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Bernard de Breydenbach, a German cleric published this account of his travels through the Holy Land and Egypt. Of Alexandria he wrote, "On our introduction to the town, we were surprised at seeing everywhere nothing but lamentable ruins, we could not suppress our astonishment at seeing so miserable a town surrounded by such fine and strong walls."
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Here is a depiction of the Rosetta Gate from German printmaker Michael Wohlgemuth, who had never actually visited Alexandria.
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Justus Lipsius wrote the first history of the Library of Alexandria (linked to the Musaeum). His work would influence 18th century French writers who frenchified the term. The Library and Musaeum did not function as contemporary museums do, and might be more appropriately compared to a modern university.
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MUSEE: Name of Place. Musaeum. It was formerly in the Palace of Alexandria, and occupied a quarter or even a third of the city. This area was called the Musée, because it was intended for the Muses and the Sciences. –Enclopedie, ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts, et des metiers 1734 (entry by Louis de Jaucourt)
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See http://alexandria436.blogspot.ca for selected passages from his book.
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Eliza Fay, a British traveler known for her Original Letters from India, visits Alexandria. Staying for a few days before continuing on to Cairo, Fay had this to say: "This once magnificent City, built by the most famous of all Conquerors, and adorned with the most exquisite productions of art, is now little more than a heap of ruins.”
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Louis-Francois Cassas accompanied the Compte de Choiseul-Gouffier on a trip to Constantinople and then continued on to Egypt, Syria and Lebanon. In Alexandria he drew the Rosetta Gate along with Cleopatra's Needle and Canopic Way.
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Guillaume-François Colson
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Antoine-Jean Gros
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This sarcophagus was collected by the Napoleonic Expedition to Egypt, and came to the British Museum in 1802 as a result of the Treaty of Alexandria. It was originally thought to belong to Alexander.
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See the blog for the full text.
http://alexandria436.blogspot.ca/2013/10/give-back-eglin-marbles-by-cf-cavafy.html -
This image is of the Museum in 1895...
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"Every student of history, of impartial mind, knows that the Negro once ruled the world, when white men were savages and barbarians living in caes; that thousands of Negro professors at that time taught in the universities in Alexandria, then the seat of learning; that ancient Egypt gave the world civilization and that Greece and Rome have robbed Egypt of her arts and letters, and taken al the credit to themselves"
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"It is to be expected that the Library of Alexandria was immediately ransacked and looted by Alexander and his party, no doubt made up of Aristotle and others, who did not only carry off large quantities of scientific books: but also frequently returned to Alexandria for the purpose of research."
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Alan Rowe, director of Alexandria's Graeco-Roman Museum, led an excavation finally proving that the Serapeum lies below Pompey's Pillar.
The Serapeum is a temple built by Ptolemy III in honor of the Hellenistic-Egyptian god Serapis that was destroyed by Roman soldiers. -
In 1957, Durrell published Justine, the first of a tetralogy set in Alexandria during the Second World War. http://alexandria436.blogspot.ca/2013/10/durrells-alexandria-quartet.html
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Empereur and his team began diving near the site of the long lost Pharos lighthouse, where they found an extensive trove of statues and columns. Underwater archaeological projects have been attracting quite a bit of attention since the 90s.
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It's never too late to glorify an ancient past to strengthen a nationalist narrative! The Bibliotheca Alexandrina opened in 2002 as a commemoration of the mythical Musaeum of Alexandria. The Musaeum was founded in the 3rd century B.C.E. by the Ptolemies, and then disappeared around the 4th century C.E.
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