EGYPT - Oct. 16 - Bibliotheca Alexandrina Opened.Pres. Mubarak and other dignitaries from around the world inaugurate in·au·gu·rate tr.v. in·au·gu·rat·ed, in·au·gu·rat·ing, in·au·gu·rates 1. To induct into office by a formal ceremony. 2. the library of Alexandria The Royal Library of Alexandria in Alexandria, Egypt, was once the largest library in the world. It is generally thought to have been founded at the beginning of the 3rd century BC, during the reign of Ptolemy II of Egypt. . The new Bibliotheca Alexandrina The Bibliotheca Alexandrina is a major library and cultural center located on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea in the Egyptian city of Alexandria. It is both a commemoration of the Library of Alexandria that was lost in antiquity and an attempt to rekindle something of the cost $225m and took nearly 30 years to create. Cairo has paid for more than half of the project, with UNESCO UNESCO: see United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. UNESCO in full United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization leading a fund-raising drive Noun 1. fund-raising drive - a campaign to raise money for some cause fund-raising campaign, fund-raising effort crusade, campaign, cause, drive, effort, movement - a series of actions advancing a principle or tending toward a particular end; "he supported that drew about $65m from the Arab World and $33m from EU countries and companies. Mubarak says the library symbolises cultural dialogue and humanity's common heritage, adding: "It is a call to terminate violence, tension and all sorts of terrorism". Joining him in the library's conference hall were French Pres. Jacques Chirac, the queens of Jordan, Sweden and Spain; and the presidents of Romania This is a list of Presidents of Romania: Order Name Took office Left office 1. Interim Presidential Committee made up of Mihail Sadoveanu, Constantin Ion Parhon, Ştefan Voitec, Ion Niculi, and Gheorghe Stere. December 30, 1947 April 13, 1948 2. Dr. , Greece and Ivory Coast as well as ministers and ambassadors. Mona Makram Ebeid, a former MP and professor of political science at the American University of Cairo, says: "There is a need today to remind people that Egypt is not just a flag-waving tribe. It's very timely because of all the attacks against Arabs, and putting all Arabs in the same basket. Beyond the 'band of terrorists', there's a great civilization there". Still others say that it is Mubarak's folly, a grand public work to stand as his legacy, as the Aswan Dam was for Nasser. Abdel Moneim Said, director of Al Ahram Centre for Strategic and Political Studies, says: "For sure it's part of his legacy. It's an Egyptian thing. There are a lot of pyramids around. He likes big projects". On the whole, however, Egyptians are happy to have some good news in a country suffering from a faltering economy and unnerved by US threats of war against Iraq, even though there are no more than 250,000 books, many donated, in a library built for 4 million. (The ancient Alexandrian library may have had as many as 700,000 items. It was founded by Ptolemy I, Alexander the Great's successor, in 306 B.C.). |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion