oldest library in africa

Most nations in Africa were colonized by European states in the early modern era, including a burst of colonization in the Scramble for Africa from 1880 to 1900. The Royal Library of the ancient Kingdom of Ebla is thought to be the oldest library in the world. However, some of them were saved and recopied. It features beautiful Andalusian carved wood—as it was inspired by La Mezquita de Córdoba—stunning marble fountains in the center, and an open rooftop that lets the sun shine in. The library was named for Ashurbanipal, the last great king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Address: 1113 Thandukwazi Rd next to Metro Police, Hambanati Village, Tongaat, 4400, South Africa, Kwazulu Natal. The Theological Library of Caesarea Maritima was the largest ecclesiastical library of the time, containing more than 30,000 Christian manuscripts. A treasure chest of Islamic culture (AP/Samia Errazouki). The Great Library of Alexandria ( CC by SA 4.0 ) Theory 1: Julius Caesar . Still in Operation: No – … It was located in the city of Alexandria in ancient Egypt, which was the major economic, cultural, and intellectual center of the world at the time. A ninth-century library in Morocco, widely believed to be the oldest in the world, is undergoing restoration to preserve its ancient treasures for future generations. – Naledi Mashishi A distinguished citizen of the city and wife of a town Councillor, Flava Melitene, is largely responsible for supplying the library. 1,157 years after it first opened, the world's oldest library has finally been restored and unveiled to the public. These first libraries consisted of clay tablets and date back to around 2500 BCE. It formed part of the research institute at Alexandria in Egypt that is known as the Alexandrian Museum. The ancient al-Qarawiyyin Library in Fez isn’t just the oldest library in Africa. Taroudant - King Mohammed VI is expected to soon inaugurate the reopening of Morocco’s University of Al Qarawiyyin library in Fez, according to The National. While we now know that older libraries exist, it was one of the first to implement a systematical organization of its material. The oldest library on Earth was started by a woman, and finally everyone can visit it. The Family History Library has microfilm copies of divorce records for some counties. They are home to all of the world’s works and other forms of media, including films, CDs, videotapes, DVDs, Blu-ray Discs, maps, e-books, audiobooks, and databases. Fez is the imperial city of Morocco and was once the capital, where many sultans reigned over the kingdom. The Imperial Library of Constantinople of the Byzantine Empire was the last great library of the ancient world. Alexander the Great, who is believed to have founded Alexandria, got the inspiration for his own grand library after visiting the Royal Library of Ashurbanipal. Constitute the oldest organized library yet discovered: see Ebla tablets. Africa. The library was discovered in the years 1974 – 1976 by Italian archaeologists from the University of Rome La Sapienza. It was founded by Constantius II sometime during his reign between 337 – 361 CE. The Public Library was converted into the Africana Research Library in 1984 which has since become one of the finest research libraries in Southern Africa. However, this was just a myth (parchment had been in use in Anatolia long before Pergamum was established) as the city became known for producing parchment and storing its manuscripts on parchment instead of papyrus, which was monopolized by Alexandria. for the “royal contemplation” of the Assyrian ruler Ashurbanipal. The monastery is 1,000 years old. The earliest libraries emerged not long after the first civilizations started keeping written records. The library was named after Alexander the Great, who initiated the collection of documents in 334 BCE. Location: Fez, Morocco Location: Northern Syria. The Chicago Public Library (CPL) is the public library system that serves the City of Chicago in the U.S. state of Illinois.It consists of 80 locations, including a central library, two regional libraries, and branches distributed throughout the city's 77 Community Areas.. Your email address will not be published. After the fall of Constantinople in 1204 CE, a formal imperial library was no longer maintained, but some texts have survived and were recovered in later centuries. Origen of Alexandria – a Hellenistic scholar, ascetic, and early Christian theologian – and the scholarly presbyter Pamphilus of Caesarea, who were both avid collectors of Christian books were the main patrons of the library and helped it to achieve its large collection. Ugarit (Modern Ras Shamra) (1200 B.C.) It is now functional for use with restored facilities. When his empire had stabilized, Ashurbanipal built his royal library and filled it with texts covering a wide array of subjects, including medicine, mythology, magic, science, poetry and geography. According to the writings of Plutarch, the Library of Pergamum housed about 200,000 volumes. The two private libraries were unique in the world at the time and may have been some of the first libraries made for private, personal use. Still in Operation:  No. The libraries contained diplomatic, legal, economic, administrative, scholastic, literary, and religious texts. Today, it is no longer a working university but a holy mosque instead, where many Muslims traveling to Morocco choose to stop at. The Library of Alexandria is famous for collecting all of the world’s knowledge at the time, translating the works onto papyrus scrolls, and storing them. Library - Library - The history of libraries: In earliest times there was no distinction between a record room (or archive) and a library, and in this sense libraries can be said to have existed for almost as long as records have been kept. The most famous text – that has mostly survived intact – from Ashurbanipal is the Epic of Gilgamesh. Timbuktu. The library flourished until the Roman conquest of Egypt in 30 BCE and it was burned down and thousands of scrolls were lost. While he did not live long enough to see his dream come true, Ptolemy, who was one of his generals, began constructing the library around the 3rd century. Oh wow… I always knew Timbuktu (Tombouctou in Mali) because of the story of the great emperor of the kingdom of Mali, Mansa Kankan Musa.I knew it was the center of his empire, but it is only lately that I realized that it was one of the world’s first and oldest thriving university! Still in Operation:  No. It has been over 1200 years since Al-Qarawiyyin was first built, and it is definitely a must-see when visiting Fez, due to the impressive hand-made artwork and endless history this university holds. The larger tablets were originally stored on shelves, but fell over when the palace was destroyed. After Constantius II, Emperor Valens hired four Greek and three Latin calligraphers to make copies of the Greek works onto parchment, which lasted longer than papyrus. Still in Operation:  No – it was destroyed. Location: Constantinople, Byzantine Empire (modern-day Turkey) The Library of Alexandria is the best-known and largest libraries of the ancient world. She kept her word that she would help. The ancient al-Qarawiyyin Library in Fez isn’t just the oldest library in Africa. Still in Operation:  No – in ruins, but about 2,000 complete clay tablets and 4,700 tablet fragments have survived. For the past several decades, most of the library has been closed off to all but a few scholars and students of the university because of extensive damage. Chaouni discovered that the library was rotting and that there was a river running underneath the floors. Before the discovery of older ancient libraries in the early 20th century, the Royal Library of Ashurbanipal was considered the first library or the oldest surviving royal library in the world. But neither the library nor the texts date back 10,000 years. By Selina Cheng. But this condition was reversed over the course of the next century by independence movements.Here are the dates of independence for African nations. The world’s oldest known library was founded sometime in the 7th century B.C. Still in Operation:  No – in ruins, but over 30,000 clay tablets and fragments have survived. In 2012, Morocco’s Ministry of Culture contacted Aziza Chaouni, a Toronto-based architect and engineer, originally from Fez, Moroco, to assess the library’s damage. The oldest library in the world, founded by a woman, is being rehabilitated by another woman. Use the FamilySearch Catalog to locate the correct microfilm searching the county in the topics of court records, divorce records and/or vital records. Year Created: c.1400 – 1200 BCE Subjects. This tablet is regarded as the earliest surviving great work of literature. Location: Pergamum, Turkey (modern-day Bergama) Location: near Mardikh, Syria Library of Alexandria. A few years ago, the UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) Library began reproducing digital copies of about 1,100 unique Syriac and Arabic manuscripts from Saint Catherine’s Monastery. Year Created: c.2500 – 2250 BCE The library was partially destroyed by several fires and thousands of volumes were lost. The Public Library was converted into the Africana Research Library in 1984 which has since become one of the finest research libraries in Southern Africa. In charge of the restoration is Aziza Chaouni and her dream-team. As many as 700,000 scrolls filled the shelves. One of the oldest libraries in Ghana the Balme Library is a local landmark in Accra. Wallace, Marion, ‘Accidental archives: tracing Africa in the India Office Private Papers in the British Library’, African research and documentation 98 (2005). This ancient Nubian empire reached its peak in the second millennium B.C., when it ruled over a vast swath of territory along the Nile River in what is now Sudan. Still in Operation:  Yes. Africa Check has not found any evidence that any of the texts in its library are 10,000 or more years old. Timbuktu Manuscripts (or Tombouctou Manuscripts) is a blanket term for the large number of historically important manuscripts that have been preserved for centuries in private households in Timbuktu, Mali.The collections include manuscripts about art, medicine, philosophy, and science, as well as copies of the Quran.The number of manuscripts in the collections has been … African Library Project changes lives book by book by starting libraries in Africa. In ancient times, Al-Qarawiyyin University played a crucial role in the exchange of culture and knowledge between Muslims and Europeans. The city’s scribes developed the Ugaritic alphabet around 1400 BCE, which consisted of 30 letters, each corresponding to sounds. Still in Operation:  Yes. The monastery is 1,000 years old. The university is only 30 years younger than the city of Fez, and was built at the same time as algebra was emerging. It formed part of the research institute at Alexandria in Egypt that is known as the Alexandrian Museum. The National Library of SA is the oldest library and public institution of any kind in the country. The Theological Library was so famous that several Christian scholars from other parts of the world came to study there, including Gregory Nazianzus, Basil the Great, and Jerome. Perhaps one of the most interesting accounts of its destruction comes from the accounts of the Roman writers. They also made several modern improvements to help maintain the building intact, like installing air conditioning, solar panels, digital locks and even a small café to relax. Our grassroots approach mobilizes volunteers, young and old, in the United States and Canada to organize book drives and help establish small libraries in rural African communities. The thousands of clay tablets they uncovered revealed a palace library, a temple library, and two private libraries, one belonging to a diplomat named Rapanu. The Sakya Monastery in Tibet does exist, and its library does contain some 84,000 centuries-old texts. Located in Fez, Morocco, this library keeps around four thousand manuscripts and had recently been opened to the public in 2016. By Selina Cheng. Known as the oldest library in the world, our ninth entry resides in what is also the oldest operating university in the world. Founded in 859, it’s the oldest working library in the world, holding ancient manuscripts that date as far back as 12 centuries. Your email address will not be published. Shortly after Darius graduated, he reached out to Ms. Jenkins and asked her if she would still help him to try to get a library built in Liberia (the future library will be named “Library for Liberia”). But this condition was reversed over the course of the next century by independence movements.Here are the dates of independence for African nations. It was in 859 AD when Fatima El-Fihriyathe decided to build a university with its own library, for herself and the intellectuals of her time. Although there is one continuously existing library that is older, the al-Qarawiyyin Library is often believed to be the oldest library in the world. This collection of texts is the largest ever found from the 3rd millennium BCE. Historical and contemporary material for the study of Africa. The City of Chicago entered phase four of the “Protecting Chicago” framework: Gradually Resume on Friday, June 26. Archaeologists were able to reconstruct the tablets’ original positions and discovered that they had been arranged by subject. African Library Project changes lives book by book by starting libraries in Africa. It was recently renovated, and over 4000 books were released to the public, including a 9th-century Quran and a 10th-century account of Prophet Muhammad’s life. Founded in 1747 by forty-six proprietors upon the principle of “having nothing in view but the good of mankind,” its mission continues over 250 years later. T… Libraries are centers of knowledge and learning around the world. Located in the South Loop, Harold Washington Library Center is CPL's main library. Manuscripts and archives. But modern life had taken a toll on the library, with its buildings falling into disrepair. Hambanathi Library. Location: ancient Nineveh, the capital of Assyria (near modern-day Mosul, Iraq) A ninth-century library in Morocco, widely believed to be the oldest in the world, is undergoing restoration to preserve its ancient treasures for future generations. But neither the library nor the texts date back 10,000 years. Founded in 859, it’s the oldest working library in the world, holding ancient manuscripts that date as far back as 12 centuries. The caretaker stares at the wrought iron door and its four ancient locks with […] She also presented a statue of the Roman Emperor Hadrian to the library as a gift. The oldest library on Earth was started by a woman, and finally everyone can visit it. Year Created: 859 CE Required fields are marked *. The library houses several unique and important texts, including the Syriac Sinaiticus and, until 1859, the Codex Sinaiticus, the oldest known complete Bible dating back to around 345 CE. At least seven different scripts were used in Ugarit, including Egyptian and Luwian hieroglyphs, and Cypro-Minoan, Sumerian, Akkadian, Hurrian, and Ugaritic cuneiform. Several thousand texts consisting of diplomatic archives, census records, literary works and the earliest privately owned libraries yet recovered. 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