North Africa used to be a civilizational crossroads in which Muslims, Christians, and Jews not only lived alongside one another but also shared one another's language and culture. This mingled society, formed from many intense particularities, is what we call cosmopolitanism. It was born in the Middle East, and it now seems to be disappearing there, including from the one place where the cosmopolitan ideal reached its supreme realization: Alexandria. — Foreign Policy
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I read this piece in FP. This is my morning read. Sad. Alexandria, named after Alexander the Great (who never lived there) and ruled by his general Ptolemy;s clan until Cleopatra's suicide. The great library was where the old testment was translated into Greek and Latin, and became the basis for the Bible. At one time Alexandria was the resevoir of all known knowledge, most importantly ancient science and mathematics.
When Islamic armies captured Alexandria around 600, the only request by Alexandrians was to spare the vast collection of books. The Caliph ordered them burnt, because they were not relevant to Islam. Which is why so much of ancient , especially Greek, writings are lost.
Do I have to say that history repeats itself?
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