Alexander founded several Alexandria's across his conquered lands, but Egypt’s was the biggest and his favourite. After Alexander’s death his closest general Ptolemy became King of Egypt. King Ptolemy then set about trying to create and impose the Greek culture and language upon this newly built Greek, but Egyptian city; the building of the largest library in history formed part of this. The Library of Alexandria built in the Palace section of the city was to hold around half a million scrolls and contain all knowledge and a copy of every book. Apart from its shear size, this Library was different because it had a Musaeum (research and work centre) attached, including a lecture theatre and dinning room. This meant that scholars would have been able to work in library and many, including Archimedes and Euclid, travelled to Alexandria to do so. The orderly and structured method of storing the scrolls was a revolutionary system not previously used and was also adopted for future libraries. It also implies the presence of a scholarly librarian (which historical accounts confirm). Because the library created an environment where the greatest experts of a field could met and discuss ideas, it was responsible for advancements in technology, mechanics and warfare. This was one of the two most important aspects of the library, the other was, of course, the collection itself.

The earliest account of the destruction of the Library holds Julius Caesar responsible. The story is that Caesar came to Alexandria while pursuing him Roman enemy Pompey. When Caesar arrived, Pompey was already dead. Caesar, however, stayed and became entangled in an inheritance dispute over the throne between the surviving heirs of the Ptolemy bloodline;, the throne is currently held by Cleopatra. Caesar finds himself and his ships blocked in the harbour by an enemy and decides to fire his way out. The subsequent flames spread to the city and the Library was partially damaged, a few scrolls are destroyed. However, the Library continued to exist.

The second accounts blame the Christians for burning the Library around the 4th century AD. By this time Christianity was becoming the main religion in Egypt and reports state that riots developed when fundamentalist Christians tried to remove all tracse of paganism from the city. One such mob is accused of lynching (killing without trial) the famous female Alexandrian scholar, Hypatia and of burning down the Library. It is now believed that this Library was a smaller one, not the Great Library. However, the Great Library may have suffered some damage, but accounts about the Library continue after this date.

The Muslims are next to be accused. When the Muslims invaded and conquered Egypt it is told that they destroyed the library. The reason given is that either the works inside the Library were already found in the Koran, of which they already had a copy, or they were not included in the Koran and therefore the Muslims had no need of them. Either way the Library could be burnt. This account, similarly to the two above, is not believed to be authentic.

So what actually happened to the Library of Alexandria? It is generally conceded that the Library's importance fell considerably with the introduction of Christianity. They no longer believed in many of the pagan beliefs that were stored in the library, which began to fall into disrepair. Also, as time passed many of the documents within the Library merely disintegrated and vanished. The centre of the scholarly world had moved, scholars were now in places such as Rome, not Alexandria. The exact date of the destruction is not known, guesstimates are between 500—1000AD. Whether the Library had a sad and unimportant ending or a dramatic one, what is important is that for many hundreds of years it survived as the centre of learning, it was a construction the likes of which the world had never seen before and its memory has lived on.