For several centuries now, the present calling card Berlin is considered a boulevard called Unter den Linden. This is a place where architectural monuments are concentrated, impressive in their size and majestic view. One of them is the Old Library, which houses over seven million books.
The baroque building was built between 1775 and 1780. Its design was designed by architects Josef Emanuel Fischer von Erlach from Austria and Georg Christian Unger from Prussia. The old library was commissioned by Frederick the Great, who sought to make literature accessible to the bourgeoisie, for a long time considered a privilege of the nobility, government officials and ministers. On the portal of the building to this day you can see a Latin inscription meaning "food for the soul."
In 1784, about 150 thousand volumes were stored in the Old Library, as well as the manuscripts of many prominent personalities of the Enlightenment, including Kant, Voltaire, Diderot, Leibniz and Rousseau.
The appearance of the library building is very similar to the Mikhailovsky building of the Hofburg, where the winter residence of the monarchs from Austria of the Habsburg dynasty was located. This is due to the fact that Friedrich ordered to copy it completely when creating the Old Library project. But, given the fact that the construction of the residence was delayed, its copy was presented to the public almost 110 years earlier than the original itself.
In 1914 there was placed Faculty of Law famous German Humboldt University. During the war, this building was significantly damaged, but it was completely restored, so now everyone can enjoy the majestic view of the library, as well as the exhibition taking place inside it, which tells about King Frederick and his life, as well as various documents of the past.
Libraries have long become an integral part of the culture of every nation. But once collections of books were owned only by the richest and most powerful people and only select readers were allowed into the vaults. What is the oldest library in the world? Historians consider it a huge collection of clay books, which belonged to the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, who lived more than 2.5 thousand years ago - after all, all the copies there were already sorted and cataloged.
Winged bulls liked more
In 1847, the English explorer Austin Henry Layard, in search of ancient monuments, began excavations of the Kuyundzhik hill on the left bank of the Tigris River. Under a layer of earth, he discovered the remains of a ruined palace erected on an artificial terrace. Among the items ancient art Layard found large basalt stones with cuneiform inscriptions, after deciphering which it turned out that the archaeologist managed to find Nineveh, ancient capital Assyria, and the palace itself belonged to its ruler, King Ashurbanipal, who lived in 685-627 BC.
In addition to a large number of preserved statuettes, seals and even sculptures, the workers led by Layard brought to the surface about 30,000 cuneiform clay tablets burned in the fire or in the sun. Layard himself was not too interested in them, the researcher was much more attracted by the preserved works of art (such as stone winged bulls with human faces), which he sent to London. Nevertheless, the tablets also moved to the British Museum, where they simply lay in storage for several decades.
In 1852, Layard's assistants found about the same number of written clay tablets in another wing of the palace, and they were also taken to London. IN british museum both parts of the collection of clay texts were placed in a common repository, so it is now impossible to determine in which place certain tablets were found - but the main thing is that the texts, consisting of several parts, became scattered, and this made further research very difficult.
In 1854, Layard arranged in London crystal palace an exhibition of his findings, the main exhibits of which were reconstructed statues and bas-reliefs. The event aroused a wide interest in Assyrian culture, many scientists began to decipher its writing. After reading the first clay manuscripts, it became clear that they were the main treasure of the found ancient city.
Like a wine cellar
The collection of clay tablets turned out to be the oldest library in the world, created at the behest of King Ashurbanipal. During his reign, Nineveh reached the pinnacle of power, there was no longer anyone to fight, and the king gave all his strength to collecting texts.
First of all, Ashurbanipal decided to collect any documents of the state. He sent his people to all the settlements and temple archives, who were to copy the texts available there and deliver them to the king. Some plates reproduce much more early monuments writing and contain information about events that happened hundreds and thousands of years before the time of copying.
The library itself was very different from modern book depositories and outwardly looked like a wine cellar. On the floor were benches made of clay, on them were large earthenware vessels, where the tablets were placed. The same vessels stood on the shelves. There were almost no trees in Mesopotamia, so the shelves were also made of clay. The vessels that stood on them were smaller; short texts- songs, royal decrees, letters, etc.
At the same time, the collection of texts was a real library. It had a catalog where data about any book was recorded: the title, the number of tablets, as well as the section of knowledge to which the manuscript belongs. A clay tag was attached to each shelf indicating the section and the titles of the books placed on it. Above the entrance to the vault was an inscription threatening those who would wish to steal or spoil the books - the inevitable punishment of the gods awaited them, and the names of the villains and their heirs were forgotten forever.
Evidence of the Flood
Most a large number of texts belonged to the field of magic. The powerful king was very interested in how to find out the events of the future and retain power by communicating with higher powers. Therefore, conspiracies, religious rituals and prayers are recorded on many clay tablets. But in the library there was a place for mathematical works, works on astronomy, history, medicine, as well as dictionaries. foreign words, because trade relations connected Assyria with many states. Some books are copied from much older Sumerian or Babylonian texts, the originals of which have not survived to our time.
Among the clay manuscripts were even the first geographic Maps! They displayed quite large territory from the state of Urartu (modern Armenian highland) to Egypt - with the names of countries and cities.
The library kept and works of art, in particular, a copy of the record of the Sumerian legend about fairy tale hero Gilgamesh, the original of which, according to scientists, was created in XVIII-XVII centuries BC.
In 1872, the translator George Smith announced that one of the tablets contained an excerpt from the story of the Flood. The Daily Telegraph gave him funds for a separate expedition to Nineveh in order to find the missing parts of the book - and Smith did it successfully. Subsequent linguistic research proved that it is a copy from ancient book, written in the Sumerian city of Uruk (in the Bible it is called Erech) almost three thousand years ago, is another confirmation that global flood was a real event.
Assyrian printers
Scientists believe that the first clay books appeared among the ancient Sumerians. First, blanks were made, the dimensions of which were approximately 32 by 22 centimeters, and the thickness was 2.5 centimeters. For the convenience of writing, they were marked with a stretched thread. parallel lines. Then symbols were squeezed out on the tablets with a pointed stick. Usually they covered both sides of the workpiece, and sometimes even its ends, while the last line of the previous plate was reproduced at the beginning of the next. Under the text, the scribe put a deep cross line, and under it - the name of the book to which he referred this fragment, and serial number tablets.
If the work had to be interrupted, the workpiece was wrapped in a wet rag and stored in this form. The completed tablet was fired in a kiln or dried in the sun.
The Assyrians took over from much more ancient people technology for creating clay books - but they made changes to it that can be called revolutionary.
The study of the tablets from the library of Ashurbanipal helped scientists make a startling discovery: it turned out that in the time of the Assyrian kings there already existed printing. Small documents that had to be sent to all the settlements of the country - for example, state decrees - were not copied manually. For their manufacture, a wooden matrix was cut out and clay slips were made from it.
Mysterious and wise people
The oldest library in the world contributed to the study of the mysterious, which is considered one of the most ancient on our planet. It originated in the valley of the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates six thousand years ago. Where these people came from is still unknown. Their language is unlike any other in the world, including the languages of the Semitic tribes living next to them. The Sumerians themselves in their legends claim that they arrived from the large island of Dilmun, but so far they have not been able to find their homeland. That they most likely came by sea, says the fact that their first settlements were built at the mouths of rivers. In addition, all the most important gods in their mythology are associated with the sea, and the main occupation of the Sumerians was shipping.
It is not clear where the people who came from had amazing knowledge in the field of astronomy (including the fact that the Earth was born as a result of a cosmic catastrophe), medicine, mathematics, architecture and others. scientific disciplines. Many scholars claim that it was the Sumerians who invented the wheel, the potter's wheel, and even brewing. At the same time, due to the complexity of their writing (in the writing of the Sumerians in different time there were from 600 to 1000 characters), researchers for a long time could not read the texts that have survived to this day. And in the library of Ashurbanipal, dictionaries for translating from Sumerian into the Assyrian language were preserved, as well as scientific work devoted to the interpretation of difficult passages in Sumerian texts. They helped a lot in deciphering the ancient writing.
Gold is more valuable than books
Ashurbanipal was the last great king of Assyria. Already 15 years after his death, hordes of nomads invaded the country - mostly Medes, who were supported by the soldiers of the states conquered by the Assyrians. About the capture of Nineveh tells ancient legend: residents of the capital, surrounded by impregnable walls, successfully repelled enemy attacks. Then the besiegers blocked the Tigris, the water overflowed its banks and flooded the city. The last king of Assyria, in order not to fall into the hands of enemies, set fire to the palace and burned in its flame.
The city was almost completely sacked, but clay tablets, unlike gold and jewelry, did not attract the attention of illiterate nomads. Moreover, the re-fired inscriptions acquired additional strength and have survived to this day. And after a few centuries, hills formed above the ruins - and the oldest library in the world disappeared underground.
Nikolai Mikhailov
To the question Where is the oldest library in the world? given by the author Eurovision the best answer is OLDEST CURRENT LIBRARY
The oldest library of Eastern and Central Europe is the library of Vilnius University. It was founded at the Vilnius Jesuit College in 1570 by the Grand Duke of Lithuania Žygimantas Augustas and Bishop Albinius of Vilnius. Currently, the largest library in Lithuania is also the depository library of the UN, UNESCO and the World Health Organization.
Vilnius University Library Hall
Source: link
Answer from Yörgey[guru]
in Babylon
Answer from Individual[guru]
This was far from the first known experience in history of organizing book production by representatives of the supreme authority, who seriously cared about the preservation of cultural wealth, and libraries were created in many major cities Mesopotamia. The oldest library was collected by the Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser I in the city of Ashur, but it has not been preserved and information about it is contained only in written sources.
Answer from Maria[guru]
The oldest library was collected by the Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser I in the city of Ashur, but it has not been preserved and information about it is contained only in written sources.
The oldest libraries in the world were the first clay catalogs of Sumerian literature, the library of Ashurbanipal, the library of the temple of Edfu in Egypt.
The Egyptians knew how to appreciate the book. Such a number of libraries, which was in Egypt, the ancient world did not yet know. Pharaohs, priests, scribes contributed to the increase of national treasures, creating book depositories, which were called either "Pharmacy for the Soul", or "Shelter of Wisdom".
Answer from Kerosene[guru]
From ancient times, people wrote on a wide variety of materials: on rocks, on stone slabs, on the bark of trees, and palm leaves, on clay tablets, on tablets made of bronze, lead, tin, and finally on papyrus from Egypt and on parchment - material made from calfskin. , named after the city of Pergamon in Asia Minor, where in the II century BC. e. its production was established. Until the 10th century, when Europe became acquainted with the manufacture of paper (and even later), parchment remained the main writing material here.
In the territory modern Iraq, libraries existed in the state of Sumer more than 50 centuries ago. Archaeologists have found thousands of clay tablets with cuneiform writing in excavated ancient cities. Scientists saw how these tablets were stored, how the library was organized. The tablets were placed in willow baskets. Each basket was tied, a label with an inscription was attached to it. Judging by these inscriptions, there were literary texts, state, religious and economic documents, works on mathematics and agriculture, maps, prescriptions for compiling medicines. Preserved, although only partially, a pearl ancient poetry- Epic of Gilgamesh.
In the middle III millennium BC e. The Sumerians invented cuneiform, which was subsequently used with certain changes in Assyria, Babylon, Phoenicia, Urartu and other states. The first cuneiform textbooks compiled in the 18th century. BC e. , were copied almost unchanged for more than a thousand years and were found during excavations of the Nineveh library of Ashurbanipal, created two and a half thousand years ago.
The main way libraries were collected in the ancient world was by copying documents. Ashurbanipal sent experienced scribes to the cities of Mesopotamia, who searched for precious books and made copies from them. For relatively short term tens of thousands of texts were collected in all branches of knowledge known at that time. The most requested works were available in the library in several copies. Copies were made diligently and meaningfully. On many tablets, notes have been preserved: “Written off from the ancient original, and then verified,” and sometimes the names of scribes. Instead of unsorted words, they wrote “erased”, “I don’t know”. When rewriting very ancient texts, it was necessary to replace obsolete signs with modern ones, sometimes to shorten an overly lengthy text.
Answer from Elena Kasatkina[guru]
The Assyrian king Ashurbanipal made and equipped many campaigns, but the farther, the more difficult the victories were given to him and the less durable they were - the uprising followed the uprising. The war seems to have ceased to inspire the Assyrians, as before: the portrait image of the great king, contrary to tradition, presents him not on a war chariot, but in the form of a sacred builder - with a basket behind his shoulders - the restorer of the temple of Marduk in Babylon. Following his grandfather and father, Ashurbanipal chose the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh as his capital, where he founded an enterprise unprecedented in the Ancient World - a library, ordering to copy and store in it all any important cuneiform texts - from literary to medical prescriptions.
This ancient library is sometimes called "Babylonian". Even Borges - perhaps consciously - did not escape this mistake by imagining this primary library as a universe that already contains all the signs and writings and, therefore, all the books that have been and will be written. However, this proto-galaxy of bookishness was not created in Babylon, but in Nineveh. Ashurbanipal himself was the Great Librarian, who knew perfectly the long-forgotten language of the Sumerians.
Compiled for 25 years in the Assyrian capital of Nineveh by order of King Ashurbanipal (7th century BC). It also served as a state archive.
After the death of the king, the funds were scattered among various palaces. The part of the library discovered by archaeologists consists of 25,000 clay tablets with cuneiform texts. Library opening in mid-nineteenth century was of great importance for understanding the cultures of Mesopotamia and for deciphering cuneiform. 
Ashurbanipal intended to create a library that was supposed to exhaust all the knowledge accumulated by mankind. He was especially interested in the information necessary for governing the state - on how to maintain constant communication with the deities, on predicting the future by the movement of the stars and the entrails of sacrificial animals. That is why the lion's share of funds were texts of conspiracies, prophecies, magical and religious rituals, mythological tales. The bulk of the information was extracted from the Sumerian and Babylonian texts by specially organized teams of scribes.
The library had a large collection of medical texts (with an emphasis on healing through sorcery), but the rich mathematical heritage of Babylonia was inexplicably ignored. There were numerous lists literary and epic tales, in particular, tablets with the epic of Gilgamesh and the mythological translation of Enuma Elish, as well as tablets with prayers, songs, legal documents(for example, the code of Hammurabi), economic and administrative records, letters, astronomical and historical works, records of a political nature, lists of kings and poetic texts.
The texts were written in Assyrian, Babylonian, a dialect of the Akkadian language, and also in Sumerian. A great many texts are presented in parallel in Sumerian and Akkadian, including encyclopedic editions and dictionaries. As a rule, one text was stored in six copies, which today greatly facilitates the work of deciphering the tablets. To date, Ashurbanipal's library is the largest collection of texts in the Akkadian language.
The foundation of the library took place on the orders of the Assyrian ruler Ashurbanipal, who was distinguished by a great interest in texts and knowledge in general. Ashurbanipal's predecessors had small palace libraries, but none of them had such a passion for collecting texts. Ashurbanipal sent numerous scribes to different regions of their country, so that they make copies of all the texts they come across. In addition, Ashurbanipal ordered copies of texts from all major temple archives, which were then sent to him in Nineveh. Sometimes, during military campaigns, Ashurbanipal managed to capture entire cuneiform libraries, which he also delivered to his palace.
The librarians of Ashurbanipal did a great job of cataloging, copying, commenting and researching the texts of the library, as evidenced by numerous glossaries, bibliography and commentaries. Ashurbanipal himself gave great importance organizing the library. His name was written on each tablet (a kind of ex-libris), the name of the original tablet from which the copy was made was given in the colophon. The library had hundreds of waxed-page codices, which made it possible to correct or rewrite text written on wax. Unlike cuneiform tablets (which are only hardened during fires), wax tablets are short-lived. They have not survived, as well as the scrolls in the library - parchment and papyrus. Judging by the ancient catalogs, no more than 10% of all funds collected by Ashurbanipal have survived to this day.
A huge array of cuneiform texts has come down to our days solely thanks to Ashurbanipal's passion for the written word. In many cases, ancient Mesopotamian writings have survived only in copies made by order of this ruler. Some of the texts presented have a history of thousands of years (although the tablets themselves are not very ancient, in normal conditions they have rarely been kept for more than 200 years).
Ashurbanipal himself was proud that he was the only Assyrian ruler who could read and write. On one of the tablets, his personal record was found:
“I studied what the wise Adapa brought me, mastered everything secret art letters on tablets, began to understand predictions in heaven and on earth, participate in discussions of pundits, predict the future together with the most experienced interpreters of predictions from the liver of sacrificial animals. I can solve complex, complex division and multiplication problems, I constantly read masterfully written signs on such difficult language, like Sumerian, or as difficult to interpret as Akkadian, is familiar with antediluvian stone records that are already completely incomprehensible.
Ashurbanipal's own notes (probably compiled by the best scribes) are of high literary quality.
A generation after Ashurbanipal, his capital fell under the blows of the Medes and Babylonians. The library was not plundered, as is usually the case in such cases, but turned out to be buried under the ruins of the palaces where it was kept.
In 1849 most the library (which was kept in the northwestern palace on the banks of the Euphrates) was found by the British archaeologist Austen Henry Layard. Three years later, Layard's assistant, the British diplomat and traveler Hormuzd Rasam, found the second part of the library in the opposite wing of the palace. Both pieces were taken to the British Museum for storage. The opening of the library allowed scientists to get a first-hand idea of the Assyrian culture. Prior to this, Assyria was known only from the works of Herodotus and other historians of Hellas, and the Persians, in turn, served as their source. the greatest sensation in the scientific community made the discovery of the epic of Gilgamesh with a presentation biblical history about the global flood.
When extracting the tablets from the wreckage, careful accounting of the place of their discovery was not carried out. In the British Museum, both parts were placed in a common depository, so it is now impossible to judge which tablets were found where. Scientists are still working on sorting separate fragments("joints"), cataloging and deciphering texts. The British Museum is working with Iraqi scientists to create a museum-library in Iraq, where reproductions of the original tablets are to be displayed.
1. Library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal (British Museum London VII century BC)
The most old library in the world was discovered in 1849-51 by British archaeologists Austin Henry Layard and Hormuzd Rasam during excavations on the banks of the Euphrates .. It is considered the most ancient of known to the world libraries. It was conceived by the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal as a repository of all the knowledge accumulated by mankind and was based on ancient Sumerian and Babylonian texts. Includes legal, administrative and economic records, descriptions of political events, magical and religious rituals, prophecies, astronomical and historical information, prayers, songs. One of the most famous mythological texts is the Epic of Gilgamesh. It is one of the main sources of information about the history and culture of Mesopotamia and the decipherment of cuneiform. The bulk of the 30,000 clay tablets discovered are in currently in the British Museum.
2. Library of the monastery of St. Catherine (Egypt Sinai 548-565)
The monastery is located in Egypt at the foot of Mount Sinai. The monastery's library contains 3,304 manuscripts, 5,000 books and about 1,700 scrolls. Her collection of historical significance second only to the Apostolic Library of the Vatican. The texts are written in Greek, Arabic, Syriac, Georgian, Armenian, Coptic, Ethiopian and Slavic languages. The most famous manuscripts are the Codex Sinaiticus of the 4th century (now in the British Museum) and the Codex Syriac of the 5th century with quotations from the Bible. In addition to other relics, the monastery also has a collection of ancient icons.
3. National Library Czech Republic (Prague 1366)
This is not only one of the oldest, but also one of the most popular, serving about 1 million readers a year. It was founded in connection with the formation of the University of Prague. Provides access to more than 6 million documents, with an annual increase of 70,000 titles. Many library projects are supported by UNESCO.
4. National Library of Austria (Vienna 1368)
It is located in the Hofburg Palace, which served as the residence of the Habsburg imperial family. The collection includes 7.5 million books, ancient papyri, maps, globes, paintings, photographs, musical scores famous musicians such as Strauss and Bruckner. It is also known for the fact that it has collected about 8,000 incunabula - typesetting early printed editions.
5. National Library of France (Paris 1461)
It existed under Charles V the Wise, but the main part of his collection was lost, as the royal relatives used to not return the taken books. Louis XI began to collect the library almost anew. Among others, the library contains books from various monasteries, books about the revolution, books about Walter, as well as collections of manuscripts sent from various countries. To date, it includes 30 million storage units.
6. Vatican Apostolic Library (Rome Vatican 1475)
Its inspirer and creator were Popes Nicholas V and Sixtus IV. First of all, this is the richest collection of manuscripts of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Under the auspices of the library, entire expeditions were carried out to search for rare publications in the most different parts Sveta. Includes a wide variety of texts from manuscripts with the works of Cicero, Virgil, Aristotle, to works contemporary authors. Naturally, most of the collection consists of texts of religious content. The Vatican school of librarians and a laboratory for the restoration and reproduction of the most important manuscripts were created at the library. Up to 150 scientists and specialists can visit the vaults daily.
7. National Library of Malta (Valetta 1555)
Laid by the 48th Grand Master of the Order of Saint John Claude de la Single. According to his decree, all the personal books of the deceased knights were considered the property of the Order. It was developed under Louis Giren de Tencines, the bailiff-executor of the Grand Cross of the Order. The Library of Malta is a significant collection of bibliographic rarities. Here you can see a deed of gift of 1107 from Emperor Charles to King Baldwin I of Jerusalem, documents confirming noble origin knights, minutes of meetings of the Order of Saint John. The library has been open to visitors since 1812.
8. Bavarian state library(Munich 1558)
Thisold library
founded by Albrecht V, Duke of Wittelsbach. In 1663, a law was passed in Bavaria according to which two copies of any printed work must be transferred to this library. The law is still in effect. During World War II, up to 500,000 volumes were lost and the building was 85% destroyed. Despite this, it is considered one of the most extensive European libraries. He does a lot of work on the digitization of old documents and manuscripts.
9. Royal Library of Belgium (Brussels 1559)
National science Library. Founded by order of Philip II. Contains 8 million books, manuscripts, drawings, engravings, a large numismatic collection. The main purpose of the activity is the collection and storage of all Belgian publications and works of Belgians published abroad. In addition to national, there are a large number of foreign books. Available for visiting citizens, including students.
10. Bodleian Library Oxford University Library (London, 1602)
It bears the name of Sir Thomas Bodley, who was a popular and world-famous man who collected manuscripts. Although many believe that the founder is still Bishop Thomas de Cobham. Through his efforts at the university, the first collection of books was collected, which were chained to the shelves in order to prevent theft. Along with the Vatican Library, they claim the right to be called the oldest in Europe.
