The Libraries That Started It All

Humans have long had the instinct of collecting and preserving knowledge. Today we use the internet for that, but thousands of years ago, they captured ideas on clay tablets and scrolls, and safeguarded them in a big, grand room. These early repositories shaped how we read, learn, and record history. Here are five of the world’s oldest libraries.

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1. The Royal Library of Ashurbanipal

The Royal Library of Ashurbanipal, located in Nineveh, Iraq, was established in 668 BC. It's considered the world's first systematically organized library and houses around 30,000 clay tablets written in cuneiform.

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2. The Library of Alexandria

The Library of Alexandria in Egypt was founded in the 3rd century BC. The goal of the library was to collect all the knowledge in the world, so ships that arrived in Alexandria were searched for scrolls. It was one of the largest libraries in the world before its destruction.

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3. The Library of Pergamum

The Library of Pergamum emerged in the 2nd century BC in Turkey to compete with the one in Alexandria. It once contained 200,000 scrolls on parchment, many of which were later seized by Mark Antony for the library in Alexandria.

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4. The Imperial Library of Constantinople

The Imperial Library of Constantinople was founded by Emperor Constantius II in 357 AD. Its purpose was to preserve Greek and Roman knowledge and was the main imperial library of the Byzantine Empire before being destroyed. 

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5. The Library of St. Catherine's Monastery

The Library of St. Catherine's Monastery in Egypt is the world's oldest continuously operating library. It was established in 530 AD and houses more than 3,000 manuscripts and more than 8,000 ancient books, which the dry weather of the Sinai has helped preserve.

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