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. The earliest libraries emerged not long after the first civilizations started keeping written records. Ugarit Library. As many as 700,000 scrolls filled the shelves. He established the library to preserve the surviving works of Greek literature and the library even contained the remnants of the Library of Alexandria. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Some of the most popular personalities to attend the university were Maimonides, Abd el-Krim El-Khattabi and Leo Africanus. 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. Over the centuries, the Library of Alexandria was one of the largest and most significant libraries in the ancient world. Today, it is no longer a working university but a holy mosque instead, where many Muslims traveling to Morocco choose to stop at. But neither the library nor the texts date back 10,000 years. Ugarit (Modern Ras Shamra) (1200 B.C.) The oldest library on Earth was started by a woman, and finally everyone can visit it. Historical and contemporary material for the study of Africa. 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. 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. Although the letters were similar to other cuneiform signs, they were unique and the Ugaritic alphabet is considered to be the first alphabet in history. 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! Year Created: 859 CE Still in Operation:  Yes. Your email address will not be published. It was in 859 AD when Fatima El-Fihriyathe decided to build a university with its own library, for herself and the … Still in Operation:  No. Year Created: c.337 – 361 CE The manuscripts were held in two separate locations: an ageing library and a new South African-funded research centre, the Ahmad Babu Institute, less than a mile away. 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. See full address and map. 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. Year Created: c.2500 – 2250 BCE Year Created: c.668 BCE It was founded by by Fatima al-Fihri, the daughter of a wealthy Tunisian merchant (she also founded the Qarawiyyin Mosque and Qarawiyyin University). Since then, the library has had extensive renovations and was opened to the public sometime in 2017. monastery itself is also considered one of the oldest functioning Christian monasteries in the 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, The library was named for Ashurbanipal, the last great king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, The library was discovered in the years 1974 – 1976, 4 Oldest High School Students in the World, 9 Oldest High School Graduates in the World, A Fascinating Look at 12 Types of Old Mustangs Cars Ever Built, 12 of the Most Popular Vintage Cartoons that Aired. Chaouni discovered that the library was rotting and that there was a river running underneath the floors. The Family History Library has microfilm copies of divorce records for some counties. The monastery is 1,000 years old. T… Location: near Mardikh, Syria African Library Project changes lives book by book by starting libraries in Africa. Hambanathi Library. 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. She kept her word that she would help. The library was partially destroyed by several fires and thousands of volumes were lost. 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. The Library of Alexandria is the best-known and largest libraries of the ancient world. The City of Chicago entered phase four of the “Protecting Chicago” framework: Gradually Resume on Friday, June 26. The most famous text – that has mostly survived intact – from Ashurbanipal is the Epic of Gilgamesh. Several thousand texts consisting of diplomatic archives, census records, literary works and the earliest privately owned libraries yet recovered. Ebla (2500 B.C. 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.. 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. It formed part of the research institute at Alexandria in Egypt that is known as the Alexandrian Museum. Fez is the imperial city of Morocco and was once the capital, where many sultans reigned over the kingdom. Timbuktu. The city’s scribes developed the Ugaritic alphabet around 1400 BCE, which consisted of 30 letters, each corresponding to sounds. You must know the county where the divorce took place. Subjects. Still in Operation:  No – in ruins, but thousands of clay tablets and fragments have survived. But this condition was reversed over the course of the next century by independence movements.Here are the dates of independence for African nations. Year Created: c.1400 – 1200 BCE. 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. The ancient Greek city of Pergamum (also called Pergamon) was an important cultural center of the ancient world, only rivaled by Alexandria and Antioch. Nearly all of the Greek classics known today are from the Byzantine copies from the Imperial Library of Constantinople. By Selina Cheng. 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. The Royal Library of the ancient Kingdom of Ebla is thought to be the oldest library in the world. Unlike other ancient archives, there is evidence that suggests the tablets from the Ebla library were purposely arranged and even classified. 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. Use the FamilySearch Catalog to locate the correct microfilm searching the county in the topics of court records, divorce records and/or vital records. Tell Leilan (Northeast Syria) (1900 B.C.) Location: Pergamum, Turkey (modern-day Bergama) 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. According to the writings of Plutarch, the Library of Pergamum housed about 200,000 volumes. The Theological Library of Caesarea Maritima was the largest ecclesiastical library of the time, containing more than 30,000 Christian manuscripts. Like Alexandria, Pergamum was home to a large library, which was second best in ancient Greece after the Library of Alexandria. It was the largest reinforced concrete dome in the world when completed and holds over 1 million books and 600 people. Still in Operation: No – … Address: 1113 Thandukwazi Rd next to Metro Police, Hambanati Village, Tongaat, 4400, South Africa, Kwazulu Natal. The great thinkers of the age, scientists, mathematicians, poets from all civilizations came to study and exchange ideas. 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. They found about 2,000 complete tablets ranging in size from 1 in to over a foot, 4,000 tablet fragments, and over 10,000 chips and small fragments. Library of Alexandria, the most famous library of Classical antiquity. Location: Fez, Morocco Location: Northern Syria. Libraries are centers of knowledge and learning around the world. The ancient al-Qarawiyyin Library in Fez isn’t just the oldest library in Africa. Still in Operation:  No – in ruins, but over 30,000 clay tablets and fragments have survived. Year Created: late 3rd century CE Copyright 2020 Oldest.org | Terms | Privacy | Contact | Facebook, Spread the loveIt’s hard to imagine life today without some form of language as it encompasses so many aspects of…, Spread the loveWhen you think of art, the image that might be conjured in your head may be of an…, Spread the loveWhile it may differ around the world, in the United States the maximum age limit that a person…, Spread the loveGetting a high school diploma when you’re a centenarian might seem like an odd thing to do, but…, Spread the loveHymns, songs dedicated to a deity or deities, are a timeless part of several religions and religious factions.…. Located in the South Loop, Harold Washington Library Center is CPL's main library. 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. Africa Check has not found any evidence that any of the texts in its library are 10,000 or more years old. Location: Caesarea, Israel Still in Operation:  No – it was destroyed. A treasure chest of Islamic culture (AP/Samia Errazouki). Unfortunately, no index or catalog of the library’s works exist today, so no one knows for sure how large the library’s collection was. The library was discovered in the years 1974 – 1976 by Italian archaeologists from the University of Rome La Sapienza. Manuscripts and archives. Year Created: 3rd century BCE Location: ancient Nineveh, the capital of Assyria (near modern-day Mosul, Iraq) The restored library in Morocco, boasts a new sewerage and underground canal system to drain away the moisture that had threatened to destroy many of its prized manuscripts – plus an elaborate lab to treat, preserve and digitise the oldest texts. 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”). The library is apart of one of the oldest universities in the world and was first opened in 859 CE. He wanted to collect the works of the people he conquered, convert them to Greek, and store them in a library of his own. High-profile scholars traveled from all over the world to be able to study at this university, which is tucked away within the narrow walls of the Fez medina. The world’s oldest known library was founded sometime in the 7th century B.C. Location: Northern Syria 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. These first libraries consisted of clay tablets and date back to around 2500 BCE. Africa. Location: Sinai, Egypt Library of Alexandria. Most of its titles were archival documents, religious incantations and scholarly texts, but it also housed several works of literature including the 4,000-year-ol… 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. This collection of texts is the largest ever found from the 3rd millennium BCE. 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. The Sakya Monastery in Tibet does exist, and its library does contain some 84,000 centuries-old texts. The Imperial Library of Constantinople of the Byzantine Empire was the last great library of the ancient world. The Chicago Defender was a remarkably successful in encouraging blacks to migrate from the South to Chicago, often listing names of churches and other organizations to whom they could write for help. Location: Alexandria, Egypt Constitute the oldest organized library yet discovered: see Ebla tablets. 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. The Redwood Library and Athenæum of Newport, Rhode Island says it is the oldest lending library in America, and the oldest library building in continuous use in the country. 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. Year Created: between 548 – 565 CE Due to its age and importance in the Christian world, the monastery’s library has the second largest collection of ancient manuscripts and codices, just after Vatican City. – 2250 B.C.) 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. 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. Some of the library’s treasures included the Gospel according to the Hebrews and Origen’s personal copy of the Hexapla, which was a critical edition of the Hebrew Bible. 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. When the Ugarit archives were discovered in 1929, archaeologists found more than one library. 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