{"id":658,"date":"2022-11-12T14:10:19","date_gmt":"2022-11-12T13:10:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jean-arcadymeyer.fr?page_id=658"},"modified":"2023-08-16T10:59:31","modified_gmt":"2023-08-16T09:59:31","slug":"le-fabuleux-destin-de-la-bibliotheque-dalexandrie","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jean-arcadymeyer.fr\/index.php\/le-fabuleux-destin-de-la-bibliotheque-dalexandrie\/","title":{"rendered":"Le fabuleux destin de la Biblioth\u00e8que d’Alexandrie"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Apr\u00e8s avoir \u00e9voqu\u00e9 dans Dei ex Machinis<\/em> le r\u00f4le majeur qu\u2019Alexandrie avait jou\u00e9 dans l\u2019histoire des sciences, j\u2019ai ensuite voulu \u00e0 la fois d\u00e9tailler ce r\u00f4le et montrer \u00e0 quel point il s\u2019\u00e9tait \u00e9tendu \u00e0 d\u2019autres domaines – tels que l\u2019histoire, la g\u00e9ographie, l\u2019architecture, la litt\u00e9rature ou la philosophie. Pour ce faire, j\u2019ai d\u00e9cid\u00e9 d\u2019\u00e9crire un nouvel ouvrage, centr\u00e9 sur l\u2019une des aventures intellectuelles les plus exaltantes que l\u2019Humanit\u00e9 ait connues. Quatre ans plus tard, il est termin\u00e9 et s\u2019intitule Le fabuleux destin de la Biblioth\u00e8que d\u2019Alexandrie.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pr\u00e9sentation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Le projet de r\u00e9unir \u00e0 Alexandrie tous les livres du monde n\u2019avait pas pour seul objectif de contribuer \u00e0 la gloire des Ptol\u00e9m\u00e9es, il visait aussi \u00e0 attirer dans cette ville des \u00e9rudits capables d\u2019exploiter ces livres pour en produire d\u2019autres et faire ainsi avancer la litt\u00e9rature et la science de leur temps. Cette aventure intellectuelle s\u2019est d\u00e9roul\u00e9e pendant sept si\u00e8cles, dans des contextes historiques, g\u00e9ographiques, \u00e9conomiques et culturels relativement bien connus. Et pourtant la Biblioth\u00e8que d\u2019Alexandrie a laiss\u00e9 \u00e9tonnamment peu de traces, non seulement mat\u00e9rielles, mais aussi documentaires, sur sa configuration, son fonctionnement, son personnel et son contenu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ce livre \u00e9voque ces traces et ces contextes. Il rappelle comment Alexandrie fut fond\u00e9e et b\u00e2tie par des hommes de talent et aux grandes ambitions, au point de devenir pour un temps la plus belle ville du monde antique. Il rappelle aussi comment la folie d\u2019autres hommes a engendr\u00e9 l\u2019incroyable s\u00e9rie de guerres, de r\u00e9voltes populaires, d\u2019intrigues de palais, d\u2019assassinats et de d\u00e9bauches qui ont provoqu\u00e9 l\u2019inexorable d\u00e9clin de cette ville et de sa Biblioth\u00e8que.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Un travail consid\u00e9rable a pu n\u00e9anmoins \u00eatre accompli au sein de cette derni\u00e8re, depuis la gestion de catalogues recensant les 500 000 rouleaux de papyrus qu\u2019elle pourrait avoir h\u00e9berg\u00e9s, jusqu\u2019\u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9tude critique de leur contenu. Il est montr\u00e9 ici comment la disponibilit\u00e9 de ces rouleaux a rendu possible la production de quelques pi\u00e8ces remarquables de la litt\u00e9rature ou de la philosophie alexandrines, l\u2019accroissement consid\u00e9rable des connaissances historiques et g\u00e9ographiques de l\u2019\u00e9poque, ainsi que des contributions exceptionnelles \u00e0 l\u2019histoire des math\u00e9matiques, de l\u2019astronomie, de la m\u00e9canique et de la m\u00e9decine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ce livre se conclut par une \u00e9vocation du sort de la Biblioth\u00e8que d\u2019Alexandrie et de celui des manuscrits en g\u00e9n\u00e9ral rappelant – s\u2019il en \u00e9tait besoin \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9poque que nous traversons – que \u00ab nous autres, civilisations, nous savons maintenant que nous sommes mortelles \u00bb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disponibilit\u00e9<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ce texte de 522 pages et 64 figures a \u00e9t\u00e9 publi\u00e9 aux Editions du Net<\/a>. Il est \u00e9galement possible de se le procurer depuis les principales librairies en ligne (Amazon, Fnac, etc).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contenu<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Le r\u00e9cit du fabuleux destin de cette biblioth\u00e8que est distribu\u00e9 ici en six parties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

La premi\u00e8re rappelle comment Alexandre le Grand est arriv\u00e9 en Egypte, comment il a fond\u00e9 Alexandrie et comment il a fini par y \u00eatre inhum\u00e9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

La deuxi\u00e8me \u00e9voque l\u2019organisation sociale et le d\u00e9veloppement \u00e9conomique d\u2019Alexandrie sous la dynastie des Ptol\u00e9m\u00e9es.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

La troisi\u00e8me d\u00e9crit les principaux monuments d\u2019Alexandrie consid\u00e9r\u00e9e comme la plus belle ville du monde \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9poque hell\u00e9nistique. C\u2019est \u00e0 cette occasion que l\u2019emplacement, l\u2019organisation et la vocation du Mus\u00e9e et de la Biblioth\u00e8que sont discut\u00e9s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

La quatri\u00e8me est consacr\u00e9e aux activit\u00e9s qui se d\u00e9roulaient au sein de ces deux institutions dans le but de pr\u00e9server, de perp\u00e9tuer et d\u2019\u00e9purer les connaissances qui s\u2019y accumulaient, mais aussi de les cataloguer, de les commenter et de les d\u00e9velopper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Le r\u00e9sultat de ces activit\u00e9s est pr\u00e9sent\u00e9 dans la cinqui\u00e8me partie, dans laquelle se trouve r\u00e9sum\u00e9e l\u2019extraordinaire contribution des \u00e9rudits alexandrins \u00e0 la litt\u00e9rature et aux sciences de leur \u00e9poque.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

La derni\u00e8re partie d\u00e9crit le long d\u00e9clin d\u2019Alexandrie, de la domination romaine \u00e0 la conqu\u00eate arabe, de Cl\u00e9op\u00e2tre \u00e0 Omar. Un rappel final sur la perte ou la pr\u00e9servation des ouvrages de l\u2019Antiquit\u00e9 vise \u00e0 remettre la disparition de la Biblioth\u00e8que en perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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English version published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing in July 2023<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Rise and Fall of the Library of Alexandria<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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After having evoked in Dei ex Machinis<\/em> the major role that Alexandria had played in the history of science, I then wanted both to detail this role and to show how it had extended to other domains – such as history, geography, architecture, literature or philosophy. To do this, I decided to write a new book, centered on one of the most exhilarating intellectual adventures that Humanity has known. Four years later, it is completed and entitled The Rise and Fall of the Library of Alexandria<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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https:\/\/www.cambridgescholars.com\/product\/978-1-5275-1870-4<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Description<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project to bring together all the books of the world in Alexandria was not only intended to contribute to the glory of the Ptolemies, but also aimed to attract scholars to the city, who would be capable of exploiting these books to produce others and to thus advance the literature and science of their time.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This book demonstrates that the availability and critical study of the 500,000 scrolls which the Library of Alexandria probably contained made possible the production of some remarkable pieces of Alexandrian literature and philosophy, the considerable increase in historical and geographical knowledge, as well as outstanding contributions to the history of mathematics, astronomy, mechanics, and medicine.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The book recalls how Alexandria was founded and became the most beautiful city in the ancient world. It also recalls the incredible series of wars, popular revolts, assassinations, palace intrigues, and debaucheries that brought about the inexorable decline of this city and its Library.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Content<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The story of the fabulous destiny of this library is distributed here in six parts.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first one recalls how Alexander\u00a0the Great arrived in Egypt, how he founded Alexandria\u00a0and how he ended up being buried there.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second evokes the social organization and economic development of Alexandria under the Ptolemaic dynasty.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third describes the main monuments of Alexandria, considered the most beautiful city in the world during the Hellenistic period. It is on this occasion that the location, organization and vocation of the Museum and Library are discussed.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fourth part is devoted to the activities that took place in these two institutions with the aim of preserving, perpetuating and purifying the knowledge that accumulated there, but also of cataloguing, commenting and developing it.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The result of these activities is presented in the fifth part, in which the extraordinary contribution of Alexandrian scholars to the literature and sciences of their time is summarized.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last part describes the long decline of Alexandria, from Roman domination to the Arab conquest, from Cleopatra to Omar. A final reminder on the loss or preservation of ancient writings aims to put the disappearance of the Library into perspective.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Apr\u00e8s avoir \u00e9voqu\u00e9 dans Dei ex Machinis le r\u00f4le majeur qu\u2019Alexandrie avait jou\u00e9 dans l\u2019histoire des sciences, j\u2019ai ensuite voulu \u00e0 la fois d\u00e9tailler ce r\u00f4le et montrer \u00e0 quel point il s\u2019\u00e9tait \u00e9tendu \u00e0 d\u2019autres domaines – tels que … Continuer la lecture →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-658","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jean-arcadymeyer.fr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jean-arcadymeyer.fr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jean-arcadymeyer.fr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jean-arcadymeyer.fr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jean-arcadymeyer.fr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=658"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/jean-arcadymeyer.fr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/658\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":709,"href":"https:\/\/jean-arcadymeyer.fr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/658\/revisions\/709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jean-arcadymeyer.fr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}