TheMouseionof Alexandria (Ancient Greek:Μουσεῖον τῆς Ἀλεξανδρείας;Latin:Musaeum Alexandrinum), which arguably included theLibrary of Alexandria,[1] was an institution said to have been founded byPtolemy I Soter and his sonPtolemy II Philadelphus.[2] Originally, the wordmouseion meant any place that was dedicated to theMuses, often related to the study of music or poetry, but later associated with sites of learning such asPlato'sAcademy andAristotle'sLyceum.[3][4]
ThePtolemies reputedly established their Mouseion and Library with the intention of bringing together some of the best scholars of theHellenistic world and collect all the books known at the time.[5][6] Although it did not imply a collection of works of art, the wordmouseion is the root for the modern usage of the wordmuseum.
According toJohannes Tzetzes, the Mouseion was an institution founded by Ptolemy I Soter (c. 367 BC – c. 283 BC) inAlexandria,Egypt, though it is more likely that it took shape underPtolemy II Philadelphus (309–246 BC).[7] As a community gathered together under the protection of the Muses, the Mouseion remained supported over the centuries by thepatronage of the royal family of the Ptolemies, and later by that of theRoman emperors.[3]
Unlike the modernmuseum in the sense that has developed since theRenaissance, the Mouseion of Alexandria did not have a collection of sculpture and painting presented as works of art, as was assembled by the Ptolemies' rivalAttalus at theLibrary of Pergamum.[8] Instead, it was an institution of learning that attracted some of the best scholars of theHellenistic world, asGermain Bazin puts it, "analogous to the modernInstitute for Advanced Study inPrinceton or to theCollège de France in Paris."[9]
It is uncertain how many scholars lived in the Mouseion at any given time, as surviving reports are few and rather brief.[7][10] Nonetheless, it appears that scholars and staff members were salaried by the State and paid no taxes. According toStrabo, they also received free room and board, and free servants.[2]
Based on extant works of scholars associated with the Mouseion, it seems likely thatliterary criticism and other similar activities took place there.[2][11] In addition to Greek works, some foreign texts were translated from Egyptian, Assyrian, Persian,Jewish, and other languages.[12][13] Many of the edited versions of theGreek canon that we know today, fromHomer andHesiod forward, exist in editions that were collated and corrected by scholars presumably affiliated with the Mouseion and the Library of Alexandria.[5][11]
In the first century AD, the Greek geographerStrabo described the Mouseion as part of a bigger, richly decorated campus of buildings and gardens:[11]
TheMouseion is also part of theBrucheion (palace complex), possessing aperipatos (lobby), anexedra (columned hall), and largeoikos (dining hall), in which the common table of thephilologoi, men who are members of theMouseion, is located. Thissynodos (assembly) has property in common and a priest in charge of theMouseion, formerly appointed by the kings, but now by Caesar.[14]
According to this description, the Mouseion featured a roofed walkway, an arcade of seats, and a communal dining room where scholars routinely ate and shared ideas.[12] The building may have also hosted private study rooms, residential quarters, and lecture halls, based onsimilar structures that were built much later in Alexandria.[15][16] However, it is unclear if the premises provided accommodations for anatomical research or astronomical observations.[13][17] At a later date another smaller library was housed in the nearbySerapeum (Temple ofSerapis), which may have been open to people other than Mouseion scholars.[5][10]
During the reign ofPtolemy VIII Euergetes II, at a time of territorial losses and political turmoil in Egypt, most intellectuals were either killed or expelled from the city, including the last recorded head librarian of the Library of Alexandria,Aristarchus of Samothrace, who supposedly was forced to resign his position in 145 BC and died in exile a few years later.[11][13]Johannes Tzetzes and other Byzantine sources do not mention any further directors after him,[18] albeit four obscure 'caretakers' are mentioned in anOxyrhynchus fragment,[19] and an inscription from the 80s BC speaks of a certain Onesander ofPaphos being appointed to the Library.[20] There are reports that, during theSiege of Alexandria in 47 BC, parts of the library collection caught fire and were destroyed.[21]
Despite the fact that the Mouseion continued as an institution under Roman rule, it never regained its former glory.[10] Membership of the Mouseion was not limited to prominent scholars under the Roman emperors but included politicians, athletes, and other people rewarded for their support to the state.[22] EmperorClaudius added an additional building in the first century AD,[23][24] and much later the emperorCaracalla temporarily suspended Mouseion membership in 216 AD.[25][24]
The last known references to the old Mouseion still functioning occur in the 260s AD.[26] The Brucheion, the complex of palaces and gardens that included the Mouseion, was probably destroyed by fire on the orders of EmperorAurelian in 272 AD, although it is not known with certainty how much of the original buildings existed at the time.[16] Scattered references in later sources suggest that another comparable institution was established in the 4th century at a different location, but little is known about its organisation and it is unlikely to have had the resources of its predecessor.[26] The mathematicianTheon of Alexandria (ca. 335 – ca. 405), father of the philosopherHypatia, is described in the 10th centurySuda as "the man from the Mouseion," but it is not clear what connection he actually had with it.Zacharias Rhetor andAeneas of Gaza both speak of a physical space known as the "Mouseion" in the late 5th century.[26]
The Ptolemies founded the original Mouseion at a time of transition inGreek history, during the passage from a predominantly oral to a more literary culture. The scholars gathered there included:[5]
The members of the Mouseion ensured the preservation and production of historical, literary, and scientific works, which would remain part of the Western heritage for centuries, and thanks to their efforts today one can still read Homer and the tragedians.[2][5]
As an institution dedicated to the Muses, the wordmouseion became the source for the modern wordmuseum.[3] In early modernFrance, it denoted as much a community of scholars brought together under one roof as it did the collections themselves. French and English writers often referred to these collections originally as a "cabinet of curiosities." A catalogue of the 17th century collection ofJohn Tradescant the Elder and his sonJohn Tradescant the Younger was the founding core of theAshmolean Museum inOxford. It was published asMusaeum Tradescantianum: or, a Collection of Rarities. Preserved at South-Lambeth nearLondon by John Tradescant (1656).
