Footnote 3 – The Destruction of the Great Library at Alexandria

The Arab conquest did not mark the first time that the Alexandria Library was imperiled. The actions of both Julius Caesar, in 47 B.C.E., and Theophilus, the fourth-century C.E. archbishop of Alexandria, caused thousands of volumes to be lost. See J. Harold Ellens, “The Ancient Library of Alexandria: The West’s Most Important Repository of Learning,” BR 13:01.