What really happened to the Library of Alexandria? - Elizabeth Cox

翻译人员: Riley WANG 校对人员: Carol Wang

2,300 years ago,

2300 年前，

the rulers of Alexandria set out to fulfill

亚历山大港的统治者

one of humanity’s most audacious goals:

意图实现人类最大胆的目标：

to collect all the knowledge in the world under one roof.

将世界上的所有知识汇集一处。

In its prime,

在亚历山大港图书馆鼎盛时期，

the Library of Alexandria housed an unprecedented number of scrolls

它馆藏的卷轴 数量之多史无前例，

and attracted some of the Greek world’s greatest minds.

并吸引了一些希腊 最伟大的学者前来。

But by the end of the 5th century CE, the great library had vanished.

但到公元 5 世纪末，这座 雄伟的图书馆消失了。

Many believed it was destroyed in a catastrophic fire.

许多人认为，它毁于一场大火，

The truth of the library’s rise and fall is much more complex.

其实，图书馆崛起和 衰落的真相更为复杂。

The idea for the library came from Alexander the Great.

图书馆这一构想 来自于亚历山大大帝，

After establishing himself as a conqueror,

在他所向披靡、征服各处之后，

the former student of Aristotle turned his attention

曾师从亚里士多德的他，

to building an empire of knowledge headquartered in his namesake city.

将目标转向建造一座知识帝国， 建在以他名字命名的城市。

He died before construction began,

图书馆开建之前，他就去世了。

but his successor, Ptolemy I,

但他的继任者托勒密一世，

executed Alexander’s plans for a museum and library.

继续执行亚历山大的计划， 开始建造博物馆和图书馆。

Located in the royal district of the city,

亚历山大港图书馆

the Library of Alexandria

位于城市的皇家区域，

人们推测其建筑 包含高大的希腊圆柱，

may have been built with grand Hellenistic columns,

native Egyptian influences,

且受到当地埃及人的影响，

or a unique blend of the two--there are no surviving accounts of its architecture.

或是融合二者特点—— 现存资料中没有其建筑细节。

We do know it had lecture halls, classrooms, and, of course, shelves.

我们能够确定的是 它拥有演讲厅、教室、书架。

As soon as the building was complete,

图书馆建成后，

Ptolemy I began to fill it with primarily Greek and Egyptian scrolls.

托勒密一世开始用以希腊和 埃及为主的卷轴填充图书馆。

He invited scholars to live and study in Alexandria at his expense.

他出资邀请学者 在亚历山大港居住和学习。

The library grew as they contributed their own manuscripts,

这些学者贡献的手稿 使得图书馆内文献不断增加，

but the rulers of Alexandria still wanted a copy of every book in the world.

但亚历山大港的统治者 仍希望获得世上所有书籍拷贝。

Luckily, Alexandria was a hub for ships traveling through the Mediterranean.

幸运的是，地中海地区的船只 都会经过亚历山大港，

Ptolemy III instituted a policy requiring any ship that docked in Alexandria

托勒密三世制定政策， 要求所有停靠亚历山大港的船只

to turn over its books for copying.

呈上书籍供图书馆誊抄。

Once the Library’s scribes had duplicated the texts,

一旦复制完成后，

they kept the originals and sent the copies back to the ships.

书籍会保存在图书馆， 而把复制版归还给船只。

Hired book hunters also scoured the Mediterranean

还雇佣了一些搜书者，

in search of new texts,

前去地中海地区找寻新书，

and the rulers of Alexandria attempted to quash rivals

亚历山大港的统治者停止出口 埃及人制作卷轴的纸莎草纸，

by ending all exports of the Egyptian papyrus used to make scrolls.

来试图打压竞争对手，

These efforts brought hundreds of thousands of books to Alexandria.

这项举措为亚历山大港 带来了数十万的书籍。

As the library grew,

随着图书馆规模扩大，

it became possible to find information on more subjects than ever before,

人们虽能找到更多领域的信息，

but also much more difficult to find information on any specific subject.

但找寻某特定科目 信息时，却很困难。

Luckily, a scholar named Callimachus of Cyrene set to work on a solution,

幸运的是，学者卡利马科斯 着手解决了这一问题，

creating the pinakes,

他编纂了书册总录，

a 120-volume catalog of the library’s contents,

多达120卷，

the first of its kind.

这是史上第一本书册目录。

Using the pinakes,

利用书册目录，

others were able to navigate the Library’s swelling collection.

人们才能在日益增大的 图书馆藏中定位书籍。

They made some astounding discoveries.

他们有了一些惊人的发现，

1,600 years before Columbus set sail,

在哥伦布出海航行的 1600 年前，

Eratosthenes not only realized the earth was round,

埃拉托斯特尼不仅发现地球是圆的，

but calculated its circumference and diameter

还算出了地球的周长和直径，

within a few miles of their actual size.

计算结果与实际仅差几英里。

Heron of Alexandria created the world’s first steam engine

亚历山大港的希罗造出了 世界上第一台蒸汽发动机，

over a thousand years before

这比工业革命时期 再次发明的蒸汽机时间

it was finally reinvented during the Industrial Revolution.

早了一千多年。

For about 300 years after its founding in 283 BCE, the library thrived.

自公元前 283 年建成后的 300 年间，图书馆繁荣发展。

But then, in 48 BCE, Julius Caesar laid siege to Alexandria

但是在公元前 48 年， 尤里乌斯·凯撒包围了亚历山大港，

and set the ships in the harbor on fire.

并点火烧了港口停留的船只。

For years, scholars believed the library burned as the blaze spread into the city.

多年来，学者们一直认为 大火蔓延至城区而烧毁了图书馆。

It's possible the fire destroyed part of the sprawling collection,

大火可能烧毁了部分馆藏书籍，

but we know from ancient writings

但从古代的文字记录中发现，

that scholars continued to visit the library for centuries after the siege.

在围困发生后的几个世纪里， 学者们依然继续拜访图书馆。

Ultimately, the library slowly disappeared as the city changed from Greek,

最终，图书馆在统治者的 更迭中慢慢消失了，

从希腊人到罗马人、

to Roman,

Christian,

基督徒、

and eventually Muslim hands.

到最终被穆斯林统治。

Each new set of rulers viewed its contents as a threat

每届统治者都将馆藏视为威胁，

rather than a source of pride.

而不是引以为傲的资源。

In 415 CE,

在公元 415 年，

the Christian rulers even had a mathematician named Hypatia

基督教统治者甚至谋杀了 数学家希帕提娅，

murdered for studying the library’s ancient Greek texts,

只因她研究了图书馆的 古希腊的文字资料，

which they viewed as blasphemous.

这些资料被视为亵渎神灵。

Though the Library of Alexandria and its countless texts are long gone,

虽然亚历山大图书馆 和其不计其数的资料已消失，

we’re still grappling with the best ways to collect,

我们仍在努力 找出最佳办法来收集、

access,

获取、

and preserve our knowledge.

和保存我们的知识。

There’s more information available today

如今的信息数量更多，

and more advanced technology to preserve it,

也有更先进的技术来保存它们，

though we can’t know for sure

但我们无法确定

that our digital archives will be more resistant to destruction

是否这些数字化资料 比亚历山大图书馆的纸墨卷

than Alexandria’s ink and paper scrolls.

更能经受各种损害。

And even if our reservoirs of knowledge are physically secure,

即使我们的知识储备 在物理上是安全的，

they will still have to resist the more insidious forces

但它们仍然要对抗

其他摧毁图书馆的更可怕力量：

that tore the library apart:

fear of knowledge,

对知识的恐惧

and the arrogant belief that the past is obsolete.

和认为过去的即过时的 自大想法。

The difference is that, this time, we know what to prepare for.

不同的是，这一次， 我们知道要应对什么。