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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSpectacular' ancient public library discovered in Germany
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/jul/31/spectacular-ancient-public-library-discovered-in-germany<snip>
The remains of the oldest public library in Germany, a building erected almost two millennia ago that may have housed up to 20,000 scrolls, have been discovered in the middle of Cologne.
The walls were first uncovered in 2017, during an excavation on the grounds of a Protestant church in the centre of the city. Archaeologists knew they were of Roman origins, with Cologne being one of Germanys oldest cities, founded by the Romans in 50 AD under the name Colonia. But the discovery of niches in the walls, measuring approximately 80cm by 50cm, was, initially, mystifying.
Quite huge detail of the librarys walls. Photograph: Hi-flyFoto/Roman-Germanic Museum of Cologne
It took us some time to match up the parallels we could see the niches were too small to bear statues inside. But what they are are kind of cupboards for the scrolls, said Dr Dirk Schmitz from the Roman-Germanic Museum of Cologne. They are very particular to libraries you can see the same ones in the library at Ephesus.
It is not clear how many scrolls the library would have held, but it would have been quite huge maybe 20,000, said Schmitz. The building would have been slightly smaller than the famed library at Ephesus, which was built in 117 AD. He described the discovery as really incredible a spectacular find.
It dates from the middle of the second century and is at a minimum the earliest library in Germany, and perhaps in the north-west Roman provinces, he said. Perhaps there are a lot of Roman towns that have libraries, but they havent been excavated. If we had just found the foundations, we wouldnt have known it was a library. It was because it had walls, with the niches, that we could tell.
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Spectacular' ancient public library discovered in Germany (Original Post)
malaise
Jul 2018
OP
Archaeologists were tipped off by someone trying to return an overdue scroll ... nt
eppur_se_muova
Jul 2018
#4
It would be fascinating to learn what happened to it, why it was forgotten.
suffragette
Jul 2018
#17
Bettie
(16,092 posts)1. That is super cool
I love stuff like this.
Mrs. Overall
(6,839 posts)3. Me, too!
eppur_se_muova
(36,260 posts)4. Archaeologists were tipped off by someone trying to return an overdue scroll ... nt
malaise
(268,949 posts)5. Bwaaaaaaah
MineralMan
(146,287 posts)8. LOL!
leftstreet
(36,106 posts)10. LOL
BumRushDaShow
(128,874 posts)11. DUzy!
Blue_true
(31,261 posts)6. I bet more people then went into libraries than Trump voters do now. nt
malaise
(268,949 posts)13. I actually thought about just that when I posted the OP
People wanted knowledge way back when.
Blue_true
(31,261 posts)14. Sad, but so true. nt
I love ancient history!
Progressive2020
(713 posts)9. Cool News
Thanks for posting it.
suffragette
(12,232 posts)12. I love that it was in the center of the city.
Knowledge at the heart of the city.
From the article:
The building would have been used as a public library, Schmitz said. It is in the middle of Cologne, in the marketplace, or forum: the public space in the city centre. It is built of very strong materials, and such buildings, because they are so huge, were public, he said.
malaise
(268,949 posts)15. Very cool
suffragette
(12,232 posts)17. It would be fascinating to learn what happened to it, why it was forgotten.
yortsed snacilbuper
(7,939 posts)16. Lucky the republicans didn't find them, sorry I meant the nazis!