Chopin Cusachs wrote: > > It's been years since I've seen the quotation, but what you wrote looks > right. > I got the date from the Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, which is > not claimed to be infallible, but generally careful for accuracy. Come to > think of it, 616 does look a bit too early. > > My recollection for the early fire damage wasn't Caesar vs Pompey but > Octavian vs Antony. Maybe age has deprived me of some gray brain cells. > It would seem that Caesar didn't intend to destroy the city or library; > but > the attitude alleged of the Caliph is to be found over and over in the > history > of the Persians, the first Muslims to conquer Egypt, the Arabs who came > after, and finally the Turks.
I think it depends on the attitude of the Caliph in power at the time; some were pro-science, others not. Humanity has a lot to thank Muslim culture for; modern analytical medicine, algebra, architecture, etc. Not all Caliphs were anti-science/anti-knowledge. At certain points in time, the Muslim world was the most civilized and advanced in recorded history. Sad that attitude is long gone. > My source as to the library being burned by the general is the same as that > of his quote. Gibbons is at least as unsympathetic toward Christianity as > President Bush is toward Saddam Hussein. If I had it at hand, my first > place to check would be the first volume of John Julius Norwich's > Byzantium. > Second, probably would be a good encyclopedia, but I don't have one either. > I'll be content to accept an early statement from the article you cite, > that the > problem isn't lack of information, but contradictory claims. At the > end, the > summary is > > "The real tragedy of course is not the uncertainty of knowing who to > blame for > the Library's destruction but that so much of ancient history, > literature and > learning was lost forever. " I consider this to be one of the most self-defeating crimes in history. Is there any good in fanaticism? John Hebert > At 04:19 PM 1/2/03 -0600, you wrote: > >> Chopin Cusachs wrote: >> >>> Would add a snippet on the Muslim Empires and knowledge. The Muslim >>> general who conquered Alexandria >>> in 616 burned the fabled library, saying that if it wasn't in the >>> Koran, it wasn't worth keeping. >> >> >> It was actually thought to be 640AD. Islam was just getting started in >> 616, as it was only 610 that Mohammed had his first relevation in the >> cave at Mount Hira. > > > > _______________________________________________ > General mailing list > [email protected] > http://oxygen.nocdirect.com/mailman/listinfo/general_brlug.net -- John Hebert: [EMAIL PROTECTED] System Engineer: I T Group, Inc. http://www.it-group.com 225.922.4535
