Alexandrian library

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>HELEN:

>According to the book _The Vanished Library_ by Luciano Canfora the library 

>was burned three times. Once by Julius Caesar as part of his campaign

against 

>Egypt. Then much of it was burned and the rest badly mauled by the

Christians 

>in the name of God several hundred years later. It limped along in a greatly 

>diminished form after this until the Moslems took Alexandria when by order

of 

>the caliph Omar the remains of the of the library was destroyed. Canafora 

>writes (pg.99):


<snip>


>"As for the books you mention, here is my reply. If their content is in 

>accordance with the book of Allah, we may do without them, for in that case 

>the book of Allah more than suffices. If, on the other hand, they contain 

>matter not in accordance with the book of Allah, there can be no need to 

>preserve them. Proceed, then, and destroy them." Caliph Omar as quoted by 

>Luciano Canfora


ADNAN
This is a hoax. Almost all modern historians I read reject Omar ibn Khatab
order of burning the library as a legend, including Bernard Lewis and Karen
Armstrong (see Armstrong's "Holy War", for example.) 

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