian king Perseus, and Lucullus brought books captured from the Pontic kingdom...

In the second half of the 2nd century and in the 1st century BC. The Romans most of all fought with the Greeks who lived in the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea. The Hellenic world was culturally incomparably higher than the Roman one. With the conquest of the eastern regions by Rome, the mass penetration of advanced Greek culture into Rome began. It becomes prestigious to speak Greek and be able to read books by outstanding Greek authors. (Like speaking French in Russia in the 19th century!)

Already by the 1st century BC. A great many private libraries are appearing there. Some of them were quite significant, up to 30 thousand scrolls! These personal libraries were most often located in the villas of former military leaders, in well-ventilated rooms with windows facing east, so that the books were better preserved. The scrolls were kept in low cabinets along the walls, sometimes in wall niches, and also in cabinets standing in the center of the room. The cabinets were mostly made of cedar, as it is less susceptible to deterioration and rotting. (One of these villas, the Villa de Papira, was discovered and excavated in Herculaneum, a city destroyed by the catastrophic eruption of Vesuvius).

In the second half of the 1st century BC. thanks to the powerful influence Greek culture A large number of educated, inquisitive and talented people appear in Rome. These people needed to communicate with each other, share knowledge, make inquiries with authoritative authors of wise books, argue, compete in eloquence... Special institutions were needed for this. Thus, the need gradually matured to create public libraries in Rome as a center of communication and equal access to books.

The famous Gaius Julius Caesar (10044 BC), having visited 47 BC. in Egypt, in Alexandria, I saw the famous library with my own eyes. He planned to found a similar one in Rome, but accessible to a larger number of people. Therefore, he had the intention of taking a lot of books from Egypt to Rome, translating these books into Latin, while preserving the originals, and inviting Alexandrian scientists, writers and poets to Rome.

Murder in 44 BC Caesar prevented the implementation of these plans. But the seed sown by the enlightened ruler sprouted. Five years after his death, the first public library was opened. The military leader Gaius Asinius Pollio (76 BC - 5 AD), having successfully ended the war with Parthia and returning to his hometown, built the famous Atrium of Liberty in his villa using military spoils. This very library is located there. She served the “Academy of Eloquence” opened there.

In the library founded by Pollio, philosophers gathered to talk about the creations of Greek thought, poets to read their favorite poems and discuss the literary merits of a particular work, to show off their eloquence. The library was based on books captured by the Romans in Illyria, and it was divided into funds of Latin and Greek books. Greek books, of course, predominated.

Following Pollio, he founded two public libraries, Latin and Greek, in 28 AD. Octavian Augustus. They were located in Rome on the Palatine Hill at the Temple of Apollo (the so-called Palatine Library). They were later discovered by Tiberius (ruled 1437 AD), Vespasian (ruled 7079 AD), Trajan (ruled 98117 AD) and other emperors. These were populist acts on their part. The fact is that during the empire, the construction and opening of public libraries was considered a great service to society.

The first library of Ancient Rus'

It is believed that the first library of Ancient Rus' was founded by Yaroslav the Wise at the St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv. This is reported in the Tale of Bygone Years, the first chronicle of the early 12th century.

All rulers European countries who had the good fortune to become related to the great prince of Kiev (Yaroslav’s children were married or were in marriage to representatives of the reigning dynasties of France, Norway, Poland, Hungary, Rome and Byzantium), knew about the passions of their eastern relative and gave him books at every opportunity. Moreover, the books are not simple, but in luxurious frames, decorated with jewelry.

The further accumulation of book treasures forced Yaroslav to allocate a special room for the library. Dozens of learned monks worked on the rewriting of individual ancient manuscripts; They also engaged in the translation of sacred books. In particular, a lot of books were translated by monks from Greek language into Russian. An example of such a translation is the historical work “The Chronicle of George Amartol”.

The Ipatiev Chronicle wrote about the benefits of books: “A person can benefit greatly from book learning. And we taught with books, if we find the ways of repentance and wisdom and abstain from the words of books.” No, it’s not for nothing that Prince Yaroslav received the nickname Wise! Chroniclers wrote respectfully about him: “I read the books myself!”

Book collections arose in Kyiv even before Yaroslav. For example, his father Vladimir Svyatoslavich, according to the chronicler, “loved bookish words and apparently owned a library...”.

The word “library” itself was almost never used in Ancient Rus'. In different cities of Rus', rooms for books had a variety of names: “book depository”, “book depository”, “book depository”, “book depository”, “storage treasury”, “book cage”, “book chamber”. The word “library” appears for the first time in the famous Gennadian Bible of 1499. The term “library” was still unusual for Russians, so in the margin next to it the translator made an explanation - “book house”.

Where did the first library of Ancient Rus' go? She couldn't disappear, get lost completely and without a trace. It seems that it was stored differently from how it is now, that is, in full view of everyone, with free access to the books of everyone. Most likely, the library premises were located in the basement of the Church of Hagia Sophia. Moreover, for the most valuable and richly decorated books it was simply necessary to have a secret storage facility, such as a modern fireproof safe.

According to the famous Soviet researcher and speleologist I. Ya. Stelletsky, “neither archaeologists nor architects were interested in this issue and never wrote anything on this topic.” But treasure hunters have kept the library of Yaroslav the Wise in sight for a long time. Many are sure that there are vast basements under the St. Sophia Cathedral that have never been truly explored by anyone.

Conclusion

Libraries first appeared in the ancient East. Officially, the first library is considered to be a collection of clay tablets, approximately 2500 BC. e., found in the temple of the Babylonian city of Nippur. One of the oldest collections of books that have come down to us can also be considered a box of papyri found in one of the tombs near Thebes, Egypt. It dates back to the II transition period (XVIII - XVII centuries BC). Approximately around 1250 BC. e. Ramses II collected about 20,000 papyri. The most famous ancient Eastern library is a collection of cuneiform tablets from the palace of the Assyrian king of the 7th century BC. e. Ashurbanipal in Nineveh. The main part of the signs contains legal information. In ancient Greece, the first public library was founded in Heraclea by the tyrant Clearchus (IV century BC).

The Library of Alexandria became the largest center of ancient books. It was created in the 3rd century BC. e. Ptolemy I and was the center of education of the entire Hellenistic world. The Library of Alexandria was part of the mouseĩon (museum) complex. The complex included living rooms, dining rooms, reading rooms, botanical and zoological gardens, an observatory and a library. Later, medical and astronomical instruments, stuffed animals, statues and busts were added and used for teaching. Mouseĩon included 200,000 papyri in the Temple (almost all libraries of antiquity were attached to temples) and 700,000 documents in the School. Museum and most of The Library of Alexandria was destroyed around 270 AD.

1. Library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal ( British museum London 7th century BC)

The oldest library in the world, discovered in 1849-51 by British archaeologists Austin Henry Layard and Hormuzd Rasam during excavations on the banks of the Euphrates.. It is considered the most ancient of known to the world libraries. It was conceived by the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal as a repository of all the knowledge accumulated by mankind and was based on ancient Sumerian and Babylonian texts. Includes legal, administrative and economic records, descriptions of political events, magical and religious rituals, prophecies, astronomical and historical information, prayers, songs. One of the most famous mythological texts is the Epic of Gilgamesh. It is one of the main sources of information about the history and culture of Mesopotamia and the decipherment of cuneiform. The bulk of the 30,000 clay tablets discovered are in currently in the British Museum.

2. Library of the Monastery of St. Catherine (Egypt Sinai 548-565)

The monastery is located in Egypt at the foot of Mount Sinai. The monastery library contains 3,304 manuscripts, 5,000 books and about 1,700 scrolls. Her meeting on historical significance second only to the Vatican Apostolic Library. The texts are written in Greek, Arabic, Syriac, Georgian, Armenian, Coptic, Ethiopian and Slavic languages. The most famous manuscripts are the Codex Sinaiticus of the 4th century (currently in the British Museum) and the Codex Syriac of the 5th century with quotations from the Bible. In addition to other relics, the monastery also has a collection of ancient icons.

3. National Library Czech Republic(Prague 1366)

It is not just one of the oldest, but also one of the best, serving about 1 million readers a year. It was founded in connection with the formation of the University of Prague. Provides access to more than 6 million documents, with an annual increase of 70,000 items. Many library projects are supported by UNESCO.

4. National Library of Austria (Vienna 1368)

Located in the Hofburg Palace, which served as the residence of the Habsburg imperial family. The collection includes 7.5 million books, ancient papyri, maps, globes, paintings, photographs, scores of works famous musicians such as Strauss and Bruckner. It is also known for the fact that it contains about 8,000 incunabula - typesetting early printed publications.

5. National Library of France (Paris 1461)

It existed even under Charles V the Wise, but the bulk of his collection was lost, since royal relatives had a habit of not returning the books they took. Louis XI began to collect the library almost anew. Along with others, the library contains books from various monasteries, books about the revolution, books about Walter, as well as collections of manuscripts sent from various countries. Currently includes 30 million storage units.

6. Vatican Apostolic Library (Rome Vatican 1475)

Its inspiration and creator were Popes Nicholas V and Sixtus IV. First of all, this is a rich collection of manuscripts from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Under the auspices of the library, entire expeditions were carried out to search for rare publications in the most different parts Sveta. Includes a wide variety of texts from manuscripts with the works of Cicero, Virgil, Aristotle, to works of modern authors. Naturally, most the collections consist of texts with religious content. The Vatican School of Librarians and a laboratory for the restoration and reproduction of the most important manuscripts have been created at the library. Up to 150 scientists and specialists can visit the storage facilities every day.

7. National Library of Malta (Valletta 1555)

Founded by the 48th Grand Master of the Order of Saint John, Claude de la Single. According to his decree, all personal books of deceased knights were considered the property of the Order. It was developed under Louis Guirin de Tensin, the bailiff-executor of the Grand Cross of the Order. The Maltese Library is a significant collection of bibliographic rarities. Here you can see the deed of gift of 1 107 from Emperor Charles to King Baldwin I of Jerusalem, documents confirming noble origin knights, minutes of meetings of the Order of St. John. Since 1812 the library has been open to visitors.

8. Bavarian State Library (Munich 1558)

Thisold library founded by Duke Albrecht V of Wittelsbach. In 1663, a law was passed in Bavaria according to which two copies of any printed work must be transferred to this library. The law is still in effect. During World War II, up to 500,000 volumes were lost and the building was 85% destroyed. Despite this, it is considered one of the most extensive European libraries. Conducts great job on digitization of ancient documents and manuscripts.

9. Royal Library Belgium (Brussels 1559)

National science Library. Founded by order of Philip II. Contains 8 million books, manuscripts, drawings, engravings, and a large numismatic collection. The main goal of the activity is to collect and store all Belgian publications and works by Belgians published abroad. In addition to national ones, there are a large number of foreign books. Available for visiting by citizens, including students.

10. Bodleian Library, Oxford University Library (London, 1602)

Bears the name of Sir Thomas Bodley, a popular and world-famous man who collected manuscripts. Although many believe that the founder is still Bishop Thomas de Cobham. Through his efforts, the first collection of books was collected at the university, which were chained to the shelves to prevent theft. Along with the Vatican Library, they claim the right to be called the oldest in Europe.

It was compiled over 25 years in the Assyrian capital of Nineveh by order of King Ashurbanipal (VII century BC). It also served as a state archive.

After the death of the king, the funds were scattered among various palaces. The part of the library discovered by archaeologists consists of 25,000 clay tablets with cuneiform texts. Opening of the library in mid-19th century century was of great importance for understanding the cultures of Mesopotamia and for deciphering cuneiform writing.

Ashurbanipal intended to create a library that was supposed to exhaust all the knowledge accumulated by mankind. He was especially interested in the information necessary to govern the state - about how to maintain constant communication with deities, about predicting the future by the movement of the stars and the entrails of sacrificial animals. That is why the lion's share of the funds consisted of texts of conspiracies, prophecies, magical and religious rituals, and mythological tales. The bulk of the information was extracted from Sumerian and Babylonian texts by specially organized teams of scribes.

The library had a large collection of medical texts (with an emphasis on healing through witchcraft), but the rich mathematical heritage of Babylonia was inexplicably ignored. There were numerous lists literary epic tales, in particular tablets with the epic of Gilgamesh and the mythological translation of Enuma elish, as well as tablets with prayers, songs, legal documents (for example, the Code of Hammurabi), economic and administrative records, letters, astronomical and historical works, records of a political nature , lists of kings and poetic texts.

The texts were written in Assyrian, Babylonian, Akkadian, and Sumerian. Many texts are presented in parallel in Sumerian and Akkadian, including encyclopedic editions and dictionaries. As a rule, one text was kept in six copies, which today greatly facilitates the work of deciphering the tablets. Today, the library of Ashurbanipal is largest meeting texts in Akkadian.

The foundation of the library took place by order of the Assyrian ruler Ashurbanipal, who was distinguished great interest to texts and knowledge in general. Ashurbanipal's predecessors had small palace libraries, but none of them had such a passion for collecting texts. Ashurbanipal sent numerous scribes to different regions their country to make copies of all texts they come across. In addition, Ashurbanipal ordered copies of texts from all major temple archives, which were then sent to him in Nineveh. Sometimes, during military campaigns, Ashurbanipal managed to capture entire cuneiform libraries, which he also delivered to his palace.

The librarians of Ashurbanipal did a great job of cataloging, copying, commenting and researching library texts, as evidenced by numerous glossaries, bibliography and commentaries. Ashurbanipal himself gave great importance organizing the library. Each tablet had his name written on it (a kind of bookplate), and the colophon contained the name of the original tablet from which the copy was made. The library had hundreds of codices with waxed pages, allowing text written on wax to be corrected or rewritten. Unlike cuneiform tablets (which are only hardened during fires), wax tablets are not durable. They have not survived, as well as the scrolls in the library - parchment and papyrus. Judging by ancient catalogs, no more than 10% of all funds collected by Ashurbanipal have survived to this day.

A huge array of cuneiform texts has survived to this day solely thanks to Ashurbanipal's passion for the written word. In many cases, the ancient monuments of Mesopotamian writing have survived only in copies made by order of this ruler. Some of the texts presented have thousand-year history(Although the tablets themselves are not very ancient, under normal conditions they were rarely kept for more than 200 years).

Ashurbanipal himself was proud of the fact that he was the only Assyrian ruler who could read and write. His personal note was found on one of the tablets:

“I studied what the wise Adapa brought me, mastered everything secret art letters on tablets, began to understand predictions in the sky and on earth, participate in discussions of learned men, predict the future together with the most experienced interpreters of predictions from the liver of sacrificial animals. I can solve complex, difficult problems involving division and multiplication, I constantly read skillfully written signs on this difficult language, like Sumerian, or as difficult to interpret as Akkadian, is familiar with antediluvian stone records that are already completely incomprehensible.”

Ashurbanipal's own records (probably compiled by the best scribes) are of high literary quality.

A generation after Ashurbanipal, his capital fell to the Medes and Babylonians. The library was not looted, as usually happens in such cases, but was buried under the ruins of the palaces where it was kept.

In 1849, most of the library (which was kept in the northwestern palace on the banks of the Euphrates) was found by the British archaeologist Austin Henry Layard. Three years later, Layard's assistant, the British diplomat and traveler Hormuzd Rasam, found the second part of the library in the opposite wing of the palace. Both parts were taken to the British Museum for storage. The opening of the library allowed scientists to gain a first-hand understanding of Assyrian culture. Before this, Assyria was known only from the works of Herodotus and other historians of Hellas, and their source, in turn, was the Persians. The greatest sensation in the scientific community was the discovery of the epic of Gilgamesh with an account of biblical history about the global flood.

When removing the tablets from the rubble, a careful record of where they were found was not kept. At the British Museum, both parts were placed in a common vault, so that it is now impossible to judge which tablets were found where. Scientists are still working on sorting individual fragments (“joints”), cataloging and deciphering texts. The British Museum is working with Iraqi scientists to create a library museum in Iraq that will display reproductions of the original tablets.

In the depths of the Sinai Peninsula (Egypt), at the foot of Mount Sinai, lies the city of St. Catherine. It is here, in the desert region, among granite rocks and rugged mountains, that the oldest library is located.

Between 548 and 565, the Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian ordered the construction of a monastery dedicated to Catherine on the site. The monastery has never been destroyed or robbed by anyone in its entire history, which makes it the oldest operating Christian monastery in the world. It contains the world's oldest continuously operating library, which houses the second largest collection of early codices and manuscripts in the world. different languages. This library is surpassed in importance only by the Vatican Library.

The monastery is surrounded by a massive wall, erected in the 6th century. Access to it, until the 20th century, was only through a single door in the outer wall. The entrance through the small gate to the left of the main gate has recently appeared.

The great treasure of the monastery is its icons and mosaics on the walls: they represent the best collection of early icons in the world. Most of these icons date back to the 6th century, and some to an even earlier period.

The monastery library is an even greater treasure. Ashtinam Muhammad, the Islamic prophet, is said to have ensured the sanctity of the monastery. In addition to rare manuscripts religious nature(its collection contains the missing parts of the Codex Sinaitis, a handwritten copy of the Greek Bible of the 4th century), the library contains first editions of Homer (1488), Plato (1513), Aristophanes' Comedy (1498), Great etymological dictionary Greek (1499) and Lexicon Suidae (1499), containing numerous quotations from ancient authors.
The monastery attracts more than 100,000 visitors annually.

The kings of the ancient kingdoms began to create libraries. Legends tell of amazing libraries Ancient World, such as the library of the Assyrian Kingdom, Babylonian Kingdom, Library of Thebes in Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greek and Ancient Roman Libraries, the famous Library of Alexandria.

However, only libraries founded after the 15th century have survived to this day. We want to tell you about them.

Vatican Apostolic Library

The Vatican Apostolic Library (lat. Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana) is a library in the Vatican with a rich collection of manuscripts from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

Start of the meeting ( archival documents, liturgical books in the form of lat. scrolls. Volumina) The Vatican Library was founded in the 4th century: then an archive was collected in the Lateran Palace, which was mentioned under Pope Damasus I (384). In the 6th century, the Vatican Secretary of State (Latin: Primicerius Notariorum) began overseeing the collection of manuscripts, and in the 8th century the position of Vatican librarian appeared.

The library, founded in the 15th century by Pope Nicholas V, is constantly replenished, and currently its holdings include about 1,600,000 printed books, 150 thousand manuscripts, 8,300 incunabula, more than 100 thousand engravings and geographical maps, 300 thousand coins and medals.

The library includes the Vatican School of Librarians and a laboratory for the restoration and reproduction of important manuscripts (facsimiles).

Vilnius University Library

The history of the university library dates back to the library of the Jesuit college, which, according to the will of King Sigismund Augustus, received after his death on July 7, 1572 a rich collection of books by the bibliophile king.

The library's holdings include over 5.3 million publications, including 178,306 published in the 15th-18th centuries, and over 250 thousand handwritten documents (the oldest are from the 13th century).
Over a million publications are issued annually to 16 thousand readers (1998). The growth of funds at the end of the 20th century was about 130,000 copies per year.

Maintains connections with 380 libraries and scientific institutions from 55 countries (1998). Digital catalogue since 1993, the first in the Baltic countries.

Bodleian Library

The Bodleian Library is a library at the University of Oxford, which challenges the Vatican for the right to be called the oldest in Europe, and the British for the title of the largest book collection in Great Britain. Since 1610 (officially - since 1662) it has been granted the right to receive a legal copy of all publications published in the country.
The library is named after Sir Thomas Bodley (1545-1613), a famous collector of ancient manuscripts who served in the diplomatic service of Queen Elizabeth. Meanwhile, Bishop Thomas de Cobham (d. 1327) should be considered its founder, who created a small collection of books at the university, chained to shelves to prevent them from being taken outside the building.

In 1410, this library came under the full control of the university, and a little later Duke Humphrey of Gloucester became concerned about expanding the university collection. Thanks to his care, in 1450 the library moved to new, larger premises, which have survived to this day. Under the first Tudors, the university became impoverished, Edward VI expropriated its book collections, even the bookcases themselves were sold off.

In 1602, Thomas Bodley not only restored the library, but also helped it occupy new premises. He presented his book collection to the university, and was concerned about acquiring books from Turkey and even China. Over the following centuries, several buildings were built to house the library's collections, including the Radcliffe Rotunda (1737-69), a masterpiece of British Palladianism.

National Library of France

The National Library (French Bibliothèque Nationale or BNF) is the richest collection of French-language literature in the world and the largest library in France. Its mission is to compile collections, especially copies of works published in France which must, by law, be deposited there, preserve them, and make them available to the public. The library publishes a catalog of references, collaborates with other national and international institutions, and participates in scientific programs.

Ambrosian Library

Construction began in 1603, and the library opened to the public on December 8, 1609 (after the Bodleian Library, which opened in Oxford in 1602, it is the second public library in Europe). A printing house was attached to the library, and a school of classical languages ​​was also located here. In addition, the library included the Academy and the Pinacoteca, founded by the same Federico Borromeo.

Laurentian Library

The Laurenziana Library (Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana) in Florence, Italy, is known as a library containing more than 11,000 manuscripts and 4,500 early printed books. IN reading room Laurentian Library, a unique monument High Renaissance everything is made according to Michelangelo's drawings: patterned red terracotta floor, benches, desk cabinets, stained glass windows and ceiling.
In 1571, the library, commissioned by Grand Duke Cosimo I Michelangelo Buonarotti, was opened to the public. Cosimo kindly allowed the Florentines to use his books: the codices that made up the Medici's private library were displayed in desk cabinets. Previously, the covers were removed from the books and identical bindings were made from pinkish leather with the Medici coat of arms.

Books were attached to music stands with chains for safety. This is how they appear before library visitors even now. Among the treasures are the works of Tacitus, Pliny, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Quintilian, which have survived from antiquity, as well as the Code of Justinian, rewritten shortly after its publication in the middle of the 6th century. The library also contains manuscripts of Petrarch and Boccaccio and the original autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini.

Royal Library of El Escorial

The builder of the Baroque library, completed in 1584, was Juan de Guerrera, who also designed the shelving. The library is a gigantic hall 55 meters long. The vaulted ceiling was painted by Pellegrino Tibaldi, who depicted allegories of Rhetoric, Dialectics, Music, Grammar, Arithmetic, Geography and Astronomy.

Trinity College Library

The oldest library in Ireland is part of Trinity College, founded by Elizabeth I in 1592. Now it has the status of a state book depository: a copy of all books published in Great Britain and Ireland is transferred here. Trinity's main treasure is the so-called Book of Kells, the text of the four gospels written in Latin, a masterpiece of calligraphy and book miniatures of the 9th century. In addition to books and manuscripts, the library houses the oldest bagpipes in Ireland, dating back to the 15th century.
The Long Room, the main hall of Trinity College's library, originally had a flat ceiling and books were housed only on the lower level. In the middle of the 19th century, the shelves became overcrowded, so it was necessary to give the ceiling a vaulted shape and install shelving on the second tier.

Library of Ossus in the film " star Wars. Episode 2: Attack of the Clones" is an exact replica of the Long Room, the main hall of the library. The administration of the Trinity College library wanted to sue the filmmakers, but in the end the case never took off.

The review was prepared based on materials from open Internet sources.