Sunset at the Library of the World: Where a World of Words Meets the Mediterranean

I still get goosebumps when I think about the wonderous gigantic library I recently visited in Alexandria, Egypt. This modern library built in 2002, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, can accommodate 2000 readers in its main reading hall on any given day. It’s located on the gorgeous Mediterranean shore of the port city of Alexandria.

Alexandria had been home to the largest library of the ancient world until the great fire consumed it. When Alexander conquered Egypt, he wanted to establish a Greek-style city and major port on the Mediterranean coast. He chose this spot and named the city Alexandria after himself.

The city is lined with sandy beaches and cafes that feel like a blend of old and new worlds of Greek, Egyptian and later Roman influences. The Corniche (El Kornesh in Arabic) is a 12 mile waterfront coastal highway along the Mediterranean Sea. We stopped to get ourselves some falafels and I even walked into the kitchen of a cafe with our tour guide to see the prep work.

In the library, I walked around taking pictures of tourists and students doing their homework. A Chinese man came up and asked to take a selfie with me. I wanted to tell him, it’s only a matter of time and he’ll see my book here someday, but I didn’t let myself get carried away in the moment.

Even as the library was filled with all these people, I could hear a pin drop. We went into a couple of museums and an art gallery, but simply didn’t have the time to walk the massive place in the 4 hours we had.

As I walked out of the library, I noticed the concrete bust of Alexander. Was he really this gorgeous in real life?

Along the perimeter of the library, there was a wall of inscriptions from many world languages. Our tour guide, Ala, asked me to see if mine was there.

“There, that’s Telugu!” I yelled in excitement.

As I lifted my head, the sunset splashed its colors across the Mediterranean sky, clutching at my heart. I can’t possibly leave this city, how can I?

But we did. I leaned back in our taxi, and we headed to Cairo for the night. On our way back, I even saw a store named Thoth.

Thoth is the ancient Egyptian god of writing and is revered as the patron of scribes. He was in charge of maintaining cosmic balance, oversaw the judgment of the dead, and was central to magic and intellectual pursuits. I had seen his hieroglyphics in one of the Tombs of Ramses V in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor. He would be so proud of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina if he were to see it today. Well, here I’m feeling little like a modern scribe, tracing his legacy across time.