Once
the largest library in the ancient world, and containing works by the greatest
thinkers and writers of antiquity, including Homer, Plato, Socrates and many
more, the Library of Alexandria, northern Egypt, is popularly believed to have
been destroyed in a huge fire around 2000 years ago and its volumous works
lost. Since its destruction this wonder of the ancient world has haunted the
imagination of poets, historians, travelers and scholars, who have lamented the
tragic loss of knowledge and literature.
Today, the idea of a 'Universal Library' situated in a city celebrated as the center
of learning in the ancient world, has attained mythical status. The mystery has
been perpetuated by the fact that no architectural remains or archaeological
finds that can definitely be attributed to the ancient Library have ever been
recovered, surprising for such a supposedly renowned and imposing structure.
This lack of physical proof has even persuaded some to wonder if the fabulous
Library actually existed at all in the form popularly imagined. Read the
complete article at -- http://www.ancient.eu/article/207/
The witnesses, laying their coats at the feet of Saul, were the men that would cast the first stones at Stephen in Acts 7. Why did they all lay their coats at Saul’s feet? The Talmud contains a very interesting account of the act of stoning that may provide the answer. “When the trial was over, they take him [the condemned person] out to be stoned. The place of stoning was at a distance from the court, as it is said, ‘Take out the one who has cursed.’ [i] A man stands at the entrance of the court; in his hand is a signaling flag [Hebrew sudarin = sudar , ‘scarf, sweater’]. A horseman was stationed far away but within sight of him. If one [of the judges] says, ‘I have something [more] to say in his favor,’ he [the signaler] waves the sudarin , and the horseman runs and stops them [from stoning him]. Even if [the condemned person] himself says, ‘I have something to say in my favor,’ they bring him back, even four of five times, only provided that there is some substance to...
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