Transcript Ancient Libraries - Library Media Services - Miami

Ancient Libraries: 1100 BCE – 300 BCE
TM
School Library Media Month  April 2011Library Media ServicesMiami-Dade County Public Schools
Did you
know
libraries
existed
before
books?
Libraries
began as
collections
of historical
records.
Did you know
books existed
before paper?
Information
was recorded
on all kinds of
objects.
A Babylonian clay tablet with cuneiform writing was an
early form of book. This tablet, written in the 700's
B.C., lists legal terms. The text is written in Sumerian,
left, and Akkadian, right.
Source: World Book Online
Ancient Libraries:
th
th
12 to 18 Century BCE
• China - Shang Dynasty
• Information was written on animal bones and tortoise shells
(called oracle bones).
• Oracle script is the oldest Chinese form of written
communication.
Ancient Libraries:
th
th
12 to 18 Century BCE
 China - Shang Dynasty
 Oracle bones
Source: http://www.lib.cuhk.edu.hk/uclib/bones/bones.htm
Ancient Libraries:
th
th
12 to 18 Century BCE
 Nineveh (present-day Iraq)
 Royal Library of Ashurbanipal was founded.
 Records and stories were written on
heavy, clay tablets.
Cuneiform tablet
Source: Grolier Multimedia
Ancient Libraries:
300 BCE
 Alexandria, Egypt
 Museum and Great Library, Bibliotheca
Alexandrina, was founded by Ptolemy I.
 The information was transcribed onto
papyrus scrolls and organized by subjects.
Homer’s Iliad
Homer, Iliad 22, 111-149 (P.Duk.inv. 4 R)
Source: http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/papyrus/records/4r.html
Ancient Libraries:
300 BCE
Artist’s rendering of what the
great library at Alexandria may
have looked like in 300 BCE.
Ancient Libraries:
Bibliotheca Alexandrina – ca. 300 BCE
Librarians of Bibliotheca Alexandrina

Zenodotus of Ephesus (284-260 BCE) probably the first librarian

Callimachus of Cyrene (260-240 BCE

Apollonius of Rhodes (240-235 BCE)

Eratosthenes of Cyrene (235-195 BCE)

Aristophanes of Byzantium (195-180 BCE)

Apollonius Idographus (180-160 BCE)

Aristarchus of Samothrace (160-145 BCE)
Source: http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Library.htm
Our journey began in…
Source: Facts on File
China
Source: Facts on File
China
Information was written on animal bones and
tortoise shells called ________________.
After China we went to …?
Source: Facts on File
Iraq (Nineveh)
Source: Facts on File
Iraq
Records and stories were written on _________.
After Iraq and China we visited…
Source: Facts on File
Source: Facts on File
Egypt
Egypt
The information was copied onto papyrus _____ and
organized by _____.
Today we visited…
Source: Facts on File
Think About It…
If you could travel back in time to any of the ancient
libraries that we have mentioned today, which one
would you choose to visit and why?
Shang Dynasty library in China
…oracle bones…
Royal Library of Ashurbanipal in Nineveh
…cuneiform tablets…
Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Alexandria, Egypt
…papyrus scrolls…
Think About It…
TM
 What does the abbreviation ca. mean?
 What does the acronym BCE mean? Why is it used on
dates?
 Describe the form of writing used on the oracle bones
during the Shang Dynasty.
 How were the papyrus scrolls stored in the Ancient
Library at Alexandria?
Create Your Own Story @ Your Library
TM
Visit your school library media center
to discover the answers.
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ultimate search engine… is eager
to help you!!!