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'Spectacular' ancient public library discovered in Germany
Guardian UK ^ | Tue 31 Jul 2018 Last modified on Wed 1 Aug 2018 | Alison Flood

Posted on 08/01/2018 11:08:55 PM PDT by SunkenCiv

The remains of the oldest public library in Germany, a building erected almost two millennia ago that may have housed up to 20,000 scrolls, have been discovered in the middle of Cologne.

The walls were first uncovered in 2017, during an excavation on the grounds of a Protestant church in the centre of the city. Archaeologists knew they were of Roman origins, with Cologne being one of Germany's oldest cities, founded by the Romans in 50 AD under the name Colonia. But the discovery of niches in the walls, measuring approximately 80cm by 50cm, was, initially, mystifying... "But what they are are kind of cupboards for the scrolls," said Dr Dirk Schmitz from the Roman-Germanic Museum of Cologne. "They are very particular to libraries -- you can see the same ones in the library at Ephesus."

It is not clear how many scrolls the library would have held, but it would have been "quite huge -- maybe 20,000", said Schmitz. The building would have been slightly smaller than the famed library at Ephesus, which was built in 117 AD. He described the discovery as "really incredible -- a spectacular find".

"It dates from the middle of the second century and is at a minimum the earliest library in Germany, and perhaps in the north-west Roman provinces," he said. "Perhaps there are a lot of Roman towns that have libraries, but they haven't been excavated...

(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...


TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: cologne; colonia; dirkschmitz; ephesus; epigraphyandlanguage; europe; germany; godsgravesglyphs; oxyrhynchus; romanbaltic; romanempire; romangermany; rome; villaofthepapyri
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'Really incredible' ... the site of the second-century library discovered in Cologne. Photograph: Hi-flyFoto/Roman-Germanic Museum of Cologne

'Really incredible' ... the site of the second-century library discovered in Cologne. Photograph: Hi-flyFoto/Roman-Germanic Museum of Cologne

1 posted on 08/01/2018 11:08:55 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
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To: StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 1ofmanyfree; 21twelve; 24Karet; 2ndDivisionVet; 31R1O; ...

2 posted on 08/01/2018 11:10:41 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (www.tapatalk.com/groups/godsgravesglyphs/, forum.darwincentral.org, www.gopbriefingroom.com)
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To: SunkenCiv

Wonderful.


3 posted on 08/01/2018 11:16:39 PM PDT by Innovative ("Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing." -- Vince Lombardi)
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To: SunkenCiv

An EMPTY library.


4 posted on 08/01/2018 11:21:49 PM PDT by House Atreides (BOYCOTT the NFL, its products and players 100% - PERMANENTLY)
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5 posted on 08/01/2018 11:25:26 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (www.tapatalk.com/groups/godsgravesglyphs/, forum.darwincentral.org, www.gopbriefingroom.com)
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To: House Atreides
Arrowheads survive, arrows don't. The library contents probably were carried off by Romans, burned by barbarian hordes, or recycled at some nearby Dark Age monastery.

6 posted on 08/01/2018 11:27:07 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (www.tapatalk.com/groups/godsgravesglyphs/, forum.darwincentral.org, www.gopbriefingroom.com)
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To: Innovative

I wholeheartedly agree.


7 posted on 08/01/2018 11:28:41 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (www.tapatalk.com/groups/godsgravesglyphs/, forum.darwincentral.org, www.gopbriefingroom.com)
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8 posted on 08/01/2018 11:33:55 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (www.tapatalk.com/groups/godsgravesglyphs/, forum.darwincentral.org, www.gopbriefingroom.com)
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To: SunkenCiv

bookmark


9 posted on 08/01/2018 11:34:02 PM PDT by GOP Poet
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To: SunkenCiv

It said the building housed a public library. I can only imagine what the “late” return penalties would be.


10 posted on 08/01/2018 11:40:16 PM PDT by BBell
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To: BBell
LOL! Five years chained to a galley oar!!!

But seriously, I don't think ancient libraries were lending libraries.

11 posted on 08/01/2018 11:46:25 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (www.tapatalk.com/groups/godsgravesglyphs/, forum.darwincentral.org, www.gopbriefingroom.com)
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To: SunkenCiv

I knew it was Koln when I saw the headline. All the good relics are found there because 90% of the city was destroyed by our bombers.


12 posted on 08/01/2018 11:51:19 PM PDT by montag813
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To: montag813
The paper-hanger befouled even more than he destroyed.

13 posted on 08/01/2018 11:53:50 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (www.tapatalk.com/groups/godsgravesglyphs/, forum.darwincentral.org, www.gopbriefingroom.com)
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To: BBell
Library detective Mr. Bookman Seinfeld

14 posted on 08/01/2018 11:55:32 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (www.tapatalk.com/groups/godsgravesglyphs/, forum.darwincentral.org, www.gopbriefingroom.com)
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additional sidebars:

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/villaofthepapyri/index

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/oxyrhynchus/index


15 posted on 08/02/2018 12:18:26 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (www.tapatalk.com/groups/godsgravesglyphs/, forum.darwincentral.org, www.gopbriefingroom.com)
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To: SunkenCiv

>>The walls were first uncovered in 2017, during an excavation on the grounds of a Protestant church in the centre of the city. Archaeologists knew they were of Roman origins

There were Protestants in Germany in 117 A.D.?


16 posted on 08/02/2018 2:53:29 AM PDT by a fool in paradise
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To: a fool in paradise

Have they ascertained whether the librarians wore Birkenstocks, or Roman sandals?


17 posted on 08/02/2018 4:56:17 AM PDT by Tucker39 ("It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible." George Washington)
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To: House Atreides; SunkenCiv
An EMPTY library.

What's the matter? Are you tracking down overdue library books?


18 posted on 08/02/2018 5:44:02 AM PDT by COBOL2Java (Marxism: Trendy theory, wrong species)
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To: SunkenCiv

Arrowheads survive, arrows don’t. The library contents probably were carried off by Romans, burned by barbarian hordes, or recycled at some nearby Dark Age monastery.

~~~

IF this is legit 2000 years old, that is about the right time for it all to get sacked by the Romans, and they had a particular passion for destroying the cultures they encountered. But I think you are right, it would be a miracle if actual materials (writing from the time) survived regardless


19 posted on 08/02/2018 5:54:00 AM PDT by z3n
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To: SunkenCiv

The librarian probably had authority to do more then just tell you to be quiet! Like

I. 1st offense scourged,
2. 2nd offense hung by thumbs,
3. 3rd offense, tongue cut out.

probably not a 4th offense for loud talking after that


20 posted on 08/02/2018 6:09:17 AM PDT by Reily
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