Library of Alexandria in Alexandria, Egypt, was one of the largest and most significant libraries of the ancient world. Library constructed at 3rd century BC. The library was created by Ptolemy I Soter, who was a Macedonian general and the successor of Alexander the Great. Most of the books were kept as papyrus scrolls. It is unknown precisely how many such scrolls were housed at any given time, but estimates range from 40,000 to 400,000 at its height.

Euclid, Ptolemy, Hypatia, Eratosthenes, Archimedes were some of the famous scholars of Alexandria Library and library has also known with burned down. Resulting in the loss of many scrolls and books, it has become a symbol of knowledge and culture destroyed. The library may have suffered several fires or acts of destruction, of varying degrees, over many years. Different cultures may have blamed each other throughout history or distanced their ancestors from responsibility, and therefore leaving conflicting and inconclusive fragments from ancient sources on the exact details of the destruction. Ancient and modern sources identify four possible occasions for the partial or complete destruction of the Library of Alexandria: Julius Caesar’s fire during his civil war in 48 BC; the attack of Aurelian in AD 270–275; the decree of Coptic Pope Theophilus of Alexandria in AD 391; and the Muslim conquest of Egypt in AD 642.

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İskenderiye Kütüphanesi, Mısır’da İskenderiye’de M.Ö. 3. yüzyılda yapılmış tarihin en önemli kütüphanelerinden biridir. Büyük İskender’in generallerinden olan Ptolemy Soter tarafından kurulmuştur, çoğu kitap tomar parşömen şeklinde saklanmıştır 400000'e kadar papirüs olabileceği tahmin ediliyor.

Euclid, Ptolemy, Hypatia, Eratosthenes, Archimedes gibi dünyaca ünlü bilim insanlarını yetiştiren kütüphane asıl ününü uğradığı yıkımlardan almıştır. Birçok parşömen bu yıkımlar sırasın yok olmuş ve geçmişe dair en önemli kaynaklar geri elde edilemez hale gelmiştir. Bu noktada yıkımlar için ülkeler birbirini suçlasa da ortak mirasa verilen bu büyük zarar telafi edilememiştir. Bilinen en önemli yıkım: M.Ö. 48 Julius Caesar iç savaşında sırasında yakılma, M.S. 275 Aurelian saldırısı,M.S. 391 Papa Theophilus’ın yıkımı, M.S. 642 Müslümanların Mısır’ı fethi sırasında yıkım.