The Library of Alexandria
The Ancients
History Hit
4.7 • 4.6K Ratings
🗓️ 21 June 2026
⏱️ 43 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The Library of Alexandria was one of the most important and most celebrated buildings of the ancient Mediterranean. It was a great hub of learning and literature and made Alexandria one of the ancient world’s foremost centres of knowledge and culture. But when was it built? And where did all the books come from?
Tristan Hughes speaks to Dr. Islam Issa about the story behind one of histories greatest libraries. Together they explore why Alexandria’s reigning dynasty - the Ptolemies - were so obsessed with acquiring knowledge and uncover whether it really did burn down in a great fire.
MORE
The Lighthouse of Alexandria
Ptolemy I: The First Greek Pharaoh
We're going on *TOUR* to Australia and New Zealand! - grab your tickets here.
Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Aidan Lonergan. The producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.
All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds
The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.
Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week, PLUS early access, ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Ever wondered why the Romans were defeated in the Tudorburg forest? |
| 0:04.0 | What secrets lie buried in prehistoric Ireland? |
| 0:07.0 | Or what made Alexander truly great? |
| 0:10.0 | With a subscription to history hit, you can explore our ancient past alongside the world's leading historians and archaeologists. |
| 0:17.0 | You'll also unlock hundreds of hours of original documentaries with a brand new release every single week, |
| 0:22.9 | covering everything from the ancient world to World War II. Just visit historyhit.com slash subscribe. |
| 0:30.2 | Hey, I hope you're doing well. We're doing all right here. We are getting ready for our tour to Australia in early August. |
| 0:37.1 | Things are ramping up quick. |
| 0:39.1 | Really excited to get over there, my first time in Australia for a good decade or so. |
| 0:43.3 | And it's really exciting to see that tickets are selling. So we've got the shows lined up. |
| 0:48.5 | We've got the topics, the labours of Hercules and also the myth, the story of Romulus and |
| 0:53.3 | Riemus, and then delving into |
| 0:54.6 | what's the historical basis potentially for these famous mythological stories of ancient |
| 1:00.3 | Greece and Rome. |
| 1:01.6 | Really hope to see you there if you're in either Australia or New Zealand. |
| 1:05.4 | But back to today's episode, we are delving into the archive to explore the story of one of the greatest educational |
| 1:12.6 | buildings ever constructed. The Library of Alexandria, this great center of learning, particularly |
| 1:21.2 | during the Hellenistic period. So the time when you have these Greek pharaohs, a Greco-Macedonian dynasty ruling over Egypt, |
| 1:30.3 | the dynasty of the famous Cleopatra and so many others. |
| 1:34.3 | We recorded this episode with Dr. Islam Issa, a professor at Birmingham City University, a really lovely guy. |
| 1:42.3 | We did this interview in person, in a studio, in London, |
| 1:46.2 | just over two years ago now. It is still one of my favourite episodes of all time, and I know it was |
... |
Transcript will be available on the free plan in 8 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from History Hit, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of History Hit and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.