Books, Posts, Podcasts, & Mini-Docs – PAUL ANDREWS
By 1961, the Cold War between the U.S. and Soviet Union raged unchecked around the globe. Since World War II, it seemed the entire world had chosen sides. The fortified ‘Iron Curtain‘ had been raised – borders dividing Western & Eastern Europe along Democratic vs. Communist lines. Berlin however, though divided as well, still allowed free movement of people between the Communist East and Democratic West … but not for long, the Berlin Wall was coming. Thirty years later, it was gone!
Outside of Germany during World War II, people around the world were appalled at the profound deceitfulness of Nazi propaganda, the ridiculous exaggerations, the outright falsehoods, the blatant evil towards their own Jewish population, and the astonishing acceptance of the German people. How on earth could intelligent, educated, rational people have been convinced by all that rubbish? So much as to allow the Holocaust to occur?
The United States is a nation of immigrants, and the children of immigrants, coming to America for over four hundred years. From the first Spaniard and Englishmen to the current Latinos and Asians. Emma Lazarus’ 1883 famous poem rings true today more than ever. It is immortalized on a bronze plaque at the base of New York’s Statue of Liberty (then called Liberty Enlightening the Word). Her own grandparents were Portuguese Jews who had fled their homeland.
My own grandparents traveled to the US from Eastern Europe, as mere teenagers, just before World War I. In the face of abject poverty, they abandoned the lives they knew, dreamt of, and found a better life in America. The statue would have been one of the first things they saw from the rail of their steamship in New York harbor. What they must have felt at that moment, standing by the railing, we can only imagine. They would soon be off for processing at Ellis Island and a new future as Americans.
We all have heard the famous line: ‘Give us your tire, your poor, your huddled masses.” She wrote it in 1883 as part of the fundraising effort to build the stone pedestal for Lady Liberty. But read Emma Lazarus’ entire sonnet below – slowly and carefully, perhaps for the very first time. Take in each stanza and pause to reflect on the words. Read it with your children, or better yet your grandchildren. Ponder the meaning of each line, the promises of Hope, Freedom and Liberty, to ALL immigrants. Then say a prayer for all those immigrants and refugees, those ‘tempest-tost’ still attempting to do the same thing today.
The HAARP military research program in central Alaska has been a darling of conspiracy theorists for over a decade. They claim it does everything from control the weather to controlling people’s minds. Former Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez even claimed the U.S. military used HAARP to cause the 2010 Haiti earthquake!
It was designed by the US military to study the Earth’s ionosphere. That is the upper-most portion of our atmosphere which stretches from about 53 miles (85 km) above the earth to around 370 miles (600 km). It’s a high-energy layer at the very edge of outer space, filled with charged particles. These particles respond to radio waves, so HAARP beams high-power radio frequencies straight up into the Alaska sky.
HAARP was built in 1993 at a cost of more than $290 million. It was earmarked by the late Senator Ted Stevens, a powerful Republican from Alaska. The program has been run over the years by the US Air Force Research Lab, Office of Naval Research, and the secretive Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
HAARP’s public mission is to study the ionosphere’s physics, which is bombarded by our sun on a daily basis. Huge solar flares send charged particles racing toward Earth, disrupting communications and often our country’s electric grid. By studying the ionosphere, scientists feel they might be able to mitigate these problems in the future.
Science aside, the HAARP site certainly looks futuristic. It is peppered with 180 weird-looking, geometrically aligned, cross-shaped antennas, poking into the Alaska sky like alien hardware. And like the infamous Area 51 in Nevada, it’s located in a remote military compound in the south Alaskan wilderness southeast of Fairbanks.
For those of you who might want to check it out, HAARP is located near Gakona, Alaska at GPS coordinates 62.39 N, 145.15 W off the Tok Cutoff Highway. Its crown jewel is the massive high-power, high-frequency array known as the Ionospheric Research Instrument (IRI). The IRI went on line in 2007 and can actually agitate a chunk of our ionosphere for research purposes.
The IRI consists of 180 dipole antennas in a 15 x 12 grid covering multiple acres. Together they can transmit 3600 kW of radio waves at frequencies up to 10 mHz. This energy is absorbed by the ionosphere and produces atmospheric fluctuations that can be detected back on earth by HAARPs instruments below.
The U.S. military was interested because our ionosphere plays a key role in transmitting radio signals. So it can be used to improve satellite communications. And, yes, the Department of Defense (DOD) has used it to study things they still will not fully disclose. For example, HAARP can turn the ionosphere into a giant antenna used to transmit signals strong enough to reach nuclear submarines underwater.
Not surprisingly, HAARP’s remote location and ability to manipulate the upper atmosphere has made it a favorite of various conspiracy theorists. The fringe nature of HAARP’s research doesn’t help. When scientists do talk about the experiments, nobody but a trained physicist can fully understand the complexity.
Former Minnesota Governor and ex-pro wrestler Jess Ventura believes the government uses the IRI site to both manipulate the weather and control minds. Others have blamed it for everything from superheating the atmosphere causing climate change, to the mysterious humming associated with alien encounters. They say HAARP was to blame for the downing of TWA Flight 800 in 1996 and Japan’s 2011 tsunami. The Russian military supposedly believed it has the power to jam global communications and even reverse the polarity of the earth’s poles!
HAARP, its military research, and its many conspiracies almost came to an end. In 2013, the site shut down, was abandoned and temporarily locked its gates. The Air Force said Congress no longer wanted to pay the millions of dollars needed to staff and keep HAARP alive, and was prepared to dismantle it.
But fear not, HAARP lives on! Operation of the research facility was transferred from the US Air Force to the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 2015. It allows HAARP to continue its scientific exploration of ionospheric phenomenon via a cooperative Research & Development agreement with the Air Force.
In 2022, HAARP and the University actually held an Open House, free to the general public! The facility offered bus rides from Fairbanks, was open for walking tours, and had research results on display. Just to show how far it’s come, souvenir HAARP T-shirts and even shot glasses were on sale, as well as hamburgers and hot dogs to help fund continued research.
But I am quite sure conspiracy theorists, somewhere in their darkened basements, think this is nothing but a cover-up, a clever ruse; and flood social media with their theories. They believe the U.S. military continues HAARP’s more nefarious purposes to this day. Somewhere behind thick steel doors, deep underground in the frozen and remote Alaskan wilderness. In 2016, two Georgia men arrested on drug charges were supposedly plotting an act of domestic terrorism based on HAARP conspiracy theories.
On Saturday, September 9th, 1900, a Category 4 Hurricane slammed into an unsuspecting, unprepared Galveston. At the time, it was a bustling port city on a Texas barrier island in the Gulf of Mexico. In the days before weather satellites or even radio, the people of Galveston had absolutely no warning, and no time to evacuate. The devastation to come from the Galveston Hurricane was nothing short of Biblical.
More souls died during the Riverboat Sultana disaster than on the RMS Titanic! The Sultana disaster on the Mississippi River during the U.S. Civil War is in fact, the worst maritime disaster in U.S. history. So why is it such a forgotten piece of Americana, with no historical site or Hollywood film? Everyone remembers the Alamo or Pearl Harbor, so why not the poor Sultana?
The greatest nuclear disaster the Earth has ever known, worse than even Japan’s Fukushima, or the U.S. Three Mile Island, began innocently enough in the early morning hours of Saturday, April 26th, 1986 at the Soviet Union’s Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine. A simple safety test was about to be performed that would terribly, terribly wrong. The resulting explosion would contaminate both the site and surrounding countryside for centuries to come.
The Birmingham Bombing in Alabama was a sad day in U.S. history. Just 60+ years ago, on a sunny Sunday morning, September 15, 1963, services began at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. The mainly Black congregation greeted each other with broad smiles like they did any other Sunday. It was also Youth Day and in the basement, 5 young girls, two of them sisters, gathered in the Ladies Room. They wore their best Sunday dresses and excitedly checked themselves in the mirrors. They chatted about the new school year and the roles they would play in the service on Youth Day.
Just before 11:00 o’clock AM, families in the pews settled in and began fanning themselves from the oppressive Southern humidity. The pastor smiled and waved to the congregation as he walked to the podium to begin. But instead of rising to praise God in song, the gathered congregation was shockingly knocked off their feet! A bomb violently exploded under the side steps of the church. The tall windows shattered and red bricks flew through the air like grenades.
In the minutes after the explosion, screams, panic and worry filled the smoky air. ‘Is the church on fire? Was that a bomb? Oh Lord, where’s my family?‘ Few believed it was an accident. They knew it had to be another bomb. You see, so many acts of terror had already occurred their city it was known as “Bombingham.” This was the 3rd bombing in just 11 days, after a federal court order had mandated the integration of Alabama schools. The March on Washington had occurred 2 weeks earlier, with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. giving his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.
They were right. During the dark of night, the bombers had hidden a stack of dynamite under cinder block steps on the east side of the church, next to the basement, near the girls’ rest room. Most of the dazed and injured parishioners were able to stumble out of the smoke-filled church and into the rubble of the street outside. Where are the girls? Someone shouted. Has anyone seen my girls? A frantic search was begun. The bodies of four young girls were eventually found dead beneath the rubble in the basement.
Addie’s sister, Sarah Collins (12), was rescued by a Deacon and managed to survive, but was permanently blinded in one eye from glass shards. More than 20 others were seriously injured and required hospitalization. The bodies of the four girls were solemnly carried out on covered stretchers.
But why Birmingham? After the Civil War, the city rapidly became the state’s most important industrial center AND America’s most racially segregated. The current Alabama Governor George Wallace was a heated opponent of desegregation, and Birmingham possessed one of the most violent chapters of the KKK. The city’s police was also notorious for using brutality in combating demonstrators, most especially Black ones.
It was no accident that white supremacists in the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) chose the 16th Street Baptist Church. It was the largest Black church in Birmingham. It was used for all kinds of local and national civil rights meetings, drawing leaders like Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.. The large brick church, with its 2 red-domed towers had a basement auditorium that held mass meetings of the civil rights movement. Many of Birmingham’s protest marches began at the broad steps of the church. The KKK routinely called in bomb threats to disrupt civil rights meetings and church services.
It was precisely because of this reputation, that civil rights activists made Birmingham a focal point of their efforts to desegregate the South in the 1960’s. By the time of the Birmingham Bombing, thousands of activists had already been injured during street protests by police fire hoses and attack dogs with many imprisoned.
The protests were working! Due to the Birmingham Campaign, that spring the city finally agreed to desegregate lunch counters, restrooms, and drinking fountains, AND to release jailed demonstrators. This infuriated white supremacists who continued a plague of violence against Blacks. On September 9th, President John F. Kennedy took control of the Alabama National Guard to enforce court-ordered desegregation of public schools, which Governor Wallace was vehemently blocking.
After the Birmingham Bombing, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. sent a telegram to Governor Wallace saying bluntly:
The brutal deaths of 4 little girls in a church on a Sunday morning shocked the U.S. and drew international attention to Birmingham. Many whites were outraged and offered services and condolences to the families. Over 8,000 people attended the solemn funeral service of 3 of the girls. Rev. King himself spoke passionately, fanning the public outrage growing across the country.
In the days following the blast, thousands of angry Black protesters gathered at the church. When Governor Wallace sent police and state troopers to break up the gathering, violence broke out across the city. Protesters were again arrested and 2 young Black men killed before the National Guard was called in to restore order. Outrage over the Birmingham Bombing and the violent clash helped draw national attention to civil rights movement.
Though certain Birmingham white supremacists were immediately suspects in the bombing, repeated calls for the men to be brought to justice went unanswered. How could this happen in America? the people wondered.
The FBI office in Birmingham launched an investigation that dragged on for years. In a 1965 memo, agents named four men as their primary suspects – Thomas Blanton, Robert Chambliss, Bobby Cherry, and Herman Cash. All four men were members of Birmingham’s Ku Klux Klan infamous Chapter #13. It was considered one of the most violent in the South and responsible for the 1961 Freedom Riders Attack at the Birmingham bus station.
The investigation ended however, in 1968 after five long years with NO indictments. According to the FBI, although they had identified the four suspects, witnesses were reluctant to talk and physical evidence was lacking. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover chose NOT to approve the arrests, stating, “The chance of prosecution in state or federal court is remote.“
It was more than a decade before state authorities took action. In 1971, Attorney General Bill Baxley reopened the case. He obtained the FBI evidence and convinced reluctant witnesses to testify. The Attorney General charged Klan leader Robert “Dynamite Bob” Chambliss with murder. He was finally convicted in 1977. Chambliss died in jail in 1985, never admitting to the Birmingham Bombing.
Thirty-eight years after the Birmingham Bombing, Thomas Blanton Jr. was likewise convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison in 2001. A year later, Bobby Frank Cherry, who had bragged about setting the explosives himself, was also found guilty and given life in prison. His ex-wife and son testified against him. He died in 2004 at age 74. The 4th suspect, Herman Cash, died in 1994 before he could be brought to justice. Tom Blanton is currently over 80, incarcerated at the St. Clair Prison in Springfield, Alabama.
Even though the U.S. legal system was slow providing justice to Birmingham’s Black community, the after-effect of the bombing was immediate and significant. National outrage helped build support in U.S. Congress to finally end segregation. It lead to the passage of both the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson. So in that sense, the bombing’s impact was exactly the opposite of the fear that the white supremacists had intended. Plus it planted one of the seeds for the Black Lives Matter movements decades later in 2013.
The fifth little girl, Sarah Collins Rudolph, who lost one eye in the bombing, is now in her seventies. She still lives in Alabama with her husband, George, surrounded by pictures of her older sister. Sarah never received any help, financial or medical, from the city or state. She blames Governor Wallace for inciting the Klan violence with his incendiary words. Sarah wrote a book about her experiences since then, The Fifth Little Girl. Today, she occasionally travels the country, talking to school children and churches, and giving TV interviews about the fateful Birmingham Bombing.
Poland’s Solidarity [Solidarnosc] labor union was nothing less than Revolutionary, the 1st crack in the Soviet Union’s Iron Curtain, leading to its ultimate demise. Since the mid-1970s, Poland’s Communist economy was spiraling downward — production had plummeted, wages stagnated, and shortages were everywhere. In 1979, the new Polish Pope John Paul II famously visited Warsaw, delivering a veiled message to the people during Mass:
“Be not afraid!” (to rise up)
Pope John Paul II, 1979
In the summer of 1980, the Communist Party announced yet another increase in food prices. So on August 14th at the Lenin Shipyards in Gdansk, around 17,000 workers occupied the shipyard and went on strike. Their labor leader, Lech Walesa, had narrowly avoided arrest by the secret police. He managed to scale the shipyard fence and join his co-workers. Walesa was a man of the people, a burly, mustached, natural leader involved in the labor movement for a decade.
Soon, workers in 20 other area factories joined the strike in solidarity. On August 17th, the Gdansk Strike Committee, drew up a list of 21 Postulates (demands), which they posted on the shipyard gates. They included the right to strike, reduced censorship, and freedom for political prisoners. At the top, they demanded FREE TRADE UNIONS, independent from the Communist Party. There was tremendous excitement and electricity in the air.
Polish leaders turned to Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev for council. Brezhnev wanted a solution rather than force. Having recently invaded Afghanistan, he did not want to supply Soviet military. So, Polish leaders reluctantly opened negotiations with Walesa and the strikers.
This resulted 14 days later in the GDANSK AGREEMENT of August 31st. A triumphant Walesa appeared before the workers in the shipyard with an historic message:
“We have an independent, self-governing trade union! We have the right to strike!”
Labor Leader Lech Walesa
On September 17th, the Independent Self-Governing Trade Union Solidarnosc (Solidarity) was formed, the first since WWII. However, Solidarity’s remit was clearly defined by the Communist Party such that “these new unions may defend the social and material interest of the workers, BUT NOT play the role of a political party.”
Solidarity was the beginning of a social revolution across Eastern Europe. The people emerged transformed. Solidarity created a sense of hope and confidence in conflict. The union grew rapidly, peaking at almost 10 million members in 9 months, about 70% of all workers and a third of the total population!
The failure of the Communists meant that Solidarity was a threat. As months passed, it became clear that improvement would not be possible without political restructuring. Feeling emboldened, Solidarity adopted a politicized stance and began agitating for a nationwide strike and more.
On October 16th, 1981, Solidarity published an Official Programme, with a new combination of economic AND political aims, containing increasingly Revolutionary rhetoric. The programme attacked the failures of the Communist Party, referring to Solidarity as “The moral rebirth of the people” stating that:
“There is no bread without freedom. We have united for the right to determine the aspirations of our nation!”
Solidarity programme
The Communist Party began to lose its hold over public opinion. The Communists responded with a blisteringly negative propaganda campaign, discrediting Lech Walesa and Solidarity’s leader as anarchists and opportunists out to fill their own pockets.
The growing popularity of Solidarity also elicited concern from Moscow. In Russia, the Soviet masters were growing increasingly concerned. In 1981, the Warsaw Pact (NATO’s Cold War counterpart) issued a statement stating fraternal solidarity with Poland’s communist leaders in overcoming the country’s “difficulties.”
On October 18th, General Wojcech Jaruzelski a stern hardliner was appointed as Poland’s new leader. He was given a clear mandate by the Kremlin to suppress Solidarity. On December 13th, Jaruzelski declared Martial Law and army tanks rolled onto the streets of Polish cities. He addressed the people on television:
“Our country stands on the edge of an abyss. A national catastrophe is no longer days away, but hours. We have to say: That is enough!”
General Wojcech Jaruzelski
Solidarity was outlawed, its leaders arrested and its supporters repressed. Over 1700 Solidarity leaders were imprisoned, including Lech Walesa. 800,000 lost their jobs. Walesa spent a year in a Communist prison. When released, he was under constant watch by the Communist secret police for the next 7 years. Martial Law would remain in force in Poland for another 2 years until July 1983.
Although Solidarity was outlawed, the movement survived underground. Networks illegally distributed anti-communist newspapers, leaflets, and posters. In April 1982, Radio Solidarity began illegal broadcasts. Solidarity promoted civil resistance, continued their fight for workers’ rights and pushed for political change. And it never wavered from one of its key principles — a Gandhi-like nonviolence.
Solidarity’s efforts were aided by financial help from American trade unions, as well as constant moral support from Pope John Paul II. The pope returned to Poland in 1983 meeting with both General Jaruzelski AND Lech Walesa, making international headlines. The deeply religious Walesa fell to his knees in prayer at the first sight of the pope, and had to be coaxed to stand.
This strategic alliance with the Catholic Church, lent a powerful legitimacy. Solidarity enjoyed considerable support internationally. Lech Walesa was even awarded the 1983 Nobel Peace Prize. He sent his wife and children to collect the award in Norway, fearing General Jaruzelski wouldn’t allow him back in the country.
In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev became the new Soviet Premier and began a more reformist agenda in Eastern Europe. Moral support came from President Ronald Reagan in the US and Margaret Thatcher in Britain, which refused to grant debt-ridden Communist Poland economic aid until it legalized Solidarity.
They had little choice: rationing had been in place for most of the decade. Solidarity was simply too big and too broad to either repress or ignore. In early 1989, the 2 sides signed a 400-page agreement on sweeping political and economic reforms that officially recognized Solidarity again.
Its membership quickly increased to 1.5 million. In June 1989, the first free elections took place in Polska since 1945. Solidarity was the main opposition to the Communists, sweeping to victory, winning all contested seats in the Polish Parliament. In August, a Solidarity-led coalition government was formed. None other than Lech Wałęsa was elected President. Of course, Solidarity now faced a new challenge: dismantling Communism and overseeing Poland’s transformation into a modern, democratic state.
Three months later, the West and East German people also rose up, and the infamous Berlin Wall finally came crumbling down. Communist Hungary and Czechoslovakia had similar, softer revolutions. In December 1991, Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev suddenly announced the unthinkable – the complete dissolution of the Communist Soviet Union. Its member states would all become independent republics, the largest being the Russian Federation.
In the wake of all that, Poland even became a member of NATO in 1999. The world owes the end of Soviet Communism and the Iron Curtain to Solidarnosc and the amazing courage of the Polish people.
The Great Library of Alexandria, on the coast of northern Egypt was once the largest of the ancient world, containing the works of Homer, Plato, Euclid, Socrates, Aristotle and hundreds more. Close to one million books and scrolls from across Greece, Assyria, Egypt, Persia and India filled its vast shelves. It’s believed to have been completely destroyed in a devastating fire about 2000 years ago and its thousands of priceless works burnt to ashes. Its loss has haunted historians and scholars for centuries. But exactly How, When and Who is responsible remains a perplexing mystery. One that’s deepened by the fact that NO archaeological remains of the great library have ever been found in modern times!
The Mediterranean seaport of Alexandria was founded by ALEXANDER THE GREAT around 332 BC after the Greek conquest of Egypt. Upon seeing the ancient library of Ashurbanipal in Ninevah, Alexander desired to have his own, even grander Library to promote Hellenistic culture. He chose Alexandria as the site and assigned that responsibility to his Macedonian general Ptolemy.
Alexander III died in Babylon at only 32 in 323 BC, likely having been poisoned. He left no heir, and the Greek Empire was divided amongst his 3 top generals. Ptolemy I took North Africa and Egypt, proclaiming himself pharaoh, and making Alexandria his capital. Formerly just a small fishing village on the Nile delta, Alexandria became the seat of Egyptian rule, replacing Memphis.
The Greek scholar Demetrius, convinced Ptolemy to establish a Library. One that would house a copy of every book in the world, rivaling even Athens. Together they built the Musaeum, “Temple of the Muses” (where the word museum comes from) and the adjoining Library in 283 BC. It was a place of study, modeled on the Lyceum of Aristotle in Athens, which included the library, lecture areas, laboratories, shrines, gardens, even a zoo!
His successor and son, pharaoh Ptolemy II, formally established the ‘Royal Library‘ envisioned up by Alexander and his father. More than 100 Greek scholars lived in the Musaeum to research, lecture, and publish. And to translate and collect original manuscripts from the known world of Greece, Assyria, Persia, and India, including Buddhist and Hebrew texts.
At its peak, over 700,000 books and papyrus scrolls filled its teaming shelves. During the reign of Ptolemy II, the Royal Library became so huge that a second library was established at the Temple of Serapis. The famous Lighthouse of Alexandria was also built at this time. His successor and son, Ptolemy III, hungered for even more knowledge. He ordered all ships docking at the port of Alexandria to surrender their manuscripts to the growing library!
Over the next few centuries, the Library of Alexandria became the largest and most significant in the ancient world. The great scholars of the age, scientists, mathematicians, poets, philosophers from both western and eastern civilizations came to roam its many halls and freely exchange ideas. The world has not seen the same since.
It’s not known when the Library was destroyed as there are unfortunately no eyewitness accounts to its demise. Archaeologists aren’t even sure in which century it occurred AND don’t know exactly where the library sat in the city. The infamous destruction of the Library of Alexandria has been debated for centuries. So what are the best theories? Whodunit?
Yes, the prime suspect is none other than the great Julius Caesar. Some believe that during the Roman occupation of Alexandria in 48 BC, Caesar found himself in the Royal Palace, cut off by the Egyptian fleet in the harbor. Greatly outnumbered, he ordered his men to set fire to the blockade of Egyptian ships. But the fire got out of control and spread to the city. Roman philosopher Seneca, says that at least 40,000 scrolls were destroyed in a single library warehouse near the harbor.
So does this mean the great Library of Alexandria burnt down as well? The Musaeum, which was right next door was apparently unharmed, as it was mentioned by the geographer Strabo 30 years later. Strabo doesn’t mention the Library though, so maybe Caesar WAS responsible for burning it down. Caesar wrote of starting the fire in the harbor, but never mentions the burning of the Library. So while its colorful to say the famous Julius Caesar did it, the facts don’t fully support this theory.
In 391 AD, the Christian Emperor Theodosius issued a decree outlawing all pagan practices in the Roman Empire including the Olympics. He ordered the Temple of Serapis in Alexandria destroyed and a Christian Church built on the site. As this contained the library annex, manuscripts are assumed to have been destroyed as well (it contained about 10% of the Library of Alexandria). No other sources mention the destruction of the Library itself. So, there’s no actual evidence that 4th century Christians destroyed it.
After Theodosius’ death, riots broke out when Orestes, the city Prefect, ordered a Christian monk named Hierax, publicly killed. After this, there was mass havoc as Roman Christians retaliated against both Pagans and Jews. Orestes was rumored to be under the spell of Hypatia, a female philosopher and daughter of Theon, the last Librarian. Hypatia was then brutally murdered by a Christian mob and dragged naked through the streets in 415 AD. So it’s been theorized that the Royal Library was also burned to the ground at the same time as all this chaos.
The last suspect is the Muslim Caliph Umar. In 640 CE, the Arabs captured Alexandria after a long and bloody siege. According to this theory, the conquering Muslims heard about the magnificent books and scrolls in the library containing all the knowledge of the world. But the Caliph was unimpressed by this collection of higher learning. He stated ‘They will either contradict the Quran, in which case they are heresy, or they will agree with it, so they are superfluous. Destroy them all.’
The precious manuscripts were said to be used as fuel to heat the water for the 4,000 bathhouses in the city. It’s been said to have taken 6 months to burn them all. However, this particular theory was written 300 years later by Christian Bishop Gregory. He may have simply wanted to tarnish the image of the heathen Muslim invaders. While the Arabs may have destroyed the library at Alexandria, by the mid 7th century we know the ‘Royal Library’ no longer existed. There is no mention of any library in Alexandria any longer.
So which was it – Romans, Christians or Muslims? I am afraid trying to choose one single culprit is futile. Alexandria was a volatile and violent metropolis back then, especially during the lengthy Roman occupation. During this time, many parts of Alexandria were routinely devastated by wars. This means that the ‘catastrophe’ could have occurred gradually over a period of four hundred years. The Royal Library may not have gone up in flames at all, but rather could have been gradually sacked, destroyed and abandoned over time.
Today, Alexandria is a modern metropolis, the third largest city in Egypt. A new Bibliotheca Alexandrina was completed in 2002 and can house some 8 million books on its 11 floors. In 2004, Egyptologists claimed to have found its location after unearthing what appear to be 13 lecture halls. Maybe one day, buried deep beneath the ruins of ancient or modern Alexandria, intrepid archaeologists will discover the chambers, rooms, and maybe even the precious scrolls, of the great Library. Some believe that the great Library of Alexandria could still be more or less intact, somewhere deep beneath a modern Egyptian city.