(mystical music)
- Just imagine a city that housed
all the knowledge of the world.
All the mathematical and scientific treaties.
All the works of literature,
and the sonnets of philosophical fancy.
A place where writers, and artists, and scientists met
to debate and to pioneer thought.
Just think of what ideas
and inventions that city would produce.
What power knowledge would bring to its rulers.
Just think of what would happen if that wealth of knowledge
was destroyed, burnt to the ground,
or scattered to the wind.
A terrible moment, when civilization itself
stops in its tracks.
This sounds like some kind of science fiction fantasy.
But this is a reality, and this was the
real place that it happened.
A city where its secrets are hidden beneath the sea.
And beneath its streets.
This is the city of Alexandria.
And this is its extraordinary story.
(mystical music)
Although you might think that Athens and Rome
were the greatest cities in antiquity.
For my money that claim, could well go to Alexandria
for over 2,300 years the city has occupied a key junction
between the eastern and western worlds.
Lying in Egypt at the top of the Nile belt on the
coast of the Mediterranean, today it's a sprawling place.
And every inch is jammed packed with activity.
But curiously, the ancient city
is conspicuous by absence.
(upbeat music)
A modern city here, it's really buzzing with life.
But it can be a bit hard to get a handle
on ancient Alexandria, you could spend weeks here
without realizing that this is one
this is a really a roll call
of the great of antiquity.
Because it was here that Alexander the Great
was buried, it was here that Cleopatra seduced
Mark Anthony, Cesar, and this is the home
of one of the seven wonders in ancient worlds.
Piecing together the scattered jig saw puzzle,
I'm going to explore the incredible
stories of this extraordinary city.
Pharos Lighthouse shone it's beacon out over
spectacular stages, temples and colonnades.
Monuments as grand as anywhere in the ancient world.
- This is a human scale it's more than 30 meters high.
- [Bettany] Which combines the best of
Greek, Roman, and Egyptian design
to create a dynamic hybrid culture.
- We're mixing and matching, we're being
purely Alexandrian, we're taking what we want.
Sticking it together.
We're open to everything.
- And most importantly where intellectual advances,
new philosophies, new sciences, were a driving
force of the city.
And that's what makes this place so special.
Although Alexandria was amazingly wealthy,
it didn't just sponsor grand monuments,
they put an absolute value on wisdom.
Because wisdom meant power, and it was Alexandria's
ultimate ambition to become the most powerful city on earth.
By capturing all the world's knowledge within its walls.
An ambition which stemmed from its very beginnings,
and a vision of its founder.
(dramatic music)
By ancient Egyptian standards Alexandria
was a relative new build.
It was founded only 2,300 years ago.
Halfway in time between the pyramids, and us.
The fourth century BC was a kind of in between
time in history.
Still remained Athens, there's them.
But then Rome was still a provincial back water.
But a very unlikely corner of northern Greece
was about to have a huge impact.
From there was gonna come a man
who would be a real player on the world stage.
In fact he was somebody, who was gonna change
the world order.
That man was Alexander the Great.
Great because Alexander's achievements
were truly outstanding.
From provincial Macedonian beginnings,
he united the Greeks of the nation.
Defeated the Persians, and set about creating
the largest empire the world had ever seen.
From northern Greece his territory stretched out
across the Mediterranean, deep into the Middle East.
And towards North Africa.
Alexander was prodigiously ambitious.
By the age of 24 he was already cutting his way
through territories of the known world.
But, he could not rest easy until
he'd laid his hands on the really big prize.
Egypt.
(dramatic music)
Because this was one of the most admired and envied
countries in the whole of antiquity.
The Nile River which watered the land gave
it vast agricultural wealth.
Creating a manpower and resources to cover the land
in glorious artworks and engineering triumphs.
(dramatic music)
Even the Greeks, who thought they were culturally
superior to everyone else, and describe anyone
who wasn't Greek as barbary, barbarians,
respected Egyptian achievements.
The Greeks saw their history said that,
nowhere else in the world were there more marvelous things.
More works of unspeakable greatness.
Such a rich prize was irresistible to Alexander.
In 332 BC he invaded Egypt, and overcame the Persians,
who dominated the Egyptian people
for the past two centuries.
But to seal his victory he now had to win over
the hearts and minds of the Egyptian people.
Who's unique religion and culture had been
rooted in the land for over 3000 years.
By the time Alexander arrived in Egypt,
this pyramid was over 2,300 years old.
The didn't think of it as some kind of antique curiosity,
because this is where a God king had been buried.
The Egyptians believed that it pulsated
with a sort of sacred power.
(dramatic music)
Confronted with a culture so alien to his own,
Alexander didn't underestimate the challenge that faced him.
He realized he had to come up with an ingenious approach
to get the Egyptians on his side and accept
his new Greek rule.
Typically when it comes to making sense of the
story of Alexandria, the clues to how he did this
are buried deep beneath the desert sand.
So, had I been walking down here in Alexander's day
what would we have seen?
- You would have seen something quite different.
It would have been far grander.
You would of had these limestone beautifully cut blocks.
You would have an inscription, and there would've
been a big procession way, lined with sphinxes.
So it would have been quite glamorous.
Not quite what it is now.
- Was it typical to have things underground like this?
- For the ancient Egyptians, yes underground stuff
was the place of rebirth and resurrection,
and anything secret, so they used it a great deal.
- [Bettany] Thanking a spirit.
(dramatic music)
And that's what Alexander had to get to grips with.
A culture that not only believed in life on earth.
But which was obsessed with life after death.
Wow, I knew there was a sarcophagus down here,
I had no idea it was this size.
- [Salima] It is absolutely enormous.
It's sort of really by size 'cause it weighs more
than 60 tons and it's made of absolutely solid granite.
- [Bettany] Oh it's got glitter on it.
- Yeah, yeah, here see.
This is in fact the name of who it belongs to.
It's Hapi in glyphs and it's
actually been turned into Apis by the Greeks.
And so it's Hapi the Great Bowl God, the Apis bowl.
And this is his sarcophagus.
- [Bettany] So it's a bowl buried in here.
- Yeah, it's a bowl.
- [Bettany] I just presumed, that it's
so kind of glorious that it would be a human.
- No it actually is a bowl burial because this
was a sacred incarnation of one of the Egyptian Gods.
And so he was buried here after his death.
And here it says Apis, son of, beloved son of Osiris
may he be given life eternity and prosperity,
and so on, and it says his name more and more times,
so you really knew to whom it belonged.
- I mean the Egyptians do do that in their religion,
don't they, mix up animals and men very happily?
- Very much so, for the Egyptians each God
had it's automic animals, so they're always
closely aligned, which is very different from the Greeks.
- And so how did Alexander deal with that
very alien landscape when he arrived here?
- Alexander was brilliant, I mean he instead of
coming in and saying, oh, you all are fools,
he instead said, ah, I am part of this whole thing.
And he came and he made offerings to the Apis.
He gave money and lands to the temples.
The Egyptians thought, wow, one of us, we love him.
And then, in this brilliant move,
he also visited a temple where he was hailed
as the son of a chief Egyptian God.
So he was supposed to be the divine ruler on earth.
Which fits into the Egyptian belief system
that their pharaoh is divinely born, and a God on earth.
And so there was Alexander as a pharaoh really,
and the Egyptians loved him.
(dramatic music)
- Alexander was cunning by choosing to embrace
Egyptian customs, rather than just dump on them.
He managed to effect the very sympathetic
kind or regime change the Egyptian people
didn't think of him as one of them, but one of us.
Here he had done remarkably well, he realized
his grand Egyptian dream and now he was being
celebrated here, not just as a conqueror or a king,
but as a true living God.
(dramatic music)
But even that wasn't enough for Alexander,
he didn't just want to be another in a long line
of pharaoh's he really wanted to dominate the country
and that meant creating a new city that
would bare his name for all time.
But first he had to find a suitable location.
The ancient Egyptians had always looked inwards.
Their key cities centering on the Nile.
But in this Alexander differed.
He also wanted his new city to look back
towards his Greek homeland and outwards
towards his new empire.
And it was said that he had a very illustrious figure
to guide him on his way.
The ancient author Plutarch
tells us that Alexander was drawn
to this very spot, a place called Pharos
like a prophetic dream.
Then in the night as Alexander lay asleep
he saw a wonderful vision.
A venerable man with shaggy hair and a beard appeared
to stand by his side and recite these verses,
now, there is an island in the much dashing sea
in front of Egypt, Pharos is what men call it.
Alexander believed that the mysterious
visitor was none other than Homer himself
the great epic bard, and as well as being
a hard nosed politician, he was an incurable romantic.
And so he took his advice and this is where he
came to plan this city.
But the barren stretch of coastline Alexander encountered
couldn't be more different from today's hectic metropolis.
When Alexander got here Pharos was still just an island,
and there's a tiny little settlement here.
And the coastline of Egypt was very jagged.
Which meant it was very difficult for boats to land.
But Alexander had a grand plan that linked
Pharos to the mainland.
And so he built a causeway running all the way across.
Almost a mile long.
And he extended this straight
here to create a man made harbor.
This would become the busiest port in the world.
The gateway to one of the richest
and most multicultural cities on earth.
And that was only part of the dream.
Alexander and his successors the Ptolemy's
rampant for knowledge, knowledge that would
give them the power to trade, to build, to conquer.
Their ambition was that Alexandria was to become
the intellectual engine room of the ancient world.
(mystical music)
Ancient Egypt, land of the mighty Pharaoh's.
Living God kings who's people built fantastic
monuments in their honor.
A civilization which had been a key player in the region,
for over 4,000 years.
In the fourth century BC, the Greek Alexander the Great,
conquered this land, winning over
the Egyptian people, and making it his own.
Creating a new city in his name, Alexandria.
Starting from scratch, Alexander envisioned
a unique model city, strictly laid out
among innovative grid systems.
Where Greek and Egyptian culture came together
to create one of the richest places on earth.
Today so little is left above ground
to get a sense of the ancient city you have to descend
deep beneath the modern metropolis into a city of the dead.
Wow! I mean they're fantastic, aren't they?
- Well this is typically Alexandrian,
where you've got this mish mash of different styles.
Look at the Medusa are purely Greek.
The Apep demon were Greek.
But then Egyptian elements,
the frees up there of
copperheads and little silver discs on top,
all of the Egyptian tradition.
- And this was just the tomb for one family.
- Well one family we presume, we're not sure.
There's three sarcophagi in there,
no bodies were ever found.
The tomb robbers got here long before the archeologists did.
- [Bettany] They might not have left any bodies,
but they've got some pretty life like guardians,
I'll assume.
- Well archeologists over the years have presumed that
the statues on either side of the entrance
represent the owners of the tomb.
But what's interesting about them is that if you look
at the head of this over here.
The face is detailed, the hairstyle is pure Roman Greco,
Greco Roman tradition, and yet the body,
stiff, one leg forward, arms to the side,
typical of Egyptian statue.
- It's quite ugly in a way, the way the two of them
are stuck together, though.
- It's not particularly well done, no,
but that's part of the charm of this place.
Is we're picking, we're mixing and matching.
We're being purely Alexandrian, we're taking
what we want sticking it together.
We're not melding, creating a new art form.
We're just, we're open to everything.
We're very receptive and there's a great example,
just inside the doorways here.
To the left you get another really good
example of this as well.
- Oh yes.
- 'Cause this is the Anubis figure.
Anubis was the Egyptian Gods of embalming,
the dog headed figure.
But look how he's dressed, he's dressed as a Roman soldier,
but with his Egyptian head, guarding whoever's
buried within this tomb.
- It's fantastic, just like top and tails, isn't it?
He's got a very Egyptian head, and this kind of Roman body.
- [Colin] Roman coat.
- [Bettany] This little Roman skirt.
- [Colin] Just mix and match.
- The only thing I think though is that throughout
the ancient world you do get this exchange of cultures
in Catalans you've got eastern cults, and the Romans
are very good at taking on the east as well.
So why is Alexandria particularly good at that?
- I think because Alexandria was a new town,
and it had to create its own legitimacy.
It was a new town on an very, very ancient land.
Which had a certain weight
within the ancient world, as well.
I mean Egypt, the Greeks were in awe of Egypt.
So there was all this sort of cultural baggage here already.
But they also brought with them their notions
of Hellenic culture, Greek culture, and by doing that,
it drapes itself in the mantle of Egypt,
but at the same time brought with it its Greek notions.
(dramatic music)
It was also an extremely wealthy town.
And it's a port town.
And they were always open to influences.
(dramatic music)
- What you have to remember,
is that this was no ordinary city.
And it hadn't grown up organically,
as the Bronze Age, or the Classical Age.
Like so many of the great cities of antiquity.
This was if you like, a kind of high minded new town,
the brain child of a visionary,
and highly educated man.
From the age of 13 Alexander had been taught
day in, day out by the great philosopher Aristotle.
And a spirit of inquiry was infused
in every cell of his body.
And when he founded Alexandria he passed that
spirit on into the very DNA of the city.
This was a place where knowledge was
as valuable a currency as grain or gold.
(upbeat music)
And in a precious archaeological oasis
in the heart of the city Kom el-Dikka,
archeologists have begun to find the evidence to prove it.
A Polish team had been working on a discovery
which revealed exactly where
Alexandria's ideas were played out.
- Here we are, in one of the lecture halls.
Probably it was one lecturer from
the campus from the university.
- It's really interesting, so you've got the lecture room
right on the main street.
- Yes it was at the center of the social life
in the late Alexandria.
And now we are here, various inventors in the classrooms.
And where the branch was developed for the students.
And here we have the main chair,
that must seat for the, probably for the teacher.
- You can just imagine how intimate this
lecture hall would've been.
Fitting just 30 students, studying law,
rhetoric, and science.
- And here we have a single block of stone.
Probably was kind of platform, or kind of
podium for the student reclamation.
- Okay, so the students have to do a kind of,
Demonstration.
I'm going to be a teacher.
So if I'm sitting here, so I'm a teacher,
sorry, comfortably on your steps, and then
the student would be there
giving their paper or presentation.
- [Emanuela] Yes, exactly.
- [Bettany] Did it get hot here?
- The little house were covered probably
by the flat roof, we don't have any indication.
But probably, they are going
to be high as up to five, come up to five meters.
At the level of the columns.
- [Bettany] How many teacher rooms like this are there?
- [Emanuela] So far we found 20 lecture halls.
Probably it was a lot bigger.
- These teaching rooms were a hot house of knowledge
in the very heart of Alexandria.
This was in no way a city of ivory towers,
it was stuffing with provocative, and cutting edge ideas.
It's rumored that if you wanted to acquire the intellectual
tools to unlock the mysteries of the universe,
to allow them to rule the world.
It was where the mathematician Eratosthenes proved that
the earth was round, and accurately measured
its circumference.
For a 1,000 years ahead of his time, Aristarchus suggested
that the earth moved around the sun.
And where the greatest minds, and most
extraordinary thinkers attempt to map their
way through the stars.
Now I've got to confess Alexandria has got
a particular allure for me.
For one reason.
And it's a rather wonderful and sincerious woman called
Hypatia, now Hypatia ran her own philosophy school here,
and by all accounts, she was quite extraordinary.
Hypatia was born at around 350 AD.
The very fact she was a woman in a world
dominated by men, makes her achievements doubly exceptional.
For over 40 years she made ground breaking advances
in algebra, and revolutionized astronomy.
And correspondence from a fellow philosopher
really sums up just how much she was valued.
It's a collection of letters written to her
by one of her former students called Synesius.
And the language he used is very, very intimate.
So you get a real sense of her character.
And just how respected she was.
And Synesius says that nothing in the world
is more wonderful than her, and that even in Hades,
she is the only thing that he'll remember.
Actually she's been remembered by some others too.
A crater on the moon's surface bares here name.
A journal of philosophy is called Hypatia.
And she's just been immortalized in a new film, Agora.
(mystical music)
Imagine Hypatia working late into the night,
the same as Alexandrian street lamps burning outside.
Her staring up into the night sky for inspiration.
She was philosopher in the true sense of the word,
in that she was a philo sophia, a lover of wisdom.
What's really interesting about Hypatia though,
as with so many of her Alexandrian colleagues,
is that she didn't just feel an abstract thought,
but she had a very practical application for her ideas.
And for instance she used her mathematics,
and her geometry to redesign this amazing gizmo.
And it was really kind of a multi functional
kind of instrument, a sort of Ipod of her day if you like.
Only in her day it had a much more romantic name,
'cause this was called a astrolabe,
and literally that means, a catcher of the stars.
(mystical music)
One of the things that was worked on here in Alexandria,
and perfected was this amazing instrument the astrolabe.
You're clutching one.
What did it allow people to do?
- The astrolabe has many functions.
Telling the time of the day, telling you latitude,
to altitude, it can measure height of mountains.
It can measure the width of rivers.
But I'll tell you how to measure the time of the day.
Okay, now here is the astrolabe, and here is the pointer.
This is what we call the pointer.
We align these two holes pointing to a star.
When we align these two holes like it's pointing
we get a reading, with the pointer right here.
We take this reading here, which is a letter
in Arabic letters, but for them it's a number.
We take this number, we turn the astrolabe,
and we have this finder here, we point,
the pointer here, to the number
that we have taken from the back.
And when I point it to here, we get the reading.
You see that pointer here?
It will point to the degrees, the degrees of the sun
has risen, or the star has risen from the horizon.
360 degrees, is equal to 24 hours,
so each, one hour is 15 degrees, so if we have here
number of degrees, I can know the time of day.
- It's a very powerful instrument,
because it allows you to do all kinds of things.
But if you know the night sky.
If you know your latitude, if you know the
height of a mountain, you can explore, you can trade.
- [Hoda] It has actually changed the way they function.
- Alexandria did sponsor pure reason, pure thought,
ideas just for ideas sake.
But it also an immensely busy, and practical place.
The astrolabe for example was very beautiful,
but when it was applied it allowed men to trade,
and travel and to conquer.
The whole city was very enterprising and outward looking.
And that ethos was directly in line with
the vision of its founder.
Alexander had created a unique city.
A central point between east and west,
where the greatest thinkers not only explored pure thought,
but applied their ideas to become
real players on the world stage.
The scale of Alexandria's intellectual ambition was immense.
To house within its walls, all knowledge.
And with that knowledge make its rulers
the most powerful people on earth.
(dramatic music)
Although ancient Alexandria is virtually invisible,
the ghosts of its presence are there
in the layout of the modern city.
I'll tell you what is very exciting,
and because the modern city is laid out
on the ancient grid plan, when you walk down
these streets you are typically walking
in the footsteps of Hypatia and all those
other fantastic philosophers.
And that seems like a very good place to be.
(street chatter)
As a cultural melting pot with intellectual ambition,
ancient Alexandria became
a unique environment for scholarship.
A place where the extraordinary thinker Hypatia,
schooled in Greek thought could also draw
on Egyptian wisdom and Babylonian science
to help her map the stars.
Where a wealth of traditions from around the world
combined enabling the greatest thinkers
to make scientific advances achievable nowhere else.
Creating a new Egypt and a model for society in the future.
(dramatic music)
One of the great characters of medical history
came from Alexandria, he was a man called Galen.
And even though he traveled right across
the eastern Mediterranean, it was the cosmopolitan
conditions of this city that allowed him
to make quite extraordinary advances.
And in fact is was here he made scientific breakthroughs
that wouldn't be vetted for another 1600 years.
So what's all these treasures, that you are removing
from the tubs here.
- [David] They are a variety of things,
there's a brain of a horse.
And this one with,
the spinal cord attached, is a dog.
- Oh it's lovely.
Now I'll have you know I am a very strict vegetarian
this is way beyond my life experiences.
- It's alright, I'm not expecting you to eat them.
It's alright.
- Explain to me so you're a veterinary anatomist,
so why have you got a particular interest in Galen?
- It's really because of the brain,
because I think Galen was the central mover
in the history of studying the brain.
He was the first person to realize what it was.
And what it did.
- and why was Alexandria such a key city for him?
- In the European part of the Mediterranean world,
there were taboos, and then eventually laws,
against chopping up dead people.
Dissecting dead people, which made
life very difficult of him, so he had to use
animals, like these, where really what he wanted to know,
he wanted to know about what was
going on in humans, and this was much easier in Egypt.
'Cause the Egyptians have much more of a tradition.
And partly because of mummification, they have much
more of a tradition of dealing
with parts of dead human people.
And perhaps not worrying about it so much.
- But the brain wasn't particularly very important
to the Egyptians, there are stories of them,
when they're doing the mummification and then
pulling the brain out through the nose, for instance.
- We don't know whether that, it was Herodotus
who said that, we don't know whether that's actually true.
You'd need an enormous nose to get a brain out through.
But it's certainly true the thing with Egyptian's
and the Greeks have in common neither of them thought
the brain was very important.
Until Galen came along, then Aristotle said
it's probably just the radiator for the heart.
The heart creates all this heat, and the brain
is just a way of radiating it away out of the body.
- And so why was Galen different?
How did he come to realize that there
was something else going on?
- Because he looked at the brain.
You look at the human brain,
look at animal brains,
and he said well if you look at them,
they're incredibly complicated.
He said for example, here's the cerebrum at the front
with all its folds, and here's the cerebellum
at the back where you can find the folds.
You look on the inside and you see
you've got the brain stem down there,
it's even more complicated.
So it's got all these different bits
so it doesn't look like something that's
just there to radiate heat away.
So it must be doing something, more complicated than that.
The other thing he noticed about it was,
first of all if you look at the brain,
it has the sensors attached to it,
if you,
dissect a brain,
I'll get this out, this is a sheep brain.
With the eyes, still attached.
- Yeah, it's lovely, thank you.
- And that then got him thinking,
he said well the brain is connected
to the special sensors by these large thick nerves,
he said that must mean something.
And he had this wonderful phrase he used,
where he said, the brain is surrounded by the
special sense organs as if they are the servants of gods,
of the great king.
So he'd already elevated the brains, being in position
of a king, in control of the special senses.
- I'm glad he added a little bit of poetry
to something instead of just being clever.
(laughing)
- So he demonstrated not only is the brain
where all the sensory information comes in,
but also where all the nerves radiate
out to the body, to move the body.
So, what he's really saying, the brain,
takes the information in, processes it,
puts it out, and really the brain
is where you think, it's where you are.
Really he was the first person to show that.
- That is immensely important.
If you prove just how powerful the brain is
that's gonna revolutionize what people
think about the human body, and I mean
all sorts of things, the human soul as well.
- [David] He completely changed the way we think
about the body, and especially the brain.
(dramatic music)
- Alexandria created a buzzing environment
where men like Galen and women like Hypatia
could meet like minds and begin
to feel the workings of the universe.
Because these thinkers weren't working in isolation.
And that's possibly Alexander's greatest achievement.
It has created an environment where great minds
could gather, discuss, and develop their ideas.
The largest store of knowledge the world had ever known.
Like so much of ancient Alexandria its libraries
have long since disappeared, but modern
Alexandrians have begun to acknowledge
their amazing heritage with a new state of the art
library, capturing its predecessors spirit.
There have been collections of texts and books
in other ancient cities, but the ambition
of the library here, was quite extraordinary.
Alexandria wanted to be the depository of all knowledge
on earth, and so a copy of every single book
in the world was to be stored here.
(soft music)
Every word of literature, tragedy, comedy,
and poetry, every history, every scientific treaty,
from math to medicine, physics, to astronomy.
And not just Greek texts but works from around the world.
In Hebrew, Latin, Babylonian, and later Arabic.
Even today putting together such a selection
would be quite a feat,
but this was the age before mass publishing.
Each work existed as a hand written papyrus.
And that scroll might be the only copy of that
papyrus in the whole world.
Today the majority of the teeny fragments that remain
now survive not in Alexandria,
but another bastion of learning,
Oxford University.
(upbeat music)
How many of these texts would
there have been in the library?
- Oh, I reckon half a million.
Everything from Homer, some of the earliest,
Greek papyri were texts of the Homeric poems,
the Iliad, and the Odyssey.
To Plato philosophy written in Greek on papyrus.
To in the later period, Arabic, and even earlier, Hebrew.
- But the scale of ambition is extraordinary.
So how physically, how did they get the work into the city?
- They were sending people out to all parts
of the Mediterranean, they had a list of the nine
conautical lyric poets that they wanted their works of.
And they sent people to the festivals
where their works had been composed.
Olympia and Delphi, and they borrowed
the official copy of the Athenian Tragedies,
form the Athenians, so that they could
make a copy of it, then they refused to give it back.
So they were in some ways acting like
bathcorian book collectors, in other ways acting like
an institution building up a fundamental collection
for scholars to work on.
- But if you've got this massive volume of work,
how were they keeping track of it all?
How are they organizing it?
- They developed a system, which was really
the invention of the modern book catalog.
The Alexandrian Scholar Colenicus,
invented the very first book catalog
which simply had an entry for author,
title, genre, type of work, in this case, comedy.
And also the total for the number of lines at the end.
Scribes were paid by the number of lines they copied
so here you can see the name of the comic poet
Aristophanes.
- You can just about make it out.
stoph, oh yeah, stophonof.
In Alexandria are they mainly copying material,
or are they actually adding material or are they
are you getting new scholarship there as well?
- Absolutely, they're constantly commenting
on them, this is a copy of Plato's Republic,
in which there's a tiny hand that's been
writing a marginal commentary, into the margin.
Explaining and correcting the text.
So you get the feeling of kind of buzzing hive
of readers and scholars working and operating on the text.
- Very impressive, isn't it?
So you've got this genius Plato,
and you've got somebody else centuries later
adding their own ideas.
Access to information enabled the
Alexandrians to revolutionize scientific thought.
But they also studied theology.
It was in Alexandria that the Hebrew bible
was first translated into Greek.
(dramatic music)
By understanding a wealth of cultures and beliefs,
they had the power to master and control.
They were so intent on obtaining all of the knowledge
in the world, that laws were passed
so that no book could leave the city.
And even ships entering its harbor were
searched to see if new texts could be found
to be added to its famous library.
The modern library of Alexandria has got
500,000 books, which is actually almost
the same number they had in the ancient library.
But what they've also got here is this mega computer,
which every few days saves all the information
on the world wide web.
In the 21st century we're just so use to that ease
of access to information where everything
is stored electronically.
But in the ancient library they often held
the single existing copy of a book.
So just imagine if that was lost.
We'd lose those ideas forever.
And tragically that's exactly what happened in Alexandria.
Knowledge had made the city an intellectual
powerhouse of antiquity it had made thinkers
like Hypatia powerful forces within the city.
It was an environment where new thoughts
could flourish and evolve where anyone from anywhere
could voice their ideas.
So perhaps it was inevitable that at some point,
some ideas would come into conflict,
and for the ancient world, Alexandria its libraries,
and for Hypatia herself, the result would be catastrophic.
(dramatic music)
(mystical music)
By the end of the fourth century AD,
Alexandria had been flourishing for nearly 700 years.
Producing extraordinary thinkers like the philosopher,
and mathematician Hypatia.
It was an immensely powerful city.
Second only to Rome in might.
Yet its power wasn't built from military force,
but on the strength of ideas.
And the ambition to house all the knowledge in the world.
And that included beliefs
from the latest school of thinking.
The fledgling religion, Christianity.
Alexandria was always attracted in cutting edge thought,
and men who were at the top of their game.
So it should be no surprise that from the first century AD
the key leaders of a new religion should want to come here
and play out their ideas.
Only a few years after Christ's ascension
the gospel writer Mark came to Alexandria
to spread the news, bringing Christianity into Africa.
As one of the most forward thinking places on earth,
with its tradition fusing eastern and western cultures
Alexandria was an ideal place
for Christianity to gain a foothold.
(dramatic music)
(yelling)
But reconciling a multi faith environment
with a religion who's followers believed
exclusively in one God, proved a testing
challenge for the city.
St. Mark himself died at the hands of pagans
for preaching his faith.
It was a forte of the violence to come.
Yet, for centuries, Christians and pagans
did manage to live alongside one another,
happily, productively.
The very early Christians spent a great deal of time
and energy trying to square pagan and Christian thought.
For instance one of the most prolific early church fathers
who lived in Alexandria said that the works of Plato,
and Aristotle, and the stoics were science tinged with
piety as long as they were righteous.
Now in a world like that, where Christianity
is just another stream of thought, then Hypatia
has a very secure place.
But the problem came when the Christians
wanted not just spiritual, but temporal power,
and then all that tolerance and piety
becomes muddied with power politicking.
And unfortunately for Hypatia, she'd come into conflict
with one of the greatest political operators of the day.
(chatter)
Hypatia herself wasn't anti Christianity,
many of her students were in fact Christians.
But the problem came when a new bishop Cyril
was ordained in the city.
Cyril not only wanted spiritual authority
but power on earth, and he didn't want to share
it with pagans, his arrival would change
the face of Alexandria forever.
- You walk into somewhere like the Cesareum
and you see what originally we built as
a Egyptian and Greek temple,
with all the heads removed from the statues.
And the cult statue has gone and in its place
you have a huge cross looking down.
And you see how people like Cyril could change a world.
He is a man seeking power,
and he wishes to gain control not just
the religious state he really wants to run
a theocracy, be in charge of everything.
Hypatia is a wealthy educated pagan.
To him, that means witch.
He puts around rumors about all of the
objects she makes for astronomy,
her instruments, clearly they're used for divination.
They're for finding out what will
happen in the future, it is black magic.
And as such, she has to die.
- And in one contemporary account,
we learn that it was Hypatia's work
with the astrolabe in particular,
that sparked hatred against her.
Spurred on by one of their leaders,
the blood of the Christian mob was up.
They started to seek Hypatia out through the city,
and found her driving through these streets on her way home.
(yelling)
They dragged her out of her
carriage and ripped off her clothes.
For a high born woman like her,
this would have been a terrible public disgrace,
but then things got even uglier.
They pulled her into the cesareum, which had been a temple
and recently converted to a church,
and there picking up anything they could find,
we're told they were abstrocka which are
probably broken pots, or broken roof tiles.
They started to flay her alive.
Once she was dead they pulled her body limb from limb.
And then they took her dismembered body parts
to the edge of the city and they burned them on a pyre.
In effect this was a witches death.
(yelling)
Hypatia's tragedy, was the tragedy of Alexandria.
(yelling)
The destruction of its spectacular monuments.
The desecration of its extraordinary libraries.
And with that the heartbreaking demise
of the wealth of knowledge which
had made it great for over 700 years.
There are a few lines, desperately sad,
written by a pagan who was wandering
through the streets of Alexandria,
watching the world he knew crumble around him.
(yelling)
Is it true that we Greeks are really dead,
and only seem alive?
And in our fallen state we imagine
that a dream is life, or are we truly alive,
and is life itself dead?
For some Alexander's dream was becoming a living nightmare.
After centuries of onslaught only one percent
of Alexandria's vast book collection
has survived into the modern world.
Rather bizarrely one of the survivors
of Alexandria's destruction ended up here.
It's that massive lump of red granite.
The obulus that we very affectionately now,
call Cleopatra's needle.
And it was brought here from Egypt in 1878.
But in its hay day it stood just
at the edge of the cesareum,
so it was only a stones throw away from
where Hypatia was killed.
(chatter)
I think that in many ways Hypatia was an incarnation
of Alexander's dream.
She was living proof that knowledge is power.
She was immensely knowledgeable,
and therefore the extraordinary city
that she lived in allowed her a huge amount of influence.
But the key word here is extraordinary,
because Alexandria was a city less ordinary.
(mystical music)
And perhaps its ambition that dream to acquire
and to partake all the knowledge of the world
was just too perfect to last.
We should bare that in mind, because it is
of course a very modern dream, I mean after all
that is what the world wide web does.
And so when we know that Alexandria failed
and as a result a whole epot failed, we should
take a very careful note.
For that reason we mustn't bury the memory of Alexandria,
but celebrate it.
(mystical music)
(upbeat music)
（神秘的音乐）
- 想象一下一座城市
世界上所有的知识。
所有的数学和科学条约。
所有的文学作品，
和哲学幻想的十四行诗。
作家、艺术家和科学家相遇的地方
辩论和开拓思想。
想想什么想法
以及城市将产生的发明。
知识会给它的统治者带来什么样的力量。
试想一下，如果那丰富的知识会发生什么
被摧毁，被烧毁，
或散落在风中。
一个可怕的时刻，当文明本身
停止在它的轨道上。
这听起来像是某种科幻幻想。
但这是现实，这就是
它发生的真实地点。
一座秘密隐藏在海底的城市。
在它的街道下面。
这是亚历山大城。
这就是它非凡的故事。
（神秘的音乐）
虽然你可能认为雅典和罗马
是古代最伟大的城市。
为了我那声称的钱，很可能去亚历山大港
2300 多年来，这座城市一直占据着一个重要的交汇点
东西方世界之间。
位于埃及尼罗河带的顶端
地中海沿岸，今天它是一个广阔的地方。
每英寸都挤满了活动。
但奇怪的是，这座古城
因缺席而引人注目。
（欢快的音乐）
这里是一座现代化的城市，充满生机。
但是获得句柄可能有点困难
在古老的亚历山大港，你可以在这里度过数周
没有意识到这是一个
这真的是点名
伟大的古代。
因为亚历山大大帝就是在这里
被埋葬，埃及艳后就是在这里引诱
马克安东尼，塞萨尔，这是家
古代世界七大奇迹之一。
拼凑散乱的拼图，
我要去探索不可思议的地方
法罗斯灯塔照亮了它的灯塔
壮观的舞台、寺庙和柱廊。
与古代世界任何地方一样宏伟的纪念碑。
- 这是一个人的尺度，它有 30 多米高。
- [Bettany] 结合了最好的
希腊、罗马和埃及设计
创造充满活力的混合文化。
- 我们正在混合和匹配，我们正在
纯粹的亚历山大，我们正在拿我们想要的。
粘在一起。
我们对一切都持开放态度。
- 最重要的是智力进步的地方，
新哲学，新科学，是一个驱动力
城市的力量。
这就是让这个地方如此特别的原因。
虽然亚历山大非常富有，
它不仅赞助宏伟的纪念碑，
他们绝对重视智慧。
因为智慧意味着力量，而这是亚历山大的
最终的目标是成为地球上最强大的城市。
通过在其墙壁内捕获世界上所有的知识。
从一开始就有野心，
以及其创始人的愿景。
（戏剧音乐）
按照古埃及的标准，亚历山大港
是一个相对较新的版本。
它成立于 2300 年前。
在金字塔和我们之间的时间中途。
公元前四世纪介于两者之间
历史上的时间。
仍然是雅典，还有他们。
但那时的罗马仍然是一个省级的死水。
但希腊北部一个不太可能的角落
即将产生巨大的影响。
从那里会来一个男人
谁将成为世界舞台上真正的球员。
事实上他是一个会改变的人
世界秩序。
这个人就是亚历山大大帝。
伟大，因为亚历山大的成就
真的很出色。
他团结了全国的希腊人。
打败波斯人，开始创造
世界上最大的帝国。
他的领土从希腊北部延伸开来
横跨地中海，深入中东。
并走向北非。
亚历山大雄心勃勃。
到 24 岁时，他已经开辟了自己的道路
通过已知世界的领土。
但是，他不能高枕无忧，直到
他已经拿到了真正的大奖。
埃及。
（戏剧音乐）
因为这是最令人钦佩和羡慕的人之一
整个古代国家。
浇灌这片土地的尼罗河给了
它拥有巨大的农业财富。
创造人力物力覆盖土地
在辉煌的艺术品和工程胜利中。
（戏剧音乐）
即使是希腊人，他们认为他们在文化上
优于其他人，形容任何人
谁不是希腊人，如野蛮人，野蛮人，
尊重埃及的成就。
希腊人看到他们的历史说，
世界上没有其他地方有更奇妙的事情。
更多不可言喻的伟大作品。
如此丰厚的奖品，让亚历山大无法抗拒。
公元前 332 年，他入侵埃及，战胜了波斯人，
谁统治了埃及人民
在过去的两个世纪里。
但为了锁定他的胜利，他现在必须赢得
埃及人民的心灵和思想。
谁的独特宗教和文化被
在这片土地上扎根3000多年。
亚历山大到达埃及时，
这座金字塔已有 2,300 多年的历史。
他们不认为这是某种古老的好奇心，
因为这里埋葬着一位神王。
埃及人认为它是脉动的
带着一种神圣的力量。
（戏剧音乐）
面对与他自己如此陌生的文化，
亚历山大并没有低估他所面临的挑战。
他意识到他必须想出一个巧妙的方法
让埃及人站在他这一边并接受
他的新希腊统治。
通常在理解
亚历山大的故事，关于他如何做到这一点的线索
被深埋在沙漠的沙子之下。
所以，如果我在亚历山大时代走过这里
我们会看到什么？
- 你会看到一些完全不同的东西。
它本来会更宏伟。
你会的这些石灰石精美切割块。
你会有一个铭文，而且会有
是一个很大的游行方式，两旁都是狮身人面像。
所以它会非常迷人。
不完全是现在的样子。
- 像这样把东西放在地下是典型的吗？
- 对于古埃及人来说，是地下的东西
是重生和复活的地方，
和任何秘密，所以他们经常使用它。
- [Bettany] 感谢一种精神。
（戏剧音乐）
这就是亚历山大必须处理的问题。
一种不仅相信地球上有生命的文化。
但它沉迷于死后的生活。
哇，我知道这里有一个石棺，
我不知道它是这个尺寸。
- [Salima] 这绝对是巨大的。
它真的有点大，因为它更重
超过 60 吨，它由绝对坚固的花岗岩制成。
- [Bettany] 哦，上面有闪光。
- 是的，是的，在这里看到。
这实际上是它属于谁的名字。
它是字形中的 Hapi，它是
实际上被希腊人变成了蜜蜂。
所以它是 Hapi the Great Bowl God，Apis 碗。
这是他的石棺。
- [Bettany] 所以这是一个埋在这里的碗。
- 是的，这是一个碗。
- [Bettany] 我只是假设，那是
如此光荣以至于它会是一个人。
- 不，它实际上是一个碗葬，因为这个
是埃及众神之一的神圣化身。
所以他死后就葬在这里。
这里写着阿匹斯，奥西里斯的爱子之子
愿他获得永恒的生命和繁荣，
等等，它说他的名字的次数越来越多，
所以你真的知道它属于谁。
- 我的意思是埃及人在他们的宗教中这样做，
难道他们，把动物和人混在一起很开心吗？
- 非常重要，对于埃及人来说，每个神
有自动动物，所以他们总是
紧密对齐，这与希腊人有很大不同。
- 那么亚历山大是如何处理的
当他到达这里时，这里的风景很陌生？
- 亚历山大很聪明，我的意思是他而不是
进来说，哦，你们都是傻瓜，
他反而说，啊，我是这整件事的一部分。
他来了，他向阿匹斯献祭。
他给了寺庙金钱和土地。
埃及人想，哇，我们中的一员，我们爱他。
然后，在这个绝妙的举动中，
他还参观了一座他被欢呼的寺庙
作为埃及首领之神的儿子。
所以他应该是地球上神圣的统治者。
这符合埃及的信仰体系
他们的法老是天生的，是地上的神。
所以亚历山大真的是法老，
埃及人也爱他。
（戏剧音乐）
- 亚历山大很狡猾，选择拥抱
埃及习俗，而不是仅仅倾倒在他们身上。
他设法引起了非常同情
种类或政权改变埃及人民
不认为他是他们中的一员，而是我们中的一员。
在这里他做得非常好，他意识到
他伟大的埃及梦，现在他正在
在这里庆祝，不仅仅是作为征服者或国王，
但作为一个真正的活神。
（戏剧音乐）
但这对亚历山大来说还不够，
他不只是想成为排长队中的另一个
法老的他真的想称霸这个国家
这意味着创造一个新的城市
会永远暴露他的名字。
但首先他必须找到一个合适的位置。
古埃及人总是向内看。
他们的主要城市以尼罗河为中心。
但在这一点上，亚历山大有所不同。
他还想让他的新城市回首过去
走向他的希腊家园和向外
走向他的新帝国。
而且据说他的身材非常的显赫
引导他上路。
古代作家普鲁塔克
告诉我们亚历山大是被画出来的
到了这个地方，一个叫做法罗斯的地方
就像一个预言的梦。
然后在亚历山大睡着的那个晚上
他看见了奇妙的异象。
出现了一位头发蓬乱、留着胡须的尊者
站在他身边背诵这些经文，
现在，波涛汹涌的大海中有一座小岛
在埃及面前，法罗斯就是人们所说的。
亚历山大相信神秘的
来访者不是别人，正是荷马本人
伟大的史诗吟游诗人，以及
作为一个顽固的政治家，他是一个无可救药的浪漫主义者。
所以他接受了他的建议，这就是他
来规划这座城市。
但是亚历山大遇到的那片贫瘠的海岸线
与当今繁忙的大都市截然不同。
当亚历山大到达这里时，法罗斯岛还只是一个岛屿，
这里有一个小小的定居点。
埃及的海岸线参差不齐。
这意味着船只很难登陆。
但是亚历山大有一个宏伟的计划
灯塔到大陆。
因此，他建造了一条一直贯穿的堤道。
将近一英里长。
他伸直了这个
在这里创造一个人造港湾。
这将成为世界上最繁忙的港口。
通往最富有的人之一的门户
和地球上大多数多元文化的城市。
而那只是梦想的一部分。
亚历山大和他的继任者托勒密
知识泛滥，知识会
赋予他们交易、建设、征服的力量。
他们的野心是亚历山大要成为
古代世界的智慧引擎室。
（神秘的音乐）
古埃及，强大的法老的土地。
活神王的人建的太棒了
纪念他们的纪念碑。
一个曾在该地区扮演重要角色的文明，
超过 4,000 年。
公元前四世纪，希腊亚历山大大帝，
征服了这片土地，赢得了
埃及人，并据为己有。
以他的名字建造一座新城市，亚历山大。
从头开始，亚历山大设想
一个独特的模范城市，严格布局
在创新的网格系统中。
希腊和埃及文化交汇的地方
创造地球上最富有的地方之一。
今天地面上所剩无几
要了解这座古城，您必须下山
在现代大都市的深处变成了一座死城。
哇！我的意思是他们很棒，不是吗？
- 好吧，这通常是亚历山大式的，
你有不同风格的大杂烩。
看看美杜莎是纯希腊人。
Apep恶魔是希腊人。
但后来埃及元素，
那里的自由
铜头蛇和顶部的小银盘，
所有的埃及传统。
——而这只是一个家族的坟墓。
- 我们假设是一个家庭，但我们不确定。
里面有三个石棺，
没有发现任何尸体。
盗墓贼比考古学家来得早。
- [Bettany] 他们可能没有留下任何尸体，
但他们有一些像监护人一样美好的生活，
我假设。
- 多年来考古学家推测
入口两侧的雕像
代表墓主。
但有趣的是，如果你看
在这边的头上。
面部细节丰富，发型是纯正的罗马格列柯风格，
希腊罗马传统，但身体，
僵硬，单腿向前，双臂放在一边，
典型的埃及雕像。
- 从某种意义上说，这很丑陋，他们两个的方式
粘在一起，虽然。
- 做得不是特别好，不，
但这是这个地方魅力的一部分。
我们是在挑选，我们在混合和匹配。
我们是纯粹的亚历山大，我们正在接受
我们想要什么把它粘在一起。
我们不是在融合，而是在创造一种新的艺术形式。
我们只是，我们对一切都持开放态度。
我们非常乐于接受并且有一个很好的例子，
就在这里的门口。
在左边你得到另一个非常好的
这也是一个例子。
- 哦是的。
- 因为这是阿努比斯人偶。
阿努比斯是埃及防腐之神，
以狗为首的人物。
但是看看他的穿着，他打扮得像个罗马士兵，
但他的埃及人头颅，守护着任何人
葬于此墓中。
- 太棒了，就像顶部和尾部一样，不是吗？
他有一个非常埃及的脑袋，和这种罗马的身体。
- [科林] 罗马外套。
- [Bettany] 这条小罗马裙。
- [科林]混合搭配。
- 我唯一认为的是
古代世界你确实得到了这种文化交流
在加泰罗尼亚，你有东方的邪教，还有罗马人
也非常擅长对抗东方。
那么为什么亚历山大特别擅长于此呢？
- 我想因为亚历山大港是一个新城镇，
它必须创造自己的合法性。
这是一个非常非常古老的土地上的新城镇。
哪个有一定的重量
在古代世界，也是如此。
我的意思是埃及，希腊人对埃及感到敬畏。
所以这里已经有了所有这些文化包袱。
但他们也带来了他们的观念
希腊文化，希腊文化，通过这样做，
它披上埃及的外衣，
但同时带来了它的希腊观念。
（戏剧音乐）
这也是一个非常富裕的城镇。
这是一个港口城市。
他们总是乐于接受影响。
（戏剧音乐）
- 你必须记住的是，
是这不是一个普通的城市。
而且它不是自然生长的，
如青铜时代或古典时代。
就像许多古代的大城市一样。
如果你愿意的话，这是一种高尚的新城镇，
一个有远见的人的脑子，
和受过高等教育的人。
亚历山大从 13 岁开始接受教育
伟大的哲学家亚里士多德日复一日。
并注入了探究精神
在他身体的每一个细胞里。
当他建立亚历山大港时，他通过了
精神融入这座城市的 DNA。
这是一个充满知识的地方
与谷物或黄金一样有价值的货币。
（欢快的音乐）
在珍贵的考古绿洲中
在城市 Kom el-Dikka 的中心，
考古学家已经开始寻找证据来证明这一点。
一个波兰团队一直致力于发现
这揭示了确切的位置
亚历山大的想法得到了实现。
- 我们在这里，在其中一个演讲厅里。
可能是一位来自
从大学校园。
- 这真的很有趣，所以你有演讲室
就在主要街道上。
- 是的，它是社交生活的中心
在亚历山大港晚期。
现在我们在这里，教室里有各种各样的发明家。
以及为学生开发分支的地方。
在这里我们有主椅子，
那个必须坐的，可能是给老师的。
- 你可以想象这有多亲密
演讲厅本来就是。
适合仅仅30名学生，学习法律，
修辞, 和科学.
- 这里我们有一块石头。
可能是某种平台，或者某种
讲台为学生填海。
- 好的，所以学生们必须做一种，
示范。
我要当老师。
所以如果我坐在这里，那么我就是一名老师，
对不起，舒服地走在你的台阶上，然后
学生会在那里
发表他们的论文或演讲。
- [Emanuela] 是的，没错。
- [Bettany] 这里变热了吗？
- 小房子可能被盖住了
在平屋顶旁边，我们没有任何迹象。
但可能，他们要去
高达五，达到五米。
在列的级别。
- [Bettany] 有多少间这样的教师室？
- [Emanuela] 到目前为止，我们找到了 20 个演讲厅。
可能它要大得多。
- 这些教室是知识的温室
在亚历山大的中心。
这绝不是一座象牙塔之城，
它充满了挑衅性和前沿的想法。
传闻如果你想获得知识分子
解开宇宙奥秘的工具，
让他们统治世界。
数学家埃拉托色尼就是在这里证明的
地球是圆的，测量准确
它的周长。
比他的时代早 1000 年，Aristarchus 建议
地球绕着太阳转。
最伟大的思想和最
非凡的思想家试图描绘他们的
穿过星星的方式。
现在我不得不承认 Alexandria 已经
对我特别有吸引力。
出于一个原因。
这是一个相当美好和真诚的女人，叫做
Hypatia，现在 Hypatia 在这里开办了她自己的哲学学校，
从各方面来看，她都非常了不起。
Hypatia 出生于公元 350 年左右。
她是世界上的女人这一事实
受男人支配，使她的成就加倍出众。
40 多年来，她取得了突破性的进步
在代数方面，并彻底改变了天文学。
和一位哲学家同行的来信
真的总结了她的价值。
这是写给她的信件集
由她以前的一位学生 Synesius 编写。
他使用的语言非常非常亲密。
这样你就能真正了解她的性格。
她是多么受人尊敬。
Synesius 说世界上没有任何东西
比她更精彩，甚至在冥府，
她是他唯一会记得的东西。
其实她也被其他人记住了。
月球表面的一个陨石坑就是以这里命名的。
一本哲学杂志叫做 Hypatia。
她刚刚在一部新电影 Agora 中永垂不朽。
（神秘的音乐）
想象一下 Hypatia 工作到深夜，
就像外面燃烧着的亚历山大路灯一样。
她凝视着夜空寻找灵感。
她是真正意义上的哲学家，
因为她是一个 philo sophia，一个智慧的爱好者。
Hypatia 真正有趣的地方在于，
和她的许多亚历山大同事一样，
是她不只是感觉到一个抽象的想法，
但是她的想法有一个非常实际的应用。
例如，她用她的数学，
和她的几何形状来重新设计这个惊人的小发明。
它真的是一种多功能的
一种乐器，如果你愿意的话，可以说是她那个时代的 Ipod。
只有在她那个时代，它才有了一个更浪漫的名字，
因为这被称为星盘，
字面上的意思是，星星的捕手。
（神秘的音乐）
其中一件在亚历山大这里工作的事情，
并且完善了这个神奇的仪器星盘。
你抓着一个。
它允许人们做什么？
- 星盘有很多功能。
告诉一天中的时间，告诉你纬度，
高度，它可以测量山脉的高度。
它可以测量河流的宽度。
但我会告诉你如何测量一天中的时间。
好的，现在这是星盘，这是指针。
这就是我们所说的指针。
我们将这两个孔对准一颗星。
当我们将这两个孔对准时
我们得到读数，指针就在这里。
我们在这里阅读，这是一封信
用阿拉伯字母，但对他们来说，这是一个数字。
我们取这个数字，我们转动星盘，
我们这里有这个取景器，我们指出，
这里的指针，指向数字
我们从后面拿走的。
当我把它指向这里时，我们得到了读数。
你看到这里的那个指针了吗？
它会指向度数，太阳的度数
已经升起，或者星星已经从地平线升起。
360度，等于24小时，
所以每个，一小时是 15 度，所以如果我们在这里
度数，我可以知道一天中的时间。
- 这是一个非常强大的工具，
因为它可以让你做各种各样的事情。
但如果你知道夜空。
如果你知道你的纬度，如果你知道
山之巅，可以探索，可以交易。
- [Hoda] 它实际上改变了它们的运作方式。
- 亚历山大确实赞助了纯粹的理性，纯粹的思想，
想法只是为了想法。
但它也是一个非常繁忙和实用的地方。
例如星盘非常漂亮，
但当它被应用时，它允许人们进行贸易，
旅行和征服。
整个城市都非常进取和外向。
这种精神直接符合
其创始人的愿景。
亚历山大创造了一座独特的城市。
东西方之间的中心点，
最伟大的思想家不仅探索纯粹的思想，
但应用他们的想法成为
世界舞台上的真实玩家。
亚历山大的知识野心是巨大的。
在它的围墙内安置所有的知识。
有了这些知识，就可以成为它的统治者
地球上最有权势的人。
（戏剧音乐）
虽然古代亚历山大港几乎是看不见的，
它存在的幽灵在那里
在现代城市布局中。
我会告诉你什么是非常令人兴奋的，
又因为现代城市的布局
在古老的网格平面图上，当你走下去
这些你通常走的街道
跟随海帕夏和所有那些人的脚步
其他奇妙的哲学家。
这似乎是一个非常好的地方。
（街头喋喋不休）
作为一个具有知识抱负的文化大熔炉，
古亚历山大成为
独特的奖学金环境。
一个非凡的思想家希帕蒂亚的地方，
受过希腊思想教育也可以画画
论埃及智慧和巴比伦科学
帮她绘制星图。
来自世界各地的丰富传统
结合使最伟大的思想家
使科学进步在其他任何地方都无法实现。
创造一个新的埃及和未来社会的典范。
（戏剧音乐）
医学史上最伟大的人物之一
来自亚历山大，他是一个叫盖伦的人。
即使他穿越了
东地中海，它是世界性的
这个城市的条件允许他
取得非凡的进步。
事实上他就是在这里取得了科学突破
再过 1600 年都不会审查它。
那么你要移走的这些宝藏是什么
从这里的浴缸。
- [大卫]它们是各种各样的东西，
有一匹马的大脑。
而这一个，
附有脊髓的，是一只狗。
- 哦，这很可爱。
现在我会让你知道我是一个非常严格的素食主义者
这远远超出了我的生活经历。
- 没关系，我不希望你吃它们。
没关系。
- 向我解释，所以你是兽医解剖学家，
那你为什么对盖伦特别感兴趣？
- 这真的是因为大脑，
因为我认为盖伦是核心推动者
在研究大脑的历史上。
他是第一个意识到那是什么的人。
它做了什么。
- 为什么亚历山大对他来说是一个如此重要的城市？
- 在地中海世界的欧洲部分，
有禁忌，然后是法律，
反对砍死人。
解剖死人，这使得
他的生活很艰难，所以他不得不使用
像这些动物，他真正想知道的地方，
他想知道是什么
在人类身上发生，这在埃及要容易得多。
因为埃及人有更多的传统。
部分是因为木乃伊化，他们有很多
更多的交易传统
与部分死去的人。
也许不会太担心它。
- 但大脑并不是特别重要
对埃及人来说，有他们的故事，
当他们做木乃伊然后
例如，通过鼻子将大脑拉出。
- 我们不知道是不是希罗多德
谁说的，不知道是不是真的。
你需要一个巨大的鼻子才能让大脑通过。
但埃及人的事情确实是这样
希腊人没有一个共同点，他们都不认为
大脑非常重要。
直到盖伦出现，然后亚里士多德说
它可能只是心脏的散热器。
心脏产生所有这些热量，而大脑
只是一种将其辐射出体外的方法。
- 那么为什么盖伦与众不同？
他怎么会意识到那里
是不是发生了其他事情？
- 因为他看着大脑。
你看看人脑，
看看动物的大脑，
他说，如果你看着他们，那很好，
它们非常复杂。
他说，例如，这是前面的大脑
及其所有褶皱，这是小脑
在背面可以找到褶皱的地方。
你看看里面，你会看到
你那里有脑干，
它甚至更复杂。
所以它有所有这些不同的部分
所以它看起来不像是
只是在那里散发热量。
所以它一定在做一些比这更复杂的事情。
他注意到的另一件事是，
首先，如果你看一下大脑，
它附有传感器，
如果你，
解剖大脑，
我会把它弄出来，这是羊脑。
与眼，依旧执着。
- 是的，它很可爱，谢谢。
- 这让他开始思考，
他说好吧，大脑是相连的
这些大而粗的神经对特殊的传感器，
他说那一定意味着什么。
他用了这个美妙的词组，
他说，大脑被
特殊的感觉器官，仿佛它们是神的仆人，
伟大的国王。
所以他已经提升了大脑，就位
一个国王，控制着特殊的感官。
- 我很高兴他添加了一点诗意
做某事而不仅仅是聪明。
（笑）
- 所以他展示的不仅仅是大脑
所有感官信息的来源，
但也是所有神经辐射的地方
出到身体，移动身体。
所以，他真正想说的是，大脑，
获取信息，处理它，
把它放出来，真的是大脑
你想的地方就是你所在的地方。
真的，他是第一个证明这一点的人。
- 这非常重要。
如果你证明大脑有多么强大
那会彻底改变人们
想想人体，我的意思是
各种各样的东西，人的灵魂也是如此。
- [大卫] 他彻底改变了我们的思维方式
关于身体，尤其是大脑。
（戏剧音乐）
- 亚历山大创造了一个热闹的环境
男人喜欢 Galen，女人喜欢 Hypatia
可以相遇并开始
去感受宇宙的运转。
因为这些思想家并不是孤立地工作。
这可能是亚历山大最大的成就。
它创造了一个环境，让伟大的思想
可以收集、讨论和发展他们的想法。
世界上最大的知识库。
就像古代亚历山大港的许多图书馆一样
早已消失，但现代
亚历山大人开始承认
他们惊人的传统与新的艺术状态
图书馆，捕捉其前辈的精神。
有文字和书籍的集合
在其他古城，但雄心壮志
这里的图书馆，非比寻常。
亚历山大想成为所有知识的宝库
在地球上，所以每一本书的副本
世界上的东西要存放在这里。
（轻柔的音乐）
文学、悲剧、喜剧的每一个字，
和诗歌，每部历史，每部科学条约，
从数学到医学，物理学，再到天文学。
不仅是希腊文本，还有来自世界各地的作品。
在希伯来语、拉丁语、巴比伦语和后来的阿拉伯语中。
即使在今天将这样的选择放在一起
将是一项壮举，
但这是大众出版之前的时代。
每部作品都以手写纸莎草纸的形式存在。
那卷轴可能是唯一的副本
全世界的纸莎草纸。
今天剩下的大部分小碎片
现在不在亚历山大生存，
而是另一个学习堡垒，
牛津大学。
（欢快的音乐）
这些文本中有多少会
图书馆里有吗？
- 哦，我估计有五十万。
荷马的一切，一些最早的，
希腊纸莎草纸是荷马史诗的文本，
《伊利亚特》和《奥德赛》。
以希腊语写在纸莎草纸上的柏拉图哲学。
到后来的阿拉伯语，甚至更早的希伯来语。
- 但雄心壮志是非同寻常的。
那么他们是如何在身体上，如何将工作带入城市的呢？
- 他们派人去各地
在地中海，他们列出了九个
他们想要他们的作品的航海抒情诗人。
他们派人去节日
他们的作品创作的地方。
奥林匹亚和德尔福，他们借来的
雅典悲剧的官方副本，
形成雅典人，这样他们就可以
复制一份，然后他们拒绝归还。
所以他们在某些方面表现得像
bathcorian 藏书家，在其他方面表现得像
建立基础馆藏的机构
供学者研究。
- 但如果你有这么大的工作量，
他们是如何跟踪这一切的？
他们是如何组织的？
- 他们开发了一个系统，这真的是
现代图书目录的发明。
亚历山大学者 Colenicus，
发明了第一个图书目录
其中只有一个作者条目，
标题、流派、作品类型，在本例中为喜剧。
以及末尾的总行数。
抄写员按抄写的行数付费
所以在这里你可以看到喜剧诗人的名字
阿里斯托芬。
- 你可以勉强搞定。
stoph，哦，是的，stophonof。
在亚历山大，他们主要是复制材料，
或者他们实际上是在添加材料还是他们
你也在那里获得新的奖学金吗？
- 当然，他们一直在评论
在他们身上，这是柏拉图共和国的副本，
里面有一只小手
写边注，入边。
解释和纠正文本。
所以你会有一种嗡嗡作响的蜂巢的感觉
读者和学者在文本上工作和操作。
- 非常令人印象深刻，不是吗？
所以你有这个天才柏拉图，
几个世纪后你有了别人
加入自己的想法。
获取信息使
亚历山大大帝彻底改变了科学思想。
但他们也学习神学。
希伯来圣经就是在亚历山大港
最初被翻译成希腊语。
（戏剧音乐）
通过了解丰富的文化和信仰，
他们有掌握和控制的权力。
他们是如此专注于获得所有的知识
在世界上，法律已经通过
这样一来，没有一本书可以离开这座城市。
甚至进入港口的船只也是
搜索以查看是否可以找到新文本
将被添加到其著名的图书馆。
亚历山大的现代图书馆有
50万本书，其实差不多
和古代图书馆里的号码一样。
但他们也在这里得到了这台巨型计算机，
每隔几天保存所有信息
在万维网上。
在 21 世纪，我们已经习惯了这种轻松
获取信息的地方
以电子方式存储。
但在古老的图书馆里，他们经常举行
一本书的唯一现有副本。
所以想象一下，如果它丢失了。
我们会永远失去那些想法。
可悲的是，这正是在亚历山大港发生的事情。
知识使这座城市成为知识分子
古代的强者它造就了思想家
像是海芭夏城内的强大势力。
这是一个可以产生新思想的环境
可以在任何地方的任何人的地方蓬勃发展
可以表达他们的想法。
所以也许不可避免的是，在某个时候，
有些想法会发生冲突，
对于古代世界，亚历山大港的图书馆，
对于 Hypatia 本人来说，结果将是灾难性的。
（戏剧音乐）
（神秘的音乐）
到公元四世纪末，
亚历山大城繁荣了将近 700 年。
培养像哲学家这样非凡的思想家，
和数学家 Hypatia。
这是一座无比强大的城市。
实力仅次于罗马。
然而它的力量并非建立在军事力量之上，
而是靠思想的力量。
以及容纳世界上所有知识的野心。
这包括信仰
来自最新的思想流派。
初出茅庐的宗教，基督教。
亚历山大总是被前沿思想所吸引，
以及在比赛中处于领先地位的人。
所以从公元一世纪开始就不足为奇了
一个新宗教的主要领袖应该想来这里
并发挥他们的想法。
基督升天后仅仅几年
福音书作者马可来到亚历山大
传播消息，将基督教带入非洲。
作为地球上最具前瞻性思维的地方之一，
以其融合东西方文化的传统
亚历山大是一个理想的地方
为基督教立足。
（戏剧音乐）
（大喊）
但调和多信仰环境
拥有追随者相信的宗教
独一的上帝，证明了一个测试
对城市的挑战。
圣马克本人死于异教徒之手
因为宣扬他的信仰。
这是即将到来的暴力的强项。
然而，几个世纪以来，基督徒和异教徒
确实设法彼此生活在一起，
快乐地，富有成效地。
早期的基督徒花了很多时间
和能量试图摆正异教和基督教的思想。
例如最多产的早期教父之一
住在亚历山大港的人说柏拉图的作品，
和亚里士多德，斯多葛学派是带有科学色彩的
虔诚，只要他们是正义的。
现在在这样的世界里，基督教
只是另一种思绪，那么Hypatia
有一个非常安全的地方。
但问题来了，当基督徒
不仅要属灵的，还要世俗的力量，
然后所有的宽容和虔诚
因权力政治而变得混乱。
不幸的是，对于 Hypatia，她会陷入冲突
与当时最伟大的政治人物之一。
（喋喋不休）
海芭夏本人并不反对基督教，
她的许多学生实际上都是基督徒。
但问题来了，一位新主教西里尔
在城里受戒。
西里尔不仅想要精神权威
但是地球上的力量，他不想分享
异教徒，他的到来会改变
亚历山大港永远的面貌。
- 你走进像 Cesareum 这样的地方
你看到我们最初建造的是什么
一座埃及和希腊神庙，
所有雕像的头都被移除了。
邪教雕像已经消失并取而代之
你有一个巨大的十字架俯视。
你会看到像西里尔这样的人如何改变世界。
他是一个追求权力的人，
他不仅希望获得控制权
他真正想要经营的宗教国家
神权政治，包办一切。
Hypatia 是一个富有的受过教育的异教徒。
对他来说，这意味着女巫。
他四处散布谣言
她为天文学制作的物体，
她的器具，分明是用来占卜的。
他们是为了找出什么会
发生在未来，这是黑魔法。
因此，她必须死。
- 在一个当代的叙述中，
我们得知这是海芭夏的杰作
尤其是星盘，
这激起了对她的仇恨。
在其中一位领导人的鼓励下，
基督教暴民的血沸腾了。
他们开始在城里寻找海帕夏，
并发现她在回家的路上开车穿过这些街道。
（大喊）
他们把她从她身上拖了出来
马车并扯下她的衣服。
对于她这样出身名门的女人，
这将是一个可怕的公众耻辱，
但后来事情变得更加丑陋。
他们把她拉进了曾经是一座寺庙的切萨雷姆
最近改成了教堂，
在那里捡起他们能找到的任何东西，
我们被告知他们是 abstrocka 是
可能是破锅，或破屋顶瓦片。
他们开始活剥她的皮。
她一死，他们就把她的肢体从肢体上拉下来。
然后他们拿走了她肢解的身体部位
到城市的边缘，他们把它们烧在柴堆上。
实际上这是女巫的死亡。
（大喊）
希芭夏的悲剧，就是亚历山大的悲剧。
（大喊）
其壮观的纪念碑遭到破坏。
亵渎其非凡的图书馆。
随之而来的是令人心碎的死亡
丰富的知识
让它在 700 多年里变得伟大。
有几行，极度悲伤，
一个流浪的异教徒写的
穿过亚历山大的街道，
看着他所熟悉的世界在他周围崩溃。
（大喊）
难道我们希腊人真的死了，
只是看起来还活着？
在我们堕落的状态下，我们想象
梦想就是生活，或者我们真的还活着，
生命本身死了吗？
对于某些人来说，亚历山大的梦想正变成一场活生生的噩梦。
经过几个世纪的猛攻只有百分之一
亚历山大港庞大的藏书
幸存到现代世界。
相当奇怪的幸存者之一
亚历山大港的毁灭在这里结束。
就是那块巨大的红色花岗岩。
现在我们深情的蓝天，
叫埃及艳后的针。
它是 1878 年从埃及带到这里的。
但在它风雨飘摇的日子里，它只是
在cesareum的边缘，
所以它只是一箭之遥
希帕夏被杀的地方。
（喋喋不休）
我认为在很多方面 Hypatia 是一个化身
亚历山大的梦想。
她是知识就是力量的活生生的证明。
她学识渊博，
因此这座非凡的城市
她居住的地方给了她巨大的影响力。
但这里的关键词是非凡的，
因为亚历山大港是一座不那么平凡的城市。
（神秘的音乐）
也许它的野心是梦想获得
分享世界上所有的知识
太完美了，无法持久。
我们应该牢记这一点，因为它是
当然是一个非常现代的梦想，我是说毕竟
这就是万维网所做的。
所以当我们知道亚历山大失败时
结果整个 epot 都失败了，我们应该
做一个非常仔细的记录。
出于这个原因，我们绝不能埋葬亚历山大港的记忆，
但庆祝它。
（神秘的音乐）
（欢快的音乐）