Mouseion

The Mouseion of Alexandria , which arguably included the <a href="/facts/Library_of_Alexandria/Y8xCxS1n">Library of Alexandria</a>, was an institution said to have been founded by <a href="/facts/Ptolemy_I_Soter/rHUCz5Q2">Ptolemy I Soter</a> and his son <a href="/facts/Ptolemy_II_Philadelphus/UjxDL2h9">Ptolemy II Philadelphus</a>. Originally, the word mouseion meant any place that was dedicated to the <a href="/facts/Muses/bAWcDPFw">Muses</a>, often related to the study of music or poetry, but later associated with sites of learning such as <a href="/facts/Plato/jGtT1UD5">Plato</a>'s <a href="/facts/Platonic_Academy/toUTGq3Y">Academy</a> and <a href="/facts/Aristotle/U2bDlBFW">Aristotle</a>'s <a href="/facts/Lyceum_(classical)/ftdgszdz">Lyceum</a>.
The <a href="/facts/Ptolemaic_dynasty/xqbNcghq">Ptolemies</a> reputedly established their Mouseion and Library with the intention of bringing together some of the best scholars of the <a href="/facts/Hellenistic_civilization/q6BgQsaF">Hellenistic world</a> and collect all the books known at the time. Although it did not imply a collection of works of art, the word mouseion is the root for the modern usage of the word <a href="/facts/Museum/tp40SXuq">museum</a>.

Mouseion open-in-new

Mouseion