How we have destroyed the ancient cultures

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.

Where are they now?
Many collections of records were destroyed in the course of wars or were purposely purged when rulers were replaced or when governments fell.

Far East
In ancient China,in 213 BC , the emperor Shih huang-ti, a member of the Ch'in dynasty and ruler of the first unified Chinese empire, ordered that historical records other than those of the Ch'in be destroyed so that history might be seen to begin with his dynasty.

Middle East
In the Great Library of Alexandria, the number of books thus obtained is variously stated between 200.000-700.000 rolls,the discrepancy being due partly to the fact that the statements refer to various periods.In 47 B.C. Caesar was compelled to set fire to his fleet to prevent its falling into the hands of the Egyptians. The fire spread to the docks and the naval arsenal, and destroyed 400,000 rolls. The loss of books was partly repaired by Anthony 's gift to Cleopatra , in 41 B.C., of 200,000volumes from the library of Pergamon. There are some rumors on the final destruction of the library in the early AD years. The main concern at that time was: If these writings agree with the book of God, they are useless , and need not be preserved; if they disagree, they are pernicious, and ought to be destroyed.

But this was not the last disaster in middle east. The libraries gained so much popularity that by the close of the 11th century A. D. there existed a network of libraries throughout the great Abbasid Empire, and before the Mongol invasion, Baghdad alone had 36 big libraries. In 13th century the Mongol leader Hulagu burned the Baghdad library and threw the books into the Tigris, turning the river blue from ink.


Middle America
One commonly cited example is the burning of the complete Maya libraries in 1562 by missionary Fray Diego de Landa claiming Satan’s writings. At that night, eight centuries of Mayan literature turn to ashes.


These are some samples of how we've intentionally lost the information on ancient times .Some authors explain these cases as transformation instead of destruction what tells us unfortunately that destructive human behaviour is still alive today.


Case Files

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