Q 01/05

In which modern-day country did the Library of Alexandria stand?

A) Italy

B) Egypt

C) Turkey

D) Greece

Answer · why

B) Egypt

Alexandria was the Ptolemaic capital, founded on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt by Alexander the Great.

Q 02/05

What was the larger research institution containing the Library, dedicated to the nine Muses, called?

A) The Academy

B) The Lyceum

C) The Stoa

D) The Mouseion

Answer · why

D) The Mouseion

The word 'museum' descends from the Mouseion, a shrine of the Muses that doubled as a research campus.

Q 03/05

Which exiled Athenian statesman may have proposed the idea of a universal library to Ptolemy I?

A) Demetrius of Phalerum

B) Solon of Athens

C) Theophrastus of Eresos

D) Demosthenes of Athens

Answer · why

A) Demetrius of Phalerum

Demetrius was a Peripatetic, a student of Aristotle's school, and had taken refuge at the Ptolemaic court.

Q 04/05

Under whose reign was the Library itself probably actually built?

A) Ptolemy I Soter

B) Ptolemy III Euergetes

C) Ptolemy II Philadelphus

D) Cleopatra VII

Answer · why

C) Ptolemy II Philadelphus

Ptolemy I may have laid the groundwork, but modern scholars think it became a physical institution only under his son.

Q 05/05

What writing material made up the Library's scroll collection?

A) Parchment

B) Papyrus

C) Vellum

D) Wax tablets

Answer · why

B) Papyrus

Egypt was the ideal habitat for the plant, which gave the Ptolemies an abundant, cheap supply of writing material.