Rueters- Second Report
Post"Great Library Rises Again In Egypt"
Original-Author-randy frushour
To-SunwardNet 10-16-99
Sub-Title: Alexandria building will rival legendary forerunner
 Alexandria, Egypt - Built to recapture Alexandria's past glory, a vast new library is rising near the place on the mediterranean coast where its legendary forerunner may have stood.
The city, founded in 323 BC by AlexanderThe Great and then ruled by the Ptolemaic dynasty, was damaged by title waves and earthquakes after the 4th century AD. "This library will be as renowned as the ancient library," said Mohsen Zahran, project manager for the Bibliotheca Alexandria. "It will attract scholars from all over the world just as the ancient one did."
More than 1000 workers in hard hats are working around the clock to complete the cylindrical,11 story complex that will provide more than 2,500 reading spaces.
"All that is left, as you can see, are interior furnishings and the landscape design," site manager Alaa el Kot said.
Designed by a Norwegian architectural team in the shape of a tilting Sun and embellished with inscriptions with the worlds Alphabets, the $190,000,000 library sponsored by U.N. cultural body UNESCO and many other countries will open next year.
The first phase of construction was completed in 1996 at a cost of $65,000,000from money donated by IRAQ, Saudi Arab Emirates.
Book donations and cash have flowed from several countries since president Hosni Mubarak laid the cornerstone in 1988. Although 860,000 sq. foot library has room for 8 million books, so far it has only 400,000 - 100,000 less than its ancient counterpart.
"We've had a lot of book donations from many eminent libraries," Zahran said. Recently we got from Cordoba Library microfilms of the works of Arab scholars during the Andalusian renaissance." The library will have space for the up to 50,000 audio-visual items including slides, tapes, CD ROMS and Videos. Nearby a planetarium and conference centerwill seat more than 3,500.
All sorts of academic and cultural activities will be stimulated by the library," Zahran said."I think the library has started a feeling of revival in the city."
Ancient Historians estimated that the original library composed about 600,000 scrolls, but no one is sure quite how it looked, where it stood or what became of it. "No one can say where the ancient library stood," said French archeologist Jean-Yves Emperuer, director of the Center d'Etudes Alexandines "Ancient sources indicate it may have once stood in or near the royal quarters."
Marine archeologists in the past decade have excavated the remains of ancient Alexandria, including royal quarters where Mark Antony once wooed Cleopatra.
English historian Edward Gibbon attributed the destruction of the ancient library to a fire set by Julius Caesar's army in 47 B.C., but doubts persist. Roman historian Livy called the library "testimony to the royal house."
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