The promotion and the role of the Museum from ancient times to present

 M.Kekropoulou, PhD in History

In 325 BC Alexander the Great entrusted Denocrates the Rhode with the planning and founding of a new town which was aspired to be the center of trade and the gathering spot of people and valuable goods of the known world. According to tradition, Alexander removed his cloak and as he placed it on the sand, he defined the shape that the new town would adorn including it’s borders. Denocrates had to overcome the two challenges that follows:

First, he had to build a port-town unlike any other; since that period the ships were sailing on Nile to be lead towards the refuge the river provided, safeguarding themselves from the strong currents and the brewing storms of  Mediterranean.

Second, in addition he had to ensure that the port-town would become a trade center in which trade goods and people would be gathered. At the same time the town was destined to be the starting point of a large transfer network, who’s ends would be the major and known ports of that historical period.

  The mindset and the pattern and also the development of the project and it’s prosperity, announced the town a prototype based on which, many similar port-towns were founded. One should mention that towns which followed the same archetype did not only belong to the era that the prototype port-town was founded, but they also appear in later historical periods.

 As it could be known, there were two avenues. The transfer of consumable goods was mainly taking place within the two. Apart from that, in these two avenues could be sighted the royal buildings, the Marketplace, the theater, the library and finally the dockyard.

 Alexander’s vision was fulfilled and also customized during the years of his epigeny [descedendants], the Ptolemys. The views of researchers though, are divided when it comes to the Museum’s foundation date. Some researchers support that the Museum was founded during the kingship of Ptolemy the Savior [Πτολεμαίος ο Σωτήρ]. Others support that it was founded during the kingship of his son, Ptolemy  Philadelphus [Πτολεμαίος ο Φιλάδελφος]. 

 The Museum, [the word means] temple honoring the Muses, protectors of education and arts, was said to be influenced by Plato’s dialogue Republic and Aristotle’s Lyceum. After all, Demetrius of Phallyro [Δημητριος ο Φαληρεύς], who was a philosopher in occupation, born in Athens is said to be the one who firstly supported the Museum’s founding after consulting the Ptolemy leaders.

 The building was large as it had a courtyard, a large grandstand and a House in which the linguists (philologists), members of the Museum were seated on every side of a large table, to discuss and analyze their opinions and theories. In addition, the Museum maintained a large room which was destined for anatomy research and also facilities as an astronomy observatory.  A parkland was also included in the Museum’s perimeter, where one could study herbs and animals due to the existing facilities. The purpose of those facilities was the study of nature and it’s history. The presence of a big variety of trees and plants, made the courtyard as well, a perfect gathering place for the wandering philosophers. In other words, the Museum was a structure where science and research were dormant in every aspect.  That was one of the reasons, according to Strabo, why the Museum’s “researchers” were receiving founds and food. At the same time, they had a better treatment when it came to taxes in order to be fully focused on their research. The library was founded and constructed afterwards which would be known in the future as the Library of Alexandrea. The library was considered a valuable tool the philologists needed for their research. Also, a smaller library was founded and named “Sister”, which was also named Serapis Library. The smaller library also had in it’s disposal a large number of rare and valuable manuscripts.  The supported opinions having to do with the number of the papyrus scrolls gathered in the libraries vary. Tzetzis gives us the number four hundred ninty thousand although his predecessor Aulus Gellius and Marcellinus counted seven hundred thousand.  According to the Epistle of Aristeus (9th paragraph) “every book of the globe was gathered”. Not many, not a certain number but all the books in a worldwide scale.

  To get back into our topic, the Museum was the tying link between East and West. It was considered the meeting point of different cultures, ideologies, traditions. It was the key point in the creation of a “dialogue” between all different cultures, a trade of information which was aiming to perform and apply the results to the society of that historical period in order to upgrade it and develop it further. In any case it was considered the main point of interest of a globalized community, which had nothing to do with trade and economy- since the marketplace and the dockyard were focused on that purpose and the public services were defining the tax collection and the prices- instead it was based in the domain of knowledge, education, philosophy and another way of living. Education and knowledge was offer to all and was open for everyone. Research and scientific documentation of the results and their listing lead some to scathe their “nature of research”.  During the symposiums the “enstatics” would point out questions and the “lytics” would find possible solutions and answers.  Apart from that a priest or “iereus” was appointed by the King of Egypt to manage the Museum. Many outstanding individuals of great reknown  contributed with their ideas and research to the infamy of the Museum. Kalimachos, Zinodotos the first headmaster of the Library. Eratosthenes the Kyrinean criticized mythografists.  Aristarchos of Samothrake , the greatest gramatician of the ancient world, Didimus the Alexandreuphs , bibliolathas or chalchenterus (bronzebowel or hardworking) composed more than four thousand (4000) anaphoric entries to authors.  Also, their antagonists, who tried to scathe with direct means their research.  Timon the Fleiuss [Τίμων ο Φλειάσιος], student of Pyrron who was referring to the ones mentioned as “exotic birds who were trapped inside the cage of the Muses” or Filitas from Kos who was wondering if they were birds or mummies.

 These references lead us to describe an era according to it’s needs, it’s demands in searching ways of a better life. According to Aristotle they were searching the “wellbeing” or “ευ ζην” since the common belief was that only knowledge could lead to eudemony or happiness.  Globalization is the keyword to describe the success of the Museum, monument of worship [θεραπεof the Muses. The reason could be found in the fact that knowledge was something to be shared. Something that people had in common and it could be provided to all. That era was supporting such cause since the tools in order to get together and learn from one another, share cultural details and ideologies, were provided, not only in a individual level but in a level of societies. Those tools could give the option for the societies who came together to solve their own problems and missfortunes.

During different periods, especially with the science renaissance, reborn in the Enlightenment rationalism, the human societies turned down the suffocating hugging of religion and let free their sober spirit to examine the antiquity, to know in depth and admire it. New lands discoveries and explorations revealed a new world which was absolutely unknown to the western civilization, a vivid world, a world of animals and plants which only the pen  of some Kosmas Indikopleustis for the eastern people or Marco Polo for the western model gave a hint of another reality, a description although difficult to get believed. It was a different world of living,   beliefs and customs, another everyday life that brought the colors of tales and myths. Sir  Hans Sloane, the founder of British Museum in 1753, physician and scientist created a “universal museum” as he called it, giving shelter in that way to his numberless “curiosities” gathered from all over the world. He introduced his idea of creating a home for his –and other persons belongings, if they wanted to offer their aid to that idea- and on 7th June 1753, King George II gave his formal assent to the Act of Parliament which established the British Museum. Later on two other libraries, the Cottonian Library (dated back to Elizabethan times) and the Harleian Library (the collection of the Earls of Oxford) were added to the Sloane collection. That effort was crowned by the will of those personalities that estimated the treasures that gave a hint of past and an icon of the present times from unknown lands for the majority of ordinary people. The British Museum example enlightens the way different people and social classes understood the role of an establishment that kept treasures of all kinds and from all over the world. But we all understand that a museum had different meanings from times to times as the world changed and new ideas gave new aspects and goals to be fulfilled.

During western Modernity something new came out: art and artifacts collections of the antiquity because of the great discoveries of the East (Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greek antiquity) became the great interest of the collectors and of those that declared fans of archaeology. To discover the past was a privilege of a few and to be part of such an effort was less than that. So the presentation of these collections was referred to few and exceptional persons. During 19th century the art lovers collections and those of antiquity, as we said before, were under the speculation of an elite, but something new was added, the vivarium [a zoological and botanical garden], that becomes a synonyme to the Museum of  ancient times.  

The 20th century created different aspects that broke and banished the barriers of privacy and offered to the society if not to anyone that wished to get closer to these treasures of the past or the nature miracles. But let us try to understand the special characteristics of our era. Nowadays the borders between the countries have collapsed, as a power to prohibit or to control or even to deny the possibility to get and give the knowledge to everyone that cared for. That reminds us the words of Rabidranath Tagor, who used to say that barriers between the countries are to separate different people, different languages or different religions but uniting equal men. In other words, we can now say that we all have the right to knowledge and to research, because we look at the progress and evolution of  mankind.

Modern society constitutes a model of globalization and cosmopolitanism in every part of human activity, in every sector as is the economy, the knowledge, the same way it used to be, during the period of Alexander the Great descendants. Distance and Time are accessible magnitudes. Modern technology provides and compels the immediacy on coming to a decision and creates the possibilities for the easily assimilated circulation of spiritual and material goods. Our era have the opportunity to present sciences and a lot of scientific books giving birth to the need that those treasures belong to everyone and that everyone have access to them.

During 20th century, more museums were founded to conserve and protect the relics of ancient times, the treasures of the past, and at the same time became research centers that published reports and papers. These publications gave the opportunity to scholars from all over the world to get closer to this knowledge and these reports, so they could  compare  and deduce, complete and decipher, presenting their conclusions. 

Till the end of 20th century scholars presented and promoted a new capital, quite remarkable, the cultural capital of a country. That of course included the cultural legacy of a people that awakened and grafted the national conscience. But we must consider two different factors that enforced the value and the importance of every people, not only in the family of countries that are enlisted or have virtuous relations or even financial ones:

• capital value: that stems from the history and the tradition of a country. That enforces the idea and the estimation that the people have for themselves and they invest on these, to gain more profit and appreciation from the others

• capital impact: that is the impression that inculcates in the conscience of the others and their attitude is positive. This attitude stems from the past, the history of the people with whom the  interaction is ongoing . 

It is then understood that this cultural capital gave birth to a different kind of connection  with other people, and that may hide the political part, it is though a kind of diplomacy that inspires and go all the way to a better result on relations between countries. That is the cultural diplomacy. This role can be fulfilled in a museum. 

Nowadays Museums promote another action:

• cooperation between museums; museums from different countries promoted together a specific theme, showing that interaction really existed between people from ancient times.

• switchover between museums, in other words exhibits alone or in collections, so everybody can enjoy the globalization of civilization

• broadening the ages that may be part of this special cultural contact, from childhood to advanced age, through different activities taken place in a museum. These activities transform knowledge to a pleasant game

So, the modern museum stops being a place we keep or hide relics of the past. The museum is not aimed to certain classes or people, is not a privilege for an elite. It teaches, it reinforces, it guides the modern man to every step of his. For anyone that wishes and is interested on glancing  in the past, then he may visit a museum, but it will be  sad if he stays at that. The museum of today changes character and content. It is an interactive factor, a theater where someone can exchange aspects, a place were more sciences meet together promoting the moto of this conference: the museum is an actionography of the European people.  

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Aulus Gellius: "Noctes Atticae" Liber VII
Ammianus Marcellinus: "A History from the End of Cornelius Tacitus" Liber XXII 
http://www.historyofmacedonia.org/AncientMacedonia/AlexandertheGreat.htm
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Erskine Andrew, Culture and Power in Ptolemaic Egypt: The Museum and Library of Alexandria, 1996
G. Franz, The Ancient Library of Alexandria:Embracing the Excellent, Avoiding its Fate, 2011
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[http://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ala.org.acrl/files/content/conferences/confsandpreconfs/national/2011/papers/ancient_library.pdf]
http://www.culturaldiplomacy.org/index.php?en_abouticd

© 2013, M.Kekropoulou

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