Libraries in the Ancient World, Lionel Casson
Libraries in the Ancient World contains a not too surprising round of historical libraries, including of course the Palace of Ashurbanipal and the Library of Alexandria, but nonetheless I found it interesting to read about exactly who libraries were for and how they worked in various societies. Casson’s style is engaging, and I found it just overall the kind of relaxing read about a thing I love that fills an excellent gap without being wildly exciting or revelatory.
I know that seems like faint praise, but I really can’t think of anything else to say! If you want to look at the history of libraries, this makes a good start.
Rating: 3/5
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Lovely review matey! I did some more reading into the Palace of Ashurbanipal and it’s library. Somehow I had known of the contents but either didn’t know or had forgotten about how it came about. Fascinating that such texts survive and can be read today. I did a fun law project involving a cuniform tablet back in the day. Knowledge is awesome!
x The Captain
Ugh wrong use of it’s. And two abouts in one sentence. Was typing fast. Sorry matey!
x The Captain
The Captain recently posted…The Captain’s Log – fortunately, the milk (Neil Gaiman)
Happens to the best of us!
I read a really good one on the Epic of Gilgamesh, which is how I knew a lot about the Palace of Ashurbanipal already! If you’re interested, I’ll dig up the author’s name — I think it was called The Buried Book.
Yes please. I would like to read about that.
x The Captain
The Captain recently posted…The Captain’s Log – fortunately, the milk (Neil Gaiman)
It’s The Buried Book by David Damrosch! There’s a review somewhere on here if you’re interested and use the search, too. 🙂