In the distant past, the burning of The Great Library of Alexandria was a seminal event which marked one of the greatest losses of stored knowledge in world history.
Priceless literary works were stored there of which we'll never know about due to this deficit in the historical record and the conflagration of this vast store of knowledge.
People are a store of knowledge too...
"When a person dies, its like a library burning"
Author of Roots Alex Haley once said: "When a person dies, its like a library burning." and that quote has stayed with me ever since I read it. He used to travel on cargo ships to get away from the busy life in cities so that he could write in a peaceful environment.
I often think about the accumulated knowledge we lose when someone passes, which is one of the reasons I spent so much time talking with older people when I was a boy and learning from them. They'd actually lived through historical events that I'd only read about.
They enjoy talking and I enjoy listening. I spent a couple of delightful hours talking to an elderly woman who shared memories of where she was during two events that stood out to her. She gave me her vantage point of hearing of JFK being shot and The Beatles making their first visit to America and how they changed the culture of our nation.
It was interesting to hear her take while living through it first-hand. The stories came alive in a way that they never could in the pages of a history book.
When I lived in Germany, I found out that one of my classmates was from Liverpool, England. He seemed to have no idea of the cultural significance that The Beatles had when they first arrived here back in Feb, 1964, less than 90 days after JFK was cut down.
The sadness of one event was followed shortly after by the euphoria and collective joy of the other, which in a way helped the nation to start the healing process. Over 70 million people watched them for the first time on the Ed Sullivan Show which was 3/4 of the adult US population at the time.
History came alive for me as Judy, almost 80 now, took me on a trip to the past with her. I caused me to think on the utility of the decentralized nature of the blockchain and how it would have helped saved those precious works lost in the great fire.
Author Luciano Canfora, wrote an excellent book on the original library called: The Vanished Library: A Wonder of the Ancient World.
Here, we can relive the glory days of this important center of learning from beginning to end, and hopefully learn some lessons about ourselves in the process.
The Bibliotheca Alexandrina
In 2002, a new Great Library of Alexandria known as the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, opened in the ancient city helping to heal a historical wound long left untreated. This amazing building is the heart of a vast complex of information and learning.
I found it interesting that along with the six specialized libraries, four museums, a science center, twelve academic research centers and so much more, the library also contains a copy of the Internet Archive, (and this one, they won't be able to burn). :)
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