A review by Eucalyptus
In the words of H.E. Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak, wife of the President of Egypt and Chair of the Board of Trustees of Bibliotheca Alexandrina: “The goal of this enormous project is to honour the past, to celebrate the present and to invent the Future . . . The role of the library is to promote dialogue of cultures specifically in the fields of knowledge, science, culture, art . . . a centre of excellence in research and documentation, and a source of pride for Egypt and the entire world”.
With these words ringing through the halls of the resurrected Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Dr. Peter Lor, National Librarian, National Library of South Africa, presented the opening address of ALEXANDRIA IN CAPE TOWN in the Baxter Concert Hall on Friday 12 April 2002.
Dr. Lor pointed out the positive cultural relationship established between South Africa and Egypt since the 1990′s and that the new library would serve to close the gaps created between peoples and their cultures over a span of many centuries. Chief guest speaker Professor Mostafa El Abbadi from the University of Alexandria was introduced by Dr. Lor and then presented the first paper of the five he was due to deliver over the two days. For convenience, the five papers presented by Professor El Abbadi will be covered first in this review..
Alexandria – “The Greatest Emporium in the Inhabited World”
Professor Dr. El Abbadi, an impeccable figure of elegance and charm, the moving “spirit” behind the re-establishing of the great library, told his audience that when first approached by the TESSA Chairman, Keith Grenville, to visit Cape Town, the prospect of such a journey appeared to be “an attempt of the impossible”. However, thanks to the persistent enterprise of Keith and his team, the “impossible” became the “possible”. The lecture covered the very beginnings of the harbour on the pre-Alexandrian site; the founding of this great city in 326 B.C. as an international centre and how it became the greatest trading centre of the world by 26 BC, when under Roman dominance, it controlled the sea route to India.
On the Transmittance of Egyptian Learning into Greek: 2nd Lecture.
Dr. Mostafa divided this huge dimension of learning between these two great peoples through the evolution of time into three phases: the first phase covered the significance of the ancient Nile flow – “the giver of life”. The second phase gave rise to uncovering the mysteries of the heavens which lead to the science of Astronomy and Time Measurement. The third phase uncovered the instruments of astronomy – technology. At this point, we as modern-day man of the 21st century, could only agree that whatever seems “amazing” in our world today, we owe to the incredible thirst for knowledge about our universe by the men of these ancient nations.
Alexander, the Egyptian Pharaoh: Lecture 3
What inspires greatness in man? Is it his own natural vision or an insatiable drive; or is it a birthright? According to the legend of the Alexander Romance, Alexander’s mother, Queen Olympias, consorted with an Egyptian magician/priest who appeared to her as the god Amun. She gave birth to a son who was to become one of the greatest Greek leaders of ancient time and was proclaimed “divine” pharaoh. His legacy of vision and courage has remained part of Greek/Egyptian history since his death in 324 BC.
The Alexandria Library, Past and Present: Lecture 4.
Professor El Abbadi modestly and briefly mentioned how he conceived the idea exactly thirty years ago of daring to imagine that the great ancient Library of Alexandria should be revived in modern times with similar aims and objectives.
It was the most inspiring and enriching lecture for me. The ancient library, established by Ptolemy I (Soter) in 288 BC, came alive and before me appeared the scholars from all over the known world speaking in their many different tongues on so many diverse subjects. Over 700,000 scrolls to pour over! Literary giants such as Plato and Aristotle, Aristarchus – the first to proclaim that the earth revolves around the sun; Hipparchus – the first to measure the solar year; Euclid – the father of geometry; Archimedes – the greatest mathematician; Callimachus – poet and the father of “Library Science” – the methodical cataloguing of books by topic and author. There was also the translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek making it accessible to all learned people. This was the greatness of the Hellenistic culture and civilization with the city of Alexandria as its centre. The inevitable question remains: was Alexandrian culture and scholarship Greek or Egyptian? There is no doubt that both peoples should be proud of this timeless legacy.
Underwater Archaeology in Alexandria and Abou-Kir: Lecture 5.
The exciting underwater discoveries originated by amateur enterprise has attained official recognition in Egypt. The lecture examined the explorations undertaken illustrated with photographs of sculpture, jewellery, coins and artefacts found beneath the water. The future prospects of this comparatively new branch of archaeology has enormous potential.
An Egyptian image of Alexandria: special guest lecturer Professor Azza Kararah.
Professor Kararah’s mesmerising dramatic skill held us captivated as she gave a personal rendition of The Downfall of Cleopatra by Ahmed Shawqi (1869 – 1932), the “prince of poets” of the Arab world. This dramatic piece, written as a verse-play, shows the influence of Shakespeare whom the dramatist greatly admired.
The second piece, Miramar by Nobel Prize winning author Naguib Mahfouz, Egypt’s most highly acclaimed novelist, is set in a pensione on the Mediterranean sea front. It captures the Neapolitan nature of Alexandria in the 1960s – a turbulent political time and the writer shows great compassion as the characters face their dilemmas.
Professor Dereck Sparks (University of Cape Town) delivered a paper Alexandria – a bridge between East and West and illustrated a wealth of scientific inventions and accomplishments enabling scientific development during a rich period of history.
Stellenbosch University was well represented. Professor Sakkie Cornelius delivered a colourful and visually exciting view of The Many Faces of Cleopatra from Alexandria to Cyberspace. This informative lecture was well received at the end of the first day.
Also from Stellenbosch University was Professor Johann Cook’s The Alexandrian Origins of the Septuagint. This fascinating account of the translation of the Hebrew Pentateuch text into Greek was punctuated with examples of the development of the language. Professor Cook, with his customary energy, returned to the platform on the second day of the seminar with some details of the creation of the Coptic language in his paper Egyptian Coptic Culture.
Professor Anthony Humphreys (University of the Western Cape) delivered a very interesting and detailed paper Cleopatra: The Woman and her World which looked beyond the mythology of this extraordinary person and at the political pressures placed on her by the Roman empire.
A fascinating demo-lecture was presented by Dr. Barry Smith on the organ in the Concert Hall. He discussed the origins of the organ which was first invented as a “Hydraulis” by the engineer Ctesibius during the 3rd century. BC.
This truly memorable and enriching symposium, moderated throughout by Society Chairman Keith Grenville, was the strongest and most authoritative academic platform focused entirely on Egypt ever presented in South Africa – a mighty feather in the cap of The Egyptian Society of South Africa.